Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been writing about cycling for 30 years and over that time I’ve become increasingly fascinated by the exploits of bike racers in the mountains and, above all, by this magnificent terrain itself. This ultimately led to my family leaving our home in the north of England and moving to the French Pyrenees, to a tiny hamlet that’s close to nowhere but is surrounded by mountains, where we can walk and ride endlessly through stunning countryside. I may not be French, but this is where I feel most at home.


I wrote

Climbers: How the Kings of the Mountains Conquered Cycling

By Peter Cossins,

Book cover of Climbers: How the Kings of the Mountains Conquered Cycling

What is my book about?

Drawing on reports covering more than a century of cycle sport as well as one-to-one interviews with some of the…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of Mountains of the Mind

Peter Cossins Why did I love this book?

I’ve been drawn to the mountains since I was a child and reading this book helped hugely in explaining my fascination with this terrain.

It details how man was initially fearful of the mountains and how that situation changed from the 17th century on, and looks at early attempts to explore and understand these highlands, with a particular focus on mountaineering. It’s beautifully written and very engaging.

By Robert Macfarlane,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Mountains of the Mind as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

WINNER OF THE GUARDIAN FIRST BOOK AWARD

Once we thought monsters lived there. In the Enlightenment we scaled them to commune with the sublime. Soon, we were racing to conquer their summits in the name of national pride.

In this ground-breaking, classic work, Robert Macfarlane takes us up into the mountains: to experience their shattering beauty, the fear and risk of adventure, and to explore the strange impulses that have for centuries lead us to the world's highest places.


Book cover of Higher Calling: Cycling's Obsession with Mountains

Peter Cossins Why did I love this book?

I did a short promotional book tour with Max and was enthralled by his descriptions of road cycling’s obsession with the mountains.

I read his book subsequently and was equally captivated, particularly by his travels in remote areas of the southern French Alps and on Bonette-Restefond pass, the highest road pass in Europe.

By Max Leonard,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Higher Calling as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Why do road cyclists go to the mountains? Many books tell you where the mountains are, or how long and how high. None of them ask 'Why?'

After all, cycling up a mountain is hard - so hard that, to many non-cyclists, it can seem absurd. But, for some, climbing a mountain gracefully (and beating your competitors up the slope) represents the pinnacle of cycling achievement. The mountains are where legends are forged and cycling's greats make their names.

Why are Europe's mountain ranges professional cycling's Wembley Stadium or its Colosseum? Why do amateurs also make a pilgrimage to these…


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Book cover of Doctors at War: The Clandestine Battle against the Nazi Occupation of France

Doctors at War by Ellen Hampton,

Doctors at War: The Clandestine Battle against the Nazi Occupation of France takes readers into the moral labyrinth of the Occupation years, 1940-45, to examine how the medical community dealt with the evil authority imposed on them. Anti-Jewish laws prevented many doctors from practicing, inspiring many to form secret medical…

Book cover of Gironimo! Riding the Very Terrible 1914 Tour of Italy

Peter Cossins Why did I love this book?

Tim has long been one of the funniest writers to cover the cycling scene and its many quirks.

All of his books are very readable, but this one stands out for me because it gets to the heart of the horrendous difficulties and dangers that riders in the early 20th century faced when racing in the mountains.

Tim follows the route of the 1914 Giro d’Italia, and does so on a bike from that era. His tales of how he came by bike and then builds up are hilariously recounted, then lead into the ride itself on what is widely recognized as the toughest multi-day race the sport has ever seen, only eight of 81 starters finishing the event. It’s laugh-out-loud funny.

By Tim Moore,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Gironimo! Riding the Very Terrible 1914 Tour of Italy as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The 1914 Giro d’Italia: The hardest bike race in history. Eighty-one riders started and only eight finished after enduring cataclysmic storms, roads strewn with nails, and even the loss of an eye by one competitor. And now Tim Moore is going to ride it. And he’s committed to total authenticity. . .

Twelve years after Tim Moore toiled around the route of the Tour de France, he senses his achievement being undermined by the truth about 'Horrid Lance'. His rash response is to take on a fearsome challenge from an age of untarnished heroes: the notorious 1914 Giro d'Italia. History's…


Book cover of Ventoux: Sacrifice and Suffering on the Giant of Provence

Peter Cossins Why did I love this book?

Written by my oldest friend within the cycling press corps, this book focuses on the most feared and infamous mountain in professional bike racing.

The Ventoux literally stands apart, located right at the end of a chain of peaks that runs from the Alps to the very edge of the Rhône valley. Its lunar surface is raked by the violent Mistral wind that blows down the valley from the north and baked by blistering heat in the summer. It’s seen death, heroics and always produces a gripping contest.

Jeremy’s book has a personal side too, as he’s long had a home just to the south of the mountain and he offers an insider’s perspective on this unique peak.

By Jeremy Whittle,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Ventoux as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'They're all scared. Everybody's afraid' - Eddy Merckx
'Nothing compares to the Ventoux' - Lance Armstrong
'Heart-stirring and jaw-dropping in equal measure' - Tim Moore
'A really excellent book' - Richard Williams

The French call Ventoux 'the killer mountain' and in 1967 it claimed its most famous victim, as former world champion Tom Simpson died near the summit during that year's Tour de France. The terrible ascent of Ventoux's south side encapsulates both the brutality and beauty of this cruel sport, but also highlights cycling's ongoing battle to distance itself from its demons.

Yet it was the legendary and extreme…


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Book cover of Radical Friend: Amy Kirby Post and Her Activist Worlds

Radical Friend by Nancy A. Hewitt,

Radical Friend highlights the remarkable life of Amy Kirby Post, a nineteenth-century abolitionist and women's rights activist who created deep friendships across the color line to promote social justice. Her relationships with Frederick Douglass, Harriet Jacobs, Sojourner Truth, William C. Nell, and other Black activists from the 1840s to the…

Book cover of The Giro d'Italia: Coppi vs. Bartali at the 1949 Tour of Italy

Peter Cossins Why did I love this book?

This book recounts the epic battle between long-time rivals Gino Bartali and Fausto Coppi at the 1949 Giro d’Italia.

Buzzati was a journalist and novelist, and he depicts this duel beautifully as the race travels through a country that’s still ravaged by and coming to terms with the devastation caused during World War Two.

By Dino Buzatti,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Giro d'Italia as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This is the first account of Giro d''Italia p ublished in English which includes maps and illustrations of the legendary 1949 Tour of Italy. '


Explore my book 😀

Climbers: How the Kings of the Mountains Conquered Cycling

By Peter Cossins,

Book cover of Climbers: How the Kings of the Mountains Conquered Cycling

What is my book about?

Drawing on reports covering more than a century of cycle sport as well as one-to-one interviews with some of the greatest climbers of recent times including Tadej Pogačar, Dan Martin, Philippa York, Jonas Vingegaard, and Ashleigh Moolman Pasio, Climbers offers a comprehensive perspective of the most enthralling of bike racers, the sport’s artists on two wheels.

Relive iconic stages, revel in tales of incredible characters, and understand the passion and pain of these high-rise performers in the sport’s most majestic and forbidding arenas.

Book cover of Mountains of the Mind
Book cover of Higher Calling: Cycling's Obsession with Mountains
Book cover of Gironimo! Riding the Very Terrible 1914 Tour of Italy

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