Most sporting biographies and autobiographies are highly predictable and have a limited shelflife. They work on our desire to re-live great moments that we witnessed from near or far, and provide at best a pretty limited insight into the behind-the-scenes of the sport, preferring a simple inspirational arc over anything more substantial. Nicole Cooke's Breakaway is in a different class from these formulaic books and is by far and away the most compelling sports book I have read in recent years. To someone who loves most sports and loves cycling in particular, it is hugely refreshing to read such a direct account of what it took for Cooke to become arguably the most successful British cyclist of all time. Some cycling books can read like annotated training manuals but Cooke conveys the careful preparation for her racing evocatively and how even as a schoolgirl she constructed cycle rides to school to take in terrain matching an upcoming race. In part she is able to give such insights into preparation because she was so direclty involved in it. In sharp contrast to her male contemporaries, Cooke's success was achieved without the insitutional backing and support structures of British Cycling helping and guiding her every move. In fact, Cooke's story has more in common with someone like Graham Obree, the Scot who fought out the hour record with Chris Boardman and twice wone the World Pursuit title in the 90s against the obstructuions placed in his way by cylcing's national and international bodies. Yet for all the inspirational qualities of Obree's success his talent was the ingenuity of his bike design and his dedication in turning himself into the perfect machine to power that bike in the purest form of track cycling. While Cooke won time trialling and MTB titles it was in the discipines of road racing, both one day and grand tour stage racing- where most cycling fans would acknowledge, as the most demanding stage for cycle sport - that Cooke triumphed. Cooke's account of racing are riveting, giving by far the best account of the tactical challenges of this art from that I have read and demonstrating both her strategic nous and utter committment to laying everything on the line.
We might wonder why an athlete of the talent and acheivement of Cooke has not been more celebrated. This book provides an insight into the way in which the growth of British Cycling from the end of the 90s in the wake of National Lottery funding creted an institution that failed to recognise, support or even welcome the emergence of a hugely talented and dedicated indidvidual who knew what she wanted and how to acheive it. Parts of this story will be familiar to anyone with experience of a large organisation where all too often layers of managment feel threatened by the ideas coming from those beneath them. Anyone who has read Victoria Pendleton's excelllent autobiography will know the difficulties British Cycling had in supporting a female track champion, when their priorities and culture so strongly focused on the male squad. It is sad to read how neglectful they, and other cycling bodies, have been in supporting an athlete such as Cooke who had proved her abilities on the highest stage from the earliest age. Many will also recognise how Cooke's criticisms and refusal to back down led to her being branded "difficult" but the extent of the obstructions put in her way at times really appear remarkable - typifiied by the megalomania of British Cycling's contractual clause stating all athletes must do everthing the BC coach says without exception or right to appeal, whiel at the same time they could find no qualified coach. This book is searing account of howinstitutions tell stories to themselves they too readily come to beleive and how important it is that we listen to critical voices.
This is never more true than in the case of Doping, the great blight on sport that threatens to overshadow all acheivement in cycling. There have been some great whistleblower books on doping in cycling, a sport that tests physcial extremes in a way that makes it particulalrly vulnerable to Peformance Enhacing Drugs. The classic account of the betrayal of the sport by drugtaking remains Paul Kimmage's Rough Ride on the disillusionment of a cyclist's dreams. Yet Kimmage was a domestique in the 80s, before EPO took distortion of sporting acheivement to another level. Cooke's acoount is of a winner who called out doping and dopers throughout her career and comes out of it with more integrity than most.
As someone who has followed David Millar and read his autobiography I found her condemnation of all dopers unforgiving - but that it is because it is unsentimental and difficult. It has the huge merit of having complete integrity. I am one of those who bought and read avidly Tyler Hamilton's The Secret Race - eager to see the obvious myths of Armstrong's "just doing it" publicly exposed. But Cooke rightly exposes the further lazy hypocrisy of those who cheat and are rewarded for it both before they are exposed and afterwards in their confessional acconts. Doping is a crime whose victims are numerous and where most sporting biographies steer clear of the diffficult stuff, Cooke unflinchingly confronts and calls out a sport she cares about.
This a brave book.And a fair one. It is easy for the directness of her criticisms to be mis-represented. But she is generous about opponents, acknoweldges her own weaknesses, and enormously appreciative of he efforts of those who helped her acheive success - even those who had earlier been an obstacle in her way. Cycling, and sport in general, needs people like Cooke who are prepared to stand up to bullying, and refuse to accept compromising the integrity of a sport. It is also a brave book because Cooke was a brave cyclist, as anyone who saw her triumph in the uphill finish at the storm-hit Beijing Olympics Road Race can attest. After what she has acheived and what she represents Cooke and her voice should not be left out in the cold.
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Damaged
The book that i received was damaged, unfortunately can't send it back as I need it for research today. Great read so far though from an inspiring women.
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- Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 3 August 2015
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Top reviews from other countries
- I. EvansReviewed in the United States on 16 August 2014
Such an honest book. I don't believe all that ...
- rob jamesReviewed in Canada on 22 October 2016
Outstanding book, very well written,
- Marty HendersonReviewed in Australia on 25 September 2014
Buy it, read it, be inspired.
- Katherine GIllReviewed in the United States on 1 July 2016
Great insight into the history and state of British Cycling
