Publisher - What's Cool In Road Cycling

Dear Readers & PEZ-Fans...  I write this post with a heavy heart, and to humbly ask for your help to support our dear friend and beloved colleague Ed Hood.  Ed suffered a devastating stroke in February of this year, and faces an uncertain future.

Don't be misled by the title of this excellent book. “Pantana Was A God” is not a panegyric, a worshipful recounting of the life of the last pro cyclist to win the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France in the same year. It is two books in one - a masterful look at when Pantani triumphed, and brief remembrances by those who knew him.

As the 2021 Giro d'Italia was about to start, Ed Hood had his Giro photo album out to compile his personal 'Alternative A to Z' of the Italian Grand Tour. We love the Giro and Ed knows the race better than most, take note of his (near) complete guide to everything Giro.

"Le Loop" is a UK-based organization that brings amateur cyclists to France each year for the opportunity to ride the route of that year's Tour, in whole or in part, a week before the pros come through. This not only gives enthusiasts a real sports challenge, but serves to raise funds for the William Wales Memorial Trust.

Roadside: Maybe I don't have the words, perhaps it needs one of the old time journos, a JB Wadley or a Marcel de Leener - they could express things in the terms required for an epic such as this. But at the same time, whilst the organizers have created a grand spectacle, a saga out of Norse Legend, is it still sport? Does it go beyond that to sadism or freak show?

Thanks to “Maglia Rosa: Triumph and Tragedy at the Giro d’Italia” by British author/Italian resident Herbie Sykes we have not only an English-language history of the Giro d’Italia, which is in itself distressingly rare, but an extraordinarily entertaining book.