In Michael Blann's spectacular book of mountain photographs, Susannah Osborne writes: “... mountains are... where the sport's heroes are born, and crushed.” The amazing images, and personal stories from some of cycling's biggest stars perfectly illustrate this huge spectrum.

The wonderful words and pictures on the printed page made these books a welcome respite to reality in 2020.  My selection of the best cycling books for 2020 are diverse, reasonably priced, and, for those with awkward motor skills, easy to wrap.

No lockdown in the PEZ Gear Break: We have a special offer from Primal Wear to new shoes from Fizik, epic mountain climb prints, cycling furniture by Vadolibero, Santini's new Nibali clothing collection and masks from Scicon. Something for everyone.

Yet more exciting kit to keep you keen during these hours of 'lock down'. GORE are looking forward to summer with the mesh C7 jersey. Elite's JET water bottle for inside or out. INSCYD's power-performance decoder. Slime has an all-in-one tube repair kit. Train with Bardiani, powered by Selfloops and the new Mountains: Epic Cycling Climbs book.

Gift Guide’18 #5: Another mixed bag of great gift ideas in our 5th holiday guide. Marquee Caps from Walz, the Giro Cinder helmet with MIPS, fork mount rack by Küat, breathtaking images by Michael Blann, Scicon race rain bag, Range torque ratchet, Knog Oi bell, the new Riot Buckle shoes by BONT and Donnelly EMP gravel tires. There must be a gift here for the special cyclist in your life.