The Accidental Tour-Ist - by Ned Boulting (Hardcover)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

FROM THE WINNER OF THE SPORTS BOOK AWARDS 2024 CYCLING BOOK OF THE YEAR: 1923

'A fascinating and inspiring book ... An excellent read' - Phil Liggett MBE

In the follow up to the bestselling How I Won the Yellow Jumper and the award-winning 1923, this is a lap of honour for everything that Ned has been lucky enough to have experienced during his commentating career.

Join Ned once more as he brings his cycling stories up to the present day - full of recollections of chaotic, memorable and sometimes surreal encounters with all the key riders. While the Tour de France takes centre stage, his horizons expand far beyond its confines to take in races across Europe as well as to fascinating locations in the Middle East, China and Malaysia.

There are behind-the-scenes chapters on life at the Giro d'Italia; the growth of women's racing; forays into podcasting; replacing the great Phil Liggett as ITV's main commentator; the Flemish classics; and the life and times of Chris Froome and Mark Cavendish.

Ride along as Ned travels around the UK with a stage show about the Tour de France, and on the many days that he and David Millar have spent quixotically riding folding bikes up and down enormous mountains.

Review Quotes

"A very unique, insightful, mostly amusing and often hilarious perspective from a point of view that very few see and even fewer have the capacity to divulge to us all" --Cadel Evans

"A fascinating and inspiring book ... An excellent read" --Phil Liggett MBE

"The insight of a reporter and the passion of a fan, but still clear-eyed enough to take joy in pro-racing's absurdities and contradictions" --Michael Hutchinson, author of Faster

"A joyride of a journey" --David Millar

"Elegiac" --Alexei Sayle

"A mature, reflective affair... [Ned] is one of the most prolific writers of books in the cycling business" --BikeRadar

"An elegy for not just the career [Ned's] fashioned from cycling, but also the way we view sport, its personalities and their often short-lived careers." --The Observer

"Memorable" --Cyclist Magazine

"Exciting" --The Bookseller

"It invites us to gear up for the ride of our lives" --The Sunday Post

"Mature, reflective... impeccably timed" --Cycling Plus

About the Author