Alasdair Fotheringham – författare

This is the first ever biography in English of ''the Spanish Merckx'', who remains one of the most fascinating Tour de France champions.Luis Ocaña seemed doomed to live in the shadow of cycling''s greatest ever rider, Eddy Merckx – ''The Cannibal''. Their rivalry defined Ocaña''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 España, and confirming his status as a Grand Tour challenger. But it was in the 1971 Tour de France that the battle between Merckx and Ocaña reached its peak when, at the Orcières-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 Ocaña 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. It was only when Merckx was missing from the start-line in 1973 that Ocaña became Spain''s second ever Tour de France winner. If Merckx had been present, Ocaña''s chances of success would have been far slimmer. Further triumphs amassed before his swansong in 1976, but Ocaña''s decline in later life reflects the immense struggle he embraced during the height of his career. An enigmatic outsider to both the Spanish and French throughout his career – never truly accepted in either country – he died in mysterious circumstances aged just 48. A fascinating, complicated character both on and off his bike, Ocaña''s fierce determination, impetuosity and – some would say – recklessness created some of the most beautiful and gripping episodes in the history of the sport.

The first detailed account of the Festina affair, which ripped apart the 1998 Tour de France and irrevocably changed cycling.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 lessons, if any, were learned.

The first detailed account of the Festina affair, which ripped apart the 1998 Tour de France and irrevocably changed cycling.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 lessons, if any, were learned.

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 biografía de Federico Martín Bahamontes, el primer ciclista español que ganó el Tour de Francia.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 clasificación de la montaña, se convirtió en un héroe nacional en una España que trataba de recuperarse después de la devastación y las atrocidades de la Guerra Civil. De hecho, su éxito se debió en gran parte a la guerra.Cuando la rebelión nacionalista del General Franco se alzó frente a la República elegida democráticamente en 1936, vastas zonas del país quedaron empobrecidas y desesperadas. Al borde de la inanición, el joven Bahamontes se dedicó al ciclismo como un medio para vender productos del mercado negro, antes de darse cuenta de que el deporte le ofrecía un futuro más lucrativo. Siguió una impresionante carrera amateur, que lo llevó a su debut en el Tour en 1954, cuando ganó la clasificación de la montaña en su primer intento. El éxito y un estilo de correr carismático, pero temperamental, le dieron fama en casa y en el extranjero, así como controversia.Hoy, a pesar de su apropiación por el franquismo, sigue siendo el padrino del ciclismo español y un excéntrico deportista con una fuerza de voluntad fenomenal. También es uno de los pocos testigos vivos de la época dorada del ciclismo y, como descubrió Alasdair Fotheringham cuando lo entrevistó para esta apasionante biografía, está más que listo para contarlo.