This book would have been impossible without the cooperation of the Tour de France riders who feature on its pages. I am grateful to the following, listed in order of appearance, who all agreed to be interviewed: Chris Boardman, Bernard Hinault, Graham Jones, Sean Kelly, Wilfried Nelissen, Marc Sergeant, Joël Pelier, Mark Cavendish, Lance Armstrong, Frans Maassen, Leo van Vliet, Bernhard Eisel, Iban Mayo, Urs Zimmermann, José Luis Viejo, Stephen Roche, Andy Hampsten, Freddy Maertens, Eddy Merckx, Luis Herrera, Claudio Chiappucci, Bobby Julich, Jörg Jaksche, Andy Schleck, Maxime Monfort, David Millar and Greg LeMond. Thanks, too, to Luca Guercilena, Hilaire van der Schueren, Brian Nygaard and Shelley Verses. And to colleagues whose help has been invaluable. I am particularly indebted to Daniel Friebe, Lionel Birnie, Jan-Pieter De Vlieger, Raymond Kerckhoffs, Alain Laiseka, Klaus Bellon, Alasdair Fotheringham, Neal Rogers and Hector Urrego.

It was Iain MacGregor, an editor at Collins, who came up with the original idea for this book, and I am grateful to him, as I am to Rory Scarfe, who picked up the reins when Iain moved on, offering fantastic support and constructive feedback as my chapters began landing in his inbox. Thanks as ever to my agent, David Luxton, for his encouragement and calm reassurance. Finally, thank you for their loving support to my wife Virginie, and to the rest of my family, Brian, Jennifer, Robin, Peter, Iciar and Kena.