Product Description

Bradley Wiggins is the son of a professional cyclist and he first competed at twelve, and immediately knew that this was what he wanted to do for his career. By the age of twenty, he won his first Olympic medal, in Sydney, before turning to professional road cycling in 2001. Since then Wiggins has developed into one of the UK's most successful cyclists of all time, winning a gold in Athens and double gold in Beijing. However, it was when his team Cofidis was suspended from the 2007 Tour de France that he made his most outspoken comments yet on the issue of doping in cycling, and earned the respect of all followers of sport for his stand. Wiggins is an inspirational figure to many: immensely talented, dedicated and cool, he has brought his sport to a whole new audience and was awarded the OBE in 2004 for his efforts. This honest and compelling account of his life and career not only reveals the sheer hard work required to get to the very top, but also provide a fascinating and controversial insight into the sometimes murky world of cycling.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #369 in Books
• Published on: 2009-09-24
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Review
'Wiggins has a tough story to tell and he does it with an honesty that disregards embarrassment and pain' (Nick Pitt SUNDAY TIMES )

'an inspiring tale of dedication and perseverance that doesn't shy away from the lows, such as his team's controversial suspension from the 2007 Tour' (BIG ISSUE IN THE NORTH )

About the Author
Bradley Wiggins is the Olympic gold-medal winning cyclist who has achieved all there is to achieve in his sport. After his outspoken comments on drug taking in the Tour de France in 2007, he went on to win two gold medals at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

Customer Reviews

Not perfect... but two golds out of three isn't bad!
The first thing to say is I enjoyed this book a lot - I mean it was the one I keep picking up in preference to any of the others in the stack! Is this because I am a bike-nut? Well, I will try to be objective...

Mr. Wiggins gives a brave and honest account of his life - in particular he gives a frank account of his relationship with his father who walked out and lost all contact when Bradley was a mere three years old, an act the 'father' had performed with a former wife and child and would repeat a third time. This same father, a tough Aussie, did leave his mark though - as a cycling legend there is no doubting where Brad got his inspiration and perhaps his talent also. Certainly a mixed blessing - even the 'suspicious' death of Gary Wiggins adds weight to his son's emotional burden.

Brad is also open about his prolonged bout of drinking following his gold medal win in Athens. So certainly a life with bumps. To balance all the negative aspects he can credit the English half of his family for their support and the affection he shares with his own wife and kids.

And all of this is important as it becomes clear - at the top of sporting achievement mental strength and well-being are as important as their physical counterparts.

There are a few insights into the complex world of cycling (Bradley is involved in both road and track racing) and the magical set-up of Team UK. A little too much of race schedules - which won't mean much to anyone not present. And a little too much of thanking people - touching, but reads like an extended acceptance speech!

Cycling is not, thankfully, a dull sport! The book is saved by capturing sufficient of the build-up and the actual race tension.

Of course the question I wanted an answer to was why the two gold medals from Beijing was not three? That may seem mean, but Wiggins was chosen for three events with good reason, in fact it would have been unreasonable had he not been selected for all three, and all expectations were for three golds. But equally, in the circumstances, is it reasonable to expect one individual to produce world-beating times day after day after day? And if the Olympics want to show the best athletes can produce, is this the way to organize things? In any case, Wiggins is certainly entitled to his defense - if ever winning only two gold medals needs one!

I wanted to know the character of Bradley Wiggins better and this book, despite its limitations, obliged. His reputation may not glitter like some, but as a working-class boy who never claims to be more than an average bloke he has achieved one hell of a lot, and I will keep on applauding him for that.

Some of the photos are pretty cool too!

A good Insight
Ghosted biographies of incomplete sports careers can be disappointing but I was tempted into buying this after reading an article about Bradley in the Sunday Times. Whilst Bradley is not keen to explore his childhood in any great depth he does open some doors on his inner life and in particular the issues surrounding his non relationship with his father who left him very early in his life to be raised by his mother, his grandparents and a step father. It is what Bradly doesn't give away to his ghost writer that is the most interesting from a psychological perspective. Taking to drink following his success in winning the gold at Athens is fascinating as is his refocusing upon a new career on the raod before coming back into the high performance culture of Team GB again as he builds towards his further successes in Beijing. Perhaps Bradley will further expand upon his life more fully after he competes at London in 2012 in which we will all hope he has further successes as by medal count he is already a highly successful Olympian. Not a five-star read but I was not disapponted. This is an insight into a champion who has wrestled with his personality and a number of psycholgical issues.

Disappointing
A disappointing book for me. Having read a few excellent sporting books by Richard Moore and Matt Rendell about modern professional cycling I had hopes that this would provide some insights into the new wave of talent and the way in which cycling is heading. Sadly no. The description of the recent Olympic races were absorbing and passionate (all three stars are for the tail end of the book!), however the rest is rather dull. A chronological list of events and encountered people without any real analysis to give a deeper understanding. The death of Wiggins' father hangs over the book too heavily, and the drinking binges are not that interesting to read about even if they are things that Bradley is trying to work through. For a real understanding of the spectacular success of Britain's track cyclists read Moore's 'Heroes, Villains and Velodromes'. I love Wiggins as a cyclist and one day I'm sure that he will deserve a biography to be written, but this one is too soon and incomplete. It reeks of all those footballers 'auto'biographies, cashing in on current glories.