I am a sprinter. And to understand why I was so good at it, you need to know that, mostly, people have got me wrong. Robbie McEwen's reputation as a 'competitive little bugger' and 'a bit of a hard bastard in the peloton' is well deserved. When he rode his last professional cycling race at the Tour of California in May 2012, he won the jersey for 'Most Courageous Rider'. Yet he is at pains to point out that what he has always been channelling is not rage or aggression but a fierce determination and razor-sharp focus.
Here, in his own words, Robbie reveals what has made him one of the most successful road cyclists of the last 20 years, winning over a hundred professional races and three Tour de France green jerseys. From his first professional racing team, Rabobank, right up to his last, Orica-GreenEDGE, this is the complete picture of the inimitable sprinter.
In a new Postscript to his acclaimed autobiography, Robbie reflects on the successes of GreenEDGE, the fledgling Australian professional team that made waves by winning the Tour Down Under in January 2012, to which he is now a technical adviser.
