Pursuit Spring 2017

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Giro d’Italia The Story of the World’s Most Beautiful Bike Race Published to celebrate the Giro’s 100th Race The Giro d’Italia, more demanding and unpredictable than the Tour de France, is as dramatic and characterful as Italy itself. Heroism, suffering, feuds, betrayals and tradition under threat from modernity, all play out against a landscape of extremes.

First contested in 1909, interrupted only by the First World War, the Giro began as an ordeal with 400km stages, night-time starts and fixed-gear bicycles on rough tracks. After 1945 it was animated by the near-miraculous ‘Il Campionissimo’, Fausto Coppi, his feud with Gino Bartali and his scandalous lifestyle.

The Giro has given birth to many of cycling’s greatest myths. Giro d’Italia tells these stories and brings to life their iconic protagonists. In doing so, it also shows how much the legend of the Giro reveals of Italian society and its many contradictions.

£20.00 320pp Demy hardback ISBN: 978 1 78125 716 6 e-ISBN­: 978 1 78283 290 4 History, Sport April 2017 World All Languages Tr US 10

Colin O’Brien is an Irish cycling writer based in Rome and deeply embedded in the Italian pro cycling scene.

He contributes to Rouleur, Peloton, Cyclist and the Irish Independent among other publications.

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The Hardmen Legends of the Cycling Gods On the toughest cyclists ever, from the Velominati, creators of The Rules In cycling, suffering brings glory: a rider’s value can be judged by their results but also by their panache and heroism. Hear about Chris Froome riding on at the Tour de France with a broken wrist and Geraint Thomas finishing it with a broken pelvis, and you’ll never look at a Premier League footballer’s diving theatrics the same way again.

In The Hardmen, the writers behind cycling superblog Velominati.com, tell the stories and illuminate the myths of not just the greatest cyclists ever, but the toughest. From Eddy Merckx to Beryl Burton, and from Marianne Vos to Edwig Van Hooydonk, the book lays bare the secrets of their extraordinary and inspirational endurance in the face of pain, danger and disaster.

Their first book, The Rules: The Way of the Cycling Disciple was published to great success in 2013.

The Velominati lead an online community which (ir)reverently celebrates road cycling. Their infamous Rules cover training (‘it never gets easier, you just go faster’), equipment (‘the correct number of bikes to own is n+1’), socks and coffee.

Founder and Editor Frank Strack also writes for Cycling magazine.

£12.99 224pp B format hardback ISBN: 978 1 78125 612 1 e-ISBN­: 978 1 78283 236 2 Sport June 2017 World All Languages Tr US 11

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Anquetil, Alone The legend of Jacques Anquetil, controversial 60s cycling star

Jacques Anquetil was arrogant and iconoclastic, with a relaxed attitude to rules – including those about drugs – and morals. His womanising appalled conservative French society, even as his five Tour de France wins enthralled it. But Paul Fournel always preferred him to his great rival, working-class hero Raymond Poulidor, and followed Anquetil’s career from childhood with the passion of a fan and the eye of a poet.

In this stunningly original biography of a complex and divisive character, Fournel - author of the seminal Vélo - blends elements of memoir and imagined autobiography, to create a literary cycling classic as captivating as Tim Krabbé’s The Rider.

£10.99 176pp B format hardback ISBN: 978 1 78125 731 9 e-ISBN­: 978 1 78283 298 0 Biography, Sport May 2017 World English Language US 12

Paul Fournel is a French writer, poet, publisher and cultural ambassador. He was awarded the Prix Goncourt for short fiction for Les Athlètes dans leur tête. His Besoin de Vélo was published in English as Vélo by Rouleur/Bloomsbury. Anquetil, Alone is translated by Nick Caistor.