Riding With The Rocketmen

One ageing journo’s journey on the shoulder of giants. Follow our author as he trains, rides and eats like the planet's toughest athletes, to conquer his very own Grand Tour.

'Humble and very funny' - Ned Boulting

'Essential reading for any Étape rider' - Daniel Friebe, co-host of The Cyclist Podcast

An Everyman dropped into the world of Supermen... Can this amateur cyclist complete L'Étape du Tour?

Tadej Pogacar has 7% body fat, Chris Froome’s resting heart rate is 30bpm, Mark Cavendish reaches sprint speeds of over 50mph. They’re super-human cyclists who ride 3,500km over 21 stages across the Alps and Pyrenees as a matter of course.

James Witts is 45 years old, fatty deposits have begun to nestle on his back and he has a penchant for craft ale. He also rides a little. But not a lot. In his job as cycling journalist, however, he does have unparalleled access to the world’s best riders and their expert support staff.

Which got him thinking: could spending time with the pros, discovering the training, gear and nutritional tricks of the trade, transform this back-of-the-pack sportive straggler into a fit-and-fast frontrunner?

In this entertaining and warm-hearted tale, Witts gains access to the world’s greatest teams and riders to reveal the tricks of the trade. Follow along as he trains, rides and eats using the regimes of the planet's toughest athletes, to conquer a stage of the Tour de France.

Will he sacrifice the pub for stamina-boosting beetroot juice? Can an altitude mask really send his performance soaring? And will his ego cope with a drag-cutting, little-left-to-the-imagination skinsuit?