Publisher - What's Cool In Road Cycling

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.

It's a sad time for Ed Hood, he should be in Italy for the Giro, but... As the 2021 Giro d'Italia starts later today, Ed has 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.

For someone just coming into the world of cyclesports, the terminology, concepts and history can perhaps be baffling. How can you win the Tour de France without winning a single stage? Who was the Eagle of Toledo? What is the Cima Coppi? When you ride tempo up the Alpe and the elastic snaps, does the Man With the Hammer come? Thanks to a lovely little book by Tom Bromley, all will be made clear.

Ed Hood has been in conversation with (lectured to) cycling's Nostradamus - Viktor. He's not impressed with the finals of Milan-Sanremo, Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, comes down hard on the older riders and Sky's ex doctor, plus the price of bikes these days!

It isn't far from Limburg in Holland for the Amstel Gold Race to Liège in the Wallonia region of Belgium (Berg en Terblijt is about 37km) for Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Peter Easton knows the region well, so who better to pass on his experience of La Doyenne.

Twenty years before the multi-million pound Sky Team rode the WorldTour, there was another 'ground breaking' British team that took on the Continentals in their own back-yard. The ANC team had its eventual problems, but it showed what was possible. One high point was Malcolm Elliott's 3rd place in the 1987 Amstel Gold Race.