The Cycling Anthology Volume 2: Tour De France Edition

The Cycling Anthology #2

by Ellis Bacon (Editor), Lionel Birnie (Editor)

Professional cycling is a rich, dynamic and often controversial sport that lends itself to great writing. Some of the most famous and illustrious races were founded by newspapermen and The Cycling Anthology continues this tradition by bringing together the best in the business.

Volume Two is a Tour de France special edition and features original and exclusive pieces by leading cycling writers. ITV reporter Ned Boulting looks at how the Tour made it to our living rooms and into our hearts; pro rider Daniel Lloyd lifts the lid on actually riding a Tour in 'A Domestique's Tale'; Jeremy Whittle examines why, despite drug scandal and infamy, the Tour still intoxicates us; and many more.

Between them, they’ve covered hundreds of Tours de France and written dozens of excellent books and some have even ridden the Tour. Here, their work is showcased together.

Genres: Cycling, Nonfiction

320 pages, Paperback

First published May 15, 2013

Reviews

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

A couple of good'uns - specifically Lionel Birnie's Cynics essay and Daniel Lloyd's Domestique's Tale - but the rest feel a bit not quite there. The whole collection feels a bit dated, which the focus on the Tour combined with the essay's having been written in 2013 and my copy having been sitting in storage for several years will certainly have highlighted.

[Justin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most of it was good, but there were a few let downs:
As the Inner Ring wrote, some of the journalists wrote about themselves more than the race and racers;
And was there really nothing worth writing about any of the women's Tours?
My favourite essays were about the management types: the former and the current race directors and the greatest DS in history. Daniel Lloyd's memoir as a domestique was also very good.

[Michael Grant · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting but not as entertaining as vol 1.

[Stefano · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely not as entertaining as the first chapter, to me. A fairly varied selection of articles, just not as many interesting ones in my opinion (I did appreciate the closing one by Dan Lloyd the best, funny seeing he’s not writing as a job!)