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My Road To Victory, Stephen Roche (1987)
Stanley Paul and Co 0091737380 20 x 24.5cm 128pp £10.95
A slight, but enjoyable celebration of a golden year
 
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Few riders have had so golden a year as Roche did in 1987. Winning the
Tour the Giro and the World Championship is a feat only equally by Eddy
Merckx. There was little to distinguish the Irishman's career after he
had pulled on the Rainbow jersey, but to have scaled such heights for
even a few months is something few of us can even imagine.
This book was rushed out while his triumphs were still fresh. Each chapter
starts with a page of narrative, with the story taken up in fat captions.
It is a very partial story, starting at the beginning of the season and
concluding with the world championship. There are a few interesting notes
on Roche's tactics - or lack of them in Liege-Bastogne-Liege when he cat-and-moused
it down the finishing straight with Claude Criquielion, allowing Moreno
Argentin to appear from nowhere and power past them for the win.
The book would have gone a bit more editing. And the airy tone with
which Roche dismisses some of his opponents has more than a touch of hubris.
Graham Watson's pictures, however, are a treat to behold.
Laurent Fignon argues that the mid-1980s represent a turning point for
the sport of cycling - an innocent, slightly amateurish era before, a
more cynical, moneyed period thereafter. It is a tempting view to those
of us who look wistfully at this period. I suspect that it is a turning
point that could be detected at a great many points.
Turning point or no, there is much to enjoy in this book. Just one rider
that I can see is using clipless pedals. Carrera, 7-Eleven and Gewiss
strips' are joy to behold. And there are some intriguing curios. Criquielion
being injected at the roadside is a surprise. If such things do happen
today they certainly don't welcome photographers.
Roche was always among the most likeable professional cyclists and that
has not changed. This book is by no means the final word on the 1987 season
- but it is an enjoyable scrapbook nonetheless.
PS Oct 10
Enjoy this - then you might enjoy these...
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