Bradley Wiggins: Tour de Force

by John Deering

Rising from an inner city background, abandoned by his pro cyclist father as a toddler, Bradley Wiggins became a prodigious talent. World Junior Champion, World Champion and Olympic Champion were all titles that came his way at a startlingly young age, but what he really wanted was success on the road. 'Wiggo's' reinvention on the path to becoming Britain's first Tour de France winner in over a hundred years of racing is one of sport's most uplifting and inspiring stories. In this captivating and insightful narrative, Wiggins' old friend and colleague John Deering sets this remarkable story against the backdrop of Wiggins' crushing Tour victory, his races along the thousands of kilometres of French tarmac, telling the tale of his brutal procession from Liege to Paris in counterpoint to his fascinating life. From a Kilburn council estate to the Champs Elysees via the Olympics, Paul Weller and the world's most glorious sideburns, the legend of Bradley Wiggins is unravelled like never before.

Genres: Nonfiction, Cycling, Biography

231 pages, Paperback

First published September 28, 2012

Reviews

[Lee McKerracher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although this was published back in 2012, it is still worth reading as it captures a critical moment in time when cycling was starting its most serious attempt to go clean. It also covers the incredible Bradley Wiggins blasting onto the scene and making his mark on the world of international cycling.

It focuses on the Tour de France 2012 where he become the first Brit to win, but it also includes lots of stories from his childhood through to his first tentative steps in competition and then onto the world stage.

2012 was a brilliant year for Wiggins culminating in an Olympic Gold Medal at home in London - a year that will be hard to top.

John Deering is certainly a cycling fan and puts the reader into each stage with snippets from the teams, riders and management. The politics, rivalries, joys and heartbreaks of competition.

Twelve years on and we have new champions in place, but they are standing on the shoulders of those that came before and this book captures that moment where British riders and more non-European riders started to steal the limelight.

A fabulous read.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a cycling fan I really enjoyed this

[Nicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

A journalistic look at Wiggo's 2012 Tour de France and racing career leading up to that point. If you're a fan and watched every day of the Tour with bated breath like me, you'll probably really love it. It brought every stage back vividly. If you've watched the Tour for a while it'll be even better as you'll remember the earlier years described too. If you're new to cycling this won't be quite as evocative, but still a worthwhile read. As a big British cycling fan, I loved it.

[Stuart · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was ok. Basic account of Wiggins winning the Tour, stage by stage, with bits of his life tacked on to the end of each chapter. But the proofreading seems to have been terrible, with a number of basic errors slipping through, and it gets a bit fanboyish at times

5/10

[Andrew Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you followed Le Tour on television then you'll have no need to read this. You'll learn nothing new. On the other hand, if you missed chunks of it or indeed all of it then this is a great way of catching up on, perhaps, the greatest British sporting triumph of the past 50 years.

[Lance Willett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read. Structured around Bradley's 2012 Tour de France win, stage-by-stage, interspersed with his life story. I loved the format and the anecdotes. Lots of British color and humor that I probably missed, though, with references and personalities.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well written, straightforward description of the 'Bradley Wiggins' 2012 TDF and the lead up to it. Good stuff for anoraks.

[Chris Devlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a well written story of a great achievement.

[Sean Keefe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice little account of Brad's 2012 tdf and earlier life, although quite out of date already.