Books by Peter Cossins

** WINNER OF THE CYCLING BOOK OF THE YEAR AT THE 2019 TELEGRAPH SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARDS**So how do you win a bike race?Riding as fast as you could for as long as you could was the main tactic in the early days of road racing when Grand Tours could be won by hours.

Renowned cycling writer, Peter Cossins, takes you on a ride through this beautiful mountain range....

First drawn into the sport while a student in Spain in the mid-1980s, Peter Cossins has been writing about cycling since 1993, contributing principally to Cycling Weekly, Cycle Sport and Procycling. The Monuments, his history of cycling's five greatest one-day Classic races, was published in 2014, followed in 2015 by Alpe d¿Huez, an appraisal of cycling¿s greatest climb.For Yellow Jersey Press he has written the definitive account of the first ever Tour de France, Butcher, Blacksmith, Acrobat, Sweep the also the enlightening book on cycling tactics, Full Gas.He lives in the Ari¿ in the heart of the French Pyrenees.

Full of adventure, mishaps and audacious attempts at cheating, the first Tour de France in 1903 was a colourful affair. Peter Cossins takes us through the inaugural Tour de France, painting a nuanced portrait of France in the early 1900s, to see where the greatest sporting event of all began.

In Alpe d' Huez, veteran cycling journalist Peter Cossins reveals the triumphs, passion and despair behind the great exploits on the Alpe and discloses the untold details that have led to the mountain becoming as important to the Tour as the race is to resort at its summit.

Med en stigning, der snor sig 13,8 kilometer op, som har 21 hårnålesving og en gennemsnitlig stigning på 7,8 % er Alpe d'Huez den stigning i Tour de France, som alle cykelryttere drømmer om at besejre.Det er blevet kaldt 'Hollywood climb', og der er ingen tvivl om, at Alpe d'Huez har spillet en stor rolle i cyklingsportens historie, siden bjergets første møde med sportsgrenen i 1952, hvor legendariske Fausto Coppi triumferede på toppen. Efter bjerget blev genintroduceret i Touren i 1976, har Alpe d'Huez fået en mytisk status, først og fremmest på grund af en række sejre til hollandske cykelryttere, hvis bedrifter tiltrak tusindvis af deres landsmænd til bjerget, som derfor også er blevet kaldt Hollænderbjerget.Mange af sportens største navne har vundet på bjerget: Bernard Hinault, Joop Zoetemelk, Lucho Herrera, Marco Pantani og Lance Amstrong.I Alpe d´Huez afslører cykelveteran og journalist Peter Cossins den lidenskab, fortvivlelse og de triumfer, som står bag de store bedrifter på det betagende bjerg.