In the early 1990s British cycling was an irrelevance on the world stage on both road and track. Yet by the Beijing Olympics in 2008 it had turned itself into the most feared track squad in the sport. Four years later, in 2012, British Cycling and British riders would dominate the sport on both road and the London Olympic velodrome, thanks to the efforts to Team GB, Bradley Wiggins and Team Sky.
It was an unprecedented turnaround, driven by bold, visionary leadership from Peter Keen, Dave Brailsford, Shane Sutton, Chris Boardman, Steve Peters and a supporting cast of coaches and riders. But how was this astonishing transformation achieved? Was it a combination of good luck and Lottery funding? A happy meeting of minds?
And, as the Olympic and World championship medals were piled on top of Tour de France yellow jerseys, the questions started to pile up too. Was the regime at British Cycling a healthy one? Did staff and riders at Team Sky bend the rules to the point of breaking them? Were allegations of bullying, sexism and drug use well-founded? Was the culture at Team GB and Team Sky (later INEOS) as toxic as many accusers insisted?
This book will attempt to untangle the criss-crossing threads and intrigues of the period stretching from pre-Lottery funding chaos to post-2014 melt down, talking to all the major players through those ground-breaking, tumultuous years.
