Anquetil, Alone

<p><b>Shortlisted for the Sports Book Awards 2018 for Biography of the Year and Cycling Book of the Year </b><br><i></i><br><i>There are things he does alone and things that he alone does.</i></p><p>Jacques Anquetil was a cyclist with an aristocratic demeanor and a relaxed attitude to rules and morals. His womanising and frank admissions of doping appalled 1960s French society even as his five Tour de France wins enthralled it. </p><p>Paul Fournel was besotted with him from the start ("Too young to understand I was nevertheless old enough to admire") and followed Anquetil's career with the passion of a fan and the eye of a poet. </p><p>In this stunningly original biography of a complex and divisive character Fournel - author of the seminal <i>Vélo</i> (or <i>Need for the Bike</i>)- blends the story of Anquetil's life with scenes from his own to create a classic of cycling literature.</p>>