ALASDAIR FOTHERINGHAM

Luis Ocana seemed doomed to live in the shadow of cycling's greatest ever rider, Eddy Merckx - 'The Cannibal'. Their rivalry defined Ocana's entire career, yet he was the one rider capable of beating the all-conquering Merckx in his prime. After an impoverished upbringing he flourished at the sport he loved and in 1970 secured his biggest victory on home soil, winning the Vuelta a Espana, and confirming his status as a Grand Tour challenger. But it was in the 1971 Tour de France that the battle between Merckx and Ocana reached its peak when, at the Orcieres-Merlette stage, he inflicted on Merckx the worst defeat he would suffer in a major Tour, with an astonishing 120 kilometre solo breakaway through the Alps.But then came one of most gut-wrenching crashes in Tour de France history when Ocana fell heavily on a Pyrenean descent, losing his leader's jersey, and with it his best chance of destroying Merckx's reputation of invincibility. In the midst of a torrential downpour, with minimal visibility, rider after rider crashed into the injured rider as he lay prone. The following day Merckx refused to wear the leader's jersey out of respect.

The Tour de France is always one of the sporting calendar's most spectacular and dramatic events. But the 1998 Tour provided drama like no other. As the opening stages in Ireland unfolded, the Festina team's soigneur Willy Voet was arrested on the French-Belgian border with a car-load of drugs. Raid after police raid followed, with arrest after arrest hammering the Tour. In protest, there were riders' strikes and go-slows, with several squads withdrawing en masse and one expelled. By the time the Tour reached Paris, just 96 of the 189 starters remained. And of those 189 starters, more than a quarter were later reported to have doped. The 1998 'Tour de Farce's' status as one of the most scandal-struck sporting events in history was confirmed.Voet's arrest was just the beginning of sport's biggest mass doping controversy - what became known as the Festina affair. It all but destroyed professional cycling as the credibility of the entire sport was called into question and the cycling family began to split apart. And yet, ironically, the 1998 Tour was also one of the best races in years.The End of the Road is the first English-language book to provide in-depth analysis and a colourful evocation of the tumultuous events during the 1998 Tour. Alasdair Fotheringham uncovers, step by step, how the world's biggest bike race sank into a nightmarish series of scandals that left the sport on its knees. He explores its long-term consequences - and what, if any, lessons were learned.

Federico Martín Bahamontes, el Águila de Toledo, es considerado por muchos como el mejor escalador de la historia del ciclismo. El primer español en ganar el Tour de Francia y seis veces campeón de la agotadora clasificacion de la montaña, se convirtio en un heroe nacional en una España que trataba de recuperarse despues de la devastacion y las atrocidades de la Guerra Civil. De hecho, su exito se debio en gran parte a la guerra. Cuando la rebelion nacionalista del General Franco se alzo frente a la Republica elegida democraticamente en 1936, vastas zonas del pais quedaron empobrecidas y desesperadas. Al borde de la inanicion, el joven Bahamontes se dedico al ciclismo como un medio para vender productos del mercado negro, antes de darse cuenta de que el deporte le ofrecia un futuro mas lucrativo. Siguio una impresionante carrera amateur, que lo llevo a su debut en el Tour en 1954, cuando gano la clasificacion de la montaña en su primer intento. El exito y un estilo de correr carismatico, pero temperamental, le dieron fama en casa y en el extranjero, asi como controversia. Hoy, a pesar de su apropiacion por el franquismo, sigue siendo el padrino del ciclismo español y un excentrico deportista con una fuerza de voluntad fenomenal. Tambien es uno de los pocos testigos vivos de la epoca dorada del ciclismo y, como descubrio Alasdair Fotheringham cuando lo entrevisto para esta apasionante biografia, esta mas que listo para contarlo.

Miguel Indurain is Spain's greatest cyclist of all time and one of the best Tour racers in history. He is the only bike rider to have won five successive Tours de France, as well as holding the title for the youngest ever race leader in the Tour of Spain. This is his story.As the all-conquering hero of the 90s, Indurain steadfastly refused to be overwhelmed by fame; remaining humble, shy and true to his country roots. Along with his superhuman calmness, iron will-power and superb bike handling skills, he was often described as a machine. Yet 1996 saw Indurain, the Tour's greatest ever champion, spectacularly plummet, bringing his career and supremacy to an abrupt end.In Indurain, Alasdair Fotheringham gets to the heart of this enigmatic character, reliving his historic accomplishments in vibrant colour, and exploring how this shaped the direction taken by generations of Spanish racers - raising Spanish sport to a whole new level.

La historia definitiva del mejor corredor del Tour de Francia: Miguel Indurain. Como el gran conquistador y heroe de los 90s, Miguel Indurain rápidamente huyó de la fama y de las abrumaciones; manteniendose humilde, timido y muy cercano a sus raices y a su tierra. A traves de su personalidad, su voluntad de hierro y sus soberbias habilidades para dominar la bicicleta, Indurain fue descrito muchas veces como una maquina perfecta del ciclismo. Todavia en 1996 se vio al mejor campeon del Tour de todos los tiempos, con una voluntad de hierro y una fuerza arrolladora, año en el que de manera abrupta decidio poner fin a su carrera profesional y a su supremacia. En este libro, Alasdair Fotheringham llega al corazon de este enigmatico campeon, reviviendo sus logros historicos y explorando la direccion que siguieron varias generaciones de ciclistas españoles, llevando a su deporte a un nivel jamas antes conocido en España. A traves de decenas de entrevistas con directores del Tour de Francia, ciclistas contemporaneos, compañeros de equipo y a Prudencio Indurain, el autor nos desvela en esta vibrante biografia, el lado mas humano de uno de los mejores deportistas de la historia de España.La critica ha dicho..."Un relato que retrata el la