Cycling’s comprehensive and definitive review, The Road Book 2021, is now available to re-cap a historic year for professional cycling.
The fourth edition of the cycling almanack is packed with race reports, quirky statistic, and infographics from the entire calendar of the men and women’s World Tour, the Olympics, Paralympics and, for the first time ever, Cyclo-Cross.
Edited by Ned Boulting the Road Book provides exclusive first-hand ‘In the Winner’s Words’ accounts from the riders themselves. This includes: Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar, Olympic cross-country mountain bike champion Tom Pidcock, Team GB’s most successful Paralympian Dame Sarah Storey and Paris-Roubaix winner Lizzie Deignan.
The Road Book is billed as a must have for any pro cycling enthusiast and is available to purchase for £50 exclusively through theroadbook.co.uk. The first 999 orders will receive a numbered limited-edition copy signed by the editor, Ned Boulting.
Essays include ‘The end is where we start from’, Kit Nicholson’s account of Mark Cavendish’s return to his triumphant best and a record equalling 34th stage win at the Tour de France. Dan Martin’s ‘Completing the set’ sees the multiple Grand Tour stage winner provide a candid, amusing and honest account of his final Giro d’Italia.
Ned Boulting, Road Book Editor, said “Creating the Road Book is a year-long endeavour. Not knowing what shape each season will take, or for what it will ultimately be remembered is, for me, its great fascination.
“No two years are alike; and never has this been more true than now. What we are witnessing in road racing across the board is genuinely historic. People will look back on these years with justifiable fascination.”
The 2021 edition also crowns the winners of the Road Book Awards. Here, 10 judges from across the world of cycling debated and carefully selected the winners of the six annual categories:
Riders of the Year 2021
Male Rider of the Year: Julian Alaphilippe
Female Rider of the Year: Lizzie Deignan
Young Male Rider of the Year: Jonas Vingegard
Young Female Rider of the Year: Elisa Balsamo
Male Combative Rider of the Year: Julian Alaphilippe
Female Combative Rider of the Year: Elisa Longo Borghini
Judges
Nicolas Roche, Sean Kelly, Phil Liggett, Christian Prudhomme, Marion Rousse, Robbie McEwen, Rolf Sorensen, David Millar, Orla Chennaoui and Rochelle Gilmore.
