Domestique: The Real-life Ups and Downs of a Tour Pro
Author | : | |
Rating | : | 4.34 (873 Votes) |
Asin | : | B00CP5UBQG |
Format Type | : | |
Number of Pages | : | 586 Pages |
Publish Date | : | 2016-09-02 |
Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
Absolutely outstanding" -- Paul Kimmage . "If justice is alive and well in the world, this will be the sports book of the year 2013 a book that is well nigh impossible to put back on the shelf at the end of each chapter." * The Washing Machine Post * "Interesting and revealing the most accurate description of what being a highly-regarded domestique in the modern peloton is really like'" * Cycling Weekly * "One of the hardest working domestiques in the sport" * Cycling Weekly * "Couldn't put it downthe best insight into the peloton since Paul Kimmage's Rough Ride" -- William Fotheringham "A must read
When the order came in to ride I pushed out with the hardest rhythm I could, dragging the group faster and faster, until my whole body screamed with pain. Well, this is how it is…. And that’s when I became a domestique.I learned to take that hurt and give it everything I had to give, all for someone else’s win. But that’s what made me a so good at my job.As my career took off, I started looking at the fans lining the route, cheering us like heroes. I went from mowing the team manager’s lawn to winning every amateur race I entered. The passion for cycling oozed off them, but they couldn’t know what it was really like. But I never won a race. I was the hired help.When my mum dropped me off in a small French town aged 17, I was full of determination to be a professional cyclist, but I was completely green. There were times I rode myself to a standstill, clutching the barrier metres from the line, as the lead group shot past. They didn’t see the terrible hotels, the crazy egos or all the shit that goes with great expec
Charly Wegelius was one of Britain's most distinguished and respected professional cyclists. . Charly now works as a directear sportif for the Garmin-Sharp team. He raced for some of cycling's best teams, including Mapei, the world's most successful ever team. In his 11-year career he competed in a remarkable 14 Grand Tours, including three Tours de France
Jrowwsnc said Waiting For This Book. I think there is a kind of irony in the fact that the Brits are now so dominant in stage racing. They will have to abandon the outsider role that they have had for so many years in the world of pro cycling. It is this outsider status that makes Wegelius' story so compelling and his book a must read. He shows up at a French dominated team as a teenage outsider, and works his way to valued pro the hard way. He learned the hard way largely because the continentals did not take him seriously.The British on . "A haunting memoir" according to Andy. I still wonder whether a youngster who dreams of becoming a bicycle champion should read this book or not, as this memoir offers a crude and merciless vision of the reality behind the bicycling sport. Whatever, this is an entertaining and interesting read, even for non athletic cyclists [like me :-)], and offers a unique insight to the human and psychological aspects and challenges of what seems to be one of the most endeavoring sport disciplines on the planet.. A VERY honest insight into the pro peloton. A truly interesting insight into the professional peloton. The role of the domestique is accurately described by the author as one of self-sacrifice for the betterment of the team. With that said, it felt as though Charly used this book as way to describe his dislike with his chosen career by bemoaning every aspect of his racing life. There were moments in the book when he did describe some positive experience that was covered in one brief explanation no longer than a page. Inevitably, he would then mov