The Crooked Path to Victory exposes the dishonest ways to which bicycle racers and managers have resorted over the years in an lighthearted but thorough manner.Whether it's in pursuit of the Yellow Jersey of the Tour de France or the Rainbow Jersey of the World Champion, professional bicycle racing has not always been fair play all the way.From the early days on, the sport has attracted more than its share of cheats. In recent years, the use of doping, i.e. performance-enhancing drugs, has been getting increasing publicity, resulting in tightened controls--but also in more lies and denials.
Why would a man publish a picture of himself in the shower? Because this isn't an ordinary shower. It's one of the showers in which riders wash away the blood, grime and exhaustion at the end of Paris-Roubaix.
I've been a writer ever since my mother told me it was no fit job for a grown man. That, of course, was all the incentive I needed and I joined the staff of Cycling in its greatest days. And I've carried on writing ever since, a job I recommend because it rarely demands going out in the rain for hours. Unlike cycling, where it seems to happen an awful lot.
I've spent all my life unearthing strange stories and personalities behind the world's greatest and oddest sport. It's been a huge pleasure.
People seem to expect this sort of thing, so... I'm French, I live near Toulouse, I never much troubled judges at the end of road races beyond making them stand around in the cold when they wanted to go home, and I have thinning hair.
