Missing Autobiographies

[MellowJohnny]

Just wondering about some notable 'missing' autobiographies from big name riders of the past and present. A few I can think of :

Greg Lemond
Chris Boardman
Jan Ullrich (though I understand there is a German version out there)

If anyone knows where I could find anything from the above or also add your own missing autobiographies, I'd be grateful.

 

[King Boonen]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Time-Trials-Life-Greg-LeMond/dp/0224071874 - For LeMond.

I've never been able to get hold of Hinault's Memories of the Peloton in English which I've been looking for for a while.

 

[MellowJohnny]

Yes I've seen the Time Trials book, but its unavailable, I might be right in thinking that it was pulled for having a number of inaccuracies. It does seem strange that for such a prominent figure in the sport there is no official biography from him. That said I understand he had a difficult childhood. I learnt a lot about him from slaying the badger.

Another guy I would like to see write a biography would be David Zabriskie. Would also like to find an English version of Michael Rasmussen's book.

 

[ferryman]

Re:

Yes I've seen the Time Trials book, but its unavailable, I might be right in thinking that it was pulled for having a number of inaccuracies. It does seem strange that for such a prominent figure in the sport there is no official biography from him. That said I understand he had a difficult childhood. I learnt a lot about him from slaying the badger.

Another guy I would like to see write a biography would be David Zabriskie. Would also like to find an English version of Michael Rasmussen's book.

Robert Millar. He annoyingly alluded to it on Bikeradar a few years ago that he was writing it but not heard anything since. Anyone heard any more?

 

[King Boonen]

If he's on the sportive in a couple of weeks I'll ask him!

 

[classicomano]

Evgeni Berzin autobiography is the only one im really interested in.

 

[KubaWinter]

Merckx. I think he told to Friebe during his work on the book that he's working on his own.

I've heard that Hinault's autobiography is a crap.

 

[Echoes]

Re:

I've never been able to get hold of Hinault's Memories of the Peloton in English which I've been looking for for a while.

I think I have it in French "Le peloton des souvenirs". It made me like the character better, to be honest. I remember he talked about his jobs before turning pro (working for a gas station or as a postman delivering the post on his bike at a time, bike wasn't really used anymore by delivery men). The case of a Dutch woman who came to his home to making love with, and he kicked her away or less fun the case of a suicidal man who came in his garden asking for help.

But one passage I have already quoted on these boards is this:

Il m’arrivait de ne pas suivre à la lettre les instructions de Cyrille Guimard. Ainsi, avant ce Tour de Lombardie que j’ai gagné, je n’avais pas du tout envie de m’entraîner. Le Guilloux passait bien me chercher, mais je trouvais toujours un bon prétexte pour ne pas l’accompagner ] J’ai entendu dire que je ne me suis jamais entraîné suffisamment, pas autant en tout cas que certains de mes prédécesseurs. Il n’est pas sûr pourtant qu’en m’entraînant davantage j’aie obtenu de meilleurs résultats.

It could happen that I didn't strictly abide by Guimard's orders. So, before that Giro di Lombardia [1979] that I won, I didn't feel like training at all. Le Guilloux could come and fetch me but I always found a good excuse not to accompany him. I used to chop wood, do DIY at home. I had probably made only one or two rides with him, no more. I still won it. [...] I've heard that I never trained enough, at least not as much as some of my predecessors. But it's not sure whether I would have had better results.

I think Fignon said in his book that he once had the balls to tell Hinault straight that he didn't train enough in winter (was probably the 1982 winter). Fignon the middle-class man despising the "yokel" Hinault.

I remember that quote because lately Hinault has kept on vilifying new generations of riders (Chavanel in particular) for not training hard enough while it sometimes happened that he did not take the trouble to train himelf.

 

[MellowJohnny]

Re: Re:

Yes I've seen the Time Trials book, but its unavailable, I might be right in thinking that it was pulled for having a number of inaccuracies. It does seem strange that for such a prominent figure in the sport there is no official biography from him. That said I understand he had a difficult childhood. I learnt a lot about him from slaying the badger.

Another guy I would like to see write a biography would be David Zabriskie. Would also like to find an English version of Michael Rasmussen's book.

Robert Millar. He annoyingly alluded to it on Bikeradar a few years ago that he was writing it but not heard anything since. Anyone heard any more?

I know Richard Moore has written a biography about Robert Millar named in search of Robert Millar, about as close as we will get I think.

 

[MellowJohnny]

Andreas Kloden

Rode the Peace Race and the Tour de France and nearly won it. Race with a lot of interesting team mates, Ullirch, Armstrong, Kloden. Was an outspoken critic of the German Cycling Federation.

 

[Damiano]

Just wondering about some notable 'missing' autobiographies from big name riders of the past and present. A few I can think of :

Greg Lemond
Chris Boardman
Jan Ullrich (though I understand there is a German version out there)

If anyone knows where I could find anything from the above or also add your own missing autobiographies, I'd be grateful.

Daniel Friebe is writing a book about Jan Ullrich. Release: Tour de France 2016: http://www.panmacmillan.com/News/February-2015/Macmillan-Sports

 

[screaming fist]

Ullrich's own book is really terrible by the way.

 

[MellowJohnny]

Just wondering about some notable 'missing' autobiographies from big name riders of the past and present. A few I can think of :

Greg Lemond
Chris Boardman
Jan Ullrich (though I understand there is a German version out there)

If anyone knows where I could find anything from the above or also add your own missing autobiographies, I'd be grateful.

Daniel Friebe is writing a book about Jan Ullrich. Release: Tour de France 2016: http://www.panmacmillan.com/News/February-2015/Macmillan-Sports

Thanks for that, I'll look forward to it

 

[jens_attacks]

i want to read about terminAitor.