Winner - Sweetspot Cycling Book of the Year

For 11 years I was a professional cyclist, participating in the toughest and greatest races on Earth. I was in demand by the best teams in the world, a highly paid elite athlete. But I never won any race. I was the hired help.

When my mother left me in a small French town at the age of 17, I was full of determination to become a professional cyclist, but I was completely inexperienced. From mowing the team manager's lawn to winning every amateur race I entered. Then I turned professional and realized that I hated the responsibility and pressure of chasing victory. And then I became a domestique.

I learned to take the pain and give everything I had, all for someone else's win. When the order came to race, I pushed at the hardest pace I could, dragging them faster, until my body screamed in pain. There were times I raced to exhaustion, clutching the bars meters from the line, as the leading team passed by. But that is what made me so good at my job.

As my career took off, I began to look at the fans who lined up along the route, applauding us like heroes. Their passion for cycling emanated from them, but they couldn't know what it's really like. They didn't see the terrible hotels, the insane egos, or all the bad that accompanies great expectations. Well, that's how it is...

Pages: 336, Dimensions: 12.7x12.7cm