Kings of the Mountains: How Colombia's Cycling Heroes Changed Their Nation's History [Illustrated] [Hardcover]

Matt Rendell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2002

For the first time Matthew Rendell tells the little-known story of a Latin American country in which cycling is the national sport, whose sportsmen, denied the enormous benefits of prosperity, cutting-edge technology and unlimited sponsorship, have nevertheless achieved prodigious cycling feats both at home and abroad, and helped to forge for Colombia a heroic national identity. He tells of how, during the fifties, Colombia's own top cycle race, the Vuelta de Colombia, was still being held on dusty, unpaved roads - with consequentially ghastly accidents; of how the first top European cyclists who came to race in Colombia found themselves utterly vanquished by its endless mountain climbs; of how the biography of Colombia's first cycling superstar was written by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Then, following the story through to the seventies and eighties, he shows how Colombia's cyclists began to make their mark abroad, even in the ultimate competition, the Tour de France - and, while they may have lacked the team discipline and the pace training to win the race itself, how to them the premier accolade was to become King of the Mountains, by beating everyone else in the Tour's most draining mountain stage. And he traces the gradual process whereby Colombia's irremediable political instability led to the rise of the cocaine cartels, and how, in the world of cycling, sponsorship and the simple desire to achieve the best became inextricably linked with the world of drug smuggling. Kings of the Mountains is a remarkable sports book about outstanding heroism and superhuman achievement, the natural follow-up to the literary interest in cycling generated by Lance Armstrong winning the William Hill.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The story of Colombia's great cycle race and the cycling heroes that have excelled in the sport where others have struggled. A tale of national identity and great determination.

About the Author

Matthew Rendell is a cycling journalist and TV producer for Channel Four's Tour de France coverage, whose Kings of the Mountains TV documentary about cycling in Colombia was highly praised.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 246 pages
• Publisher: Aurum Pr Ltd; illustrated edition edition (May 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1854108379
• ISBN-13: 978-1854108371
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,502,428 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Meticulous, elegant and sensitive, January 2, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Kings of the Mountains: How Colombia's Cycling Heroes Changed Their Nation's History (Paperback)

Meticulous, elegant and sensitive, Kings of the Mountains works both as a panegyric to the sporting heroes of a troubled land and as a more general meditation on motifs key to sport and to nationalism: politics, religion, pride, pain and glory.
The Times.

Thrilling reading... cleanly written, meticulously researched... This book unearths a fascinating national sporting history.
Times Literary Supplement.

Wonderfully evocative.
The Independent.

In turns funny, reflective and passionate, Kings of the Mountains is part cycling history, part travelogue and part social analysis... Essential reading.
Official Guide to the Tour de France.

A fascinating work of admirable scope and depth.
Cycle Sport.

Some story, worthy of the magical realism of Gabriel García Márques or Mario Vargas Llosa in its intricate layering of sport, social history and the vagaries of human nature.
Cycling Plus.

Matt Rendell was voted New Sports Writer 2003 by the National Sporting Club for "Kings of the Mountains."

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply Amazing, May 3, 2011

By 

Joseph M. Papp (Pittsburgh, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Kings of the Mountains: How Colombia's Cycling Heroes Changed Their Nation's History (Paperback)

Simply Amazing book that is without equal in the marketplace. Author's knowledge of professional cycling in general, and Colombian cycling in particular, is truly awesome. Possibly a niche-read (it is, after all, focused squarely on Colombian cycling heroes), but one that should appeal to any fan of the more exotic aspects of professional cycling's colorful history.