Featuring over 1000 pages of exclusive unrivalled data and infographics from every professional race in the men’s and women’s calendar, the Road Book 2023 also includes unique personal insights from cycling experts and riders who experienced it all. Keep scrolling to discover who contributed this year.
MARK CAVENDISH, VICTOR CAMPENAERTS, DEMI VOLLERING and LOTTE KOPECKY
- Every year in The Road Book we feature a section called ‘In The Winner’s Words’, cyclists documenting in their own words some of their greatest victories. We’ve had amazing names contributing down the years, and this year, one of the greatest has weighed in.
GILES BELBIN
-Freelance journalist and author of five books on cycling, Giles has written: "Yvonne Reynders' Table", a fabulous piece on the four-time Road Cycling World Champion. Belbin unravels the story of how in 2005 a restaurant owner named Paul van Bommel, an old book found in the corner of a bookstore and a table helped bring Yvonne Reynders back into the spotlight, where she belongs as one of cycling's living legends.
BRIAN NYGAARD
-Danish journalist, contributor to 'The Cycling Podcast' and former press officer for Team Sky, Nygaard is an authoritative voice on the inner workings of cycling. His piece "Between Roglič and My Heart's Place" is a love letter to Tirreno-Adriatico, filled with passion, adoration and an analysis of Primož Roglič's performance at 2023's edition.
CALLUM DEVEREUX
-A writer and aspiring journalist currently undertaking a degree in Scandinavian Studies and Politics at the University of Edinburgh alongside contributing to Kate Wagner's Derailleur. Devereux's "Uno-X, The Humble Aggressors" is a masterful Road Book debut, taking on such daunting topics as sports-washing, the history of Scandinavia's relationship with cycling and an in-depth analysis of Uno-X's first Tour de France appearance; an dispatching them with consummate ease.
LIZZIE DEIGNAN
-Mother, Former World Champion, Olympic silver medallist, four-time British national champion and winner of three monuments, Lizzie is one of the most accomplished cyclists alive. In her piece "The Second Comeback", Lizzie discusses the qualms that come with returning to a sporting career post pregnancy, the few exceptional riders that are ‘freakishly’ good, among the difficulties of racing and the ability to be able to adjust to last minute race changes.
IAN TRELOAR
-A Melbourne-based journalist whose coverage of cycling includes long-form investigative features, essays, podcasts and reporting from races including the Tour de France. Treloar's "The Burden of Being Thibaut" looks back through the career of the most romantic, and tragic figure of all Frenchmen: Thibaut Pinot. He explores what went wrong, what went right and whether we would change any of it, for we do love him so.
KATE WAGNER
-A writer with many strings to their bow, Kate Wagner is best known for her long-form profiles, narrative nonfiction, and first-person experiential writing. She runs the newsletter Derailleur and is a lecturer in art history at the University of Chicago. In her essay "The Pogačar Complex", Wagner unpicks the curious phenomenon of Tadej's role as Slovenian cycling's 'Second Son' behind Roglič. Wagner argues that Pogačar's defeat at the Tour de France, and his dedication to securing the legacy of Slovenian cycling has shown him as he truly is. A brazen banner of defiance to the micromanaged and over-scientific paradigm that is modern cycling. He rides on emotion, because he loves it and because he can. Pogačar is now an underdog.
KATY MADGWICK
-A journalist and writer of many talents, Katy Madgwick has written for many of cycling's best renowned publications such as Rouleur, Cyclist, Eurosport and Cycling News; alongside covering football, ice hockey and the bizarre spectacle of roller derby. Katy's essay "Cross My Heart: The Rivals in the Mud" describes a new era in cycling, where many of the upcoming road racers are also competitive in other disciplines too – Mathieu van der Poel, Tom Pidcock, Wout van Aert, Fem van Empel, Puck Pieterse and Shirin van Amrooij. This cyclo-cross season was like a series from Blockbuster, a thrilling selection of events taking place, competitors battling for the top step and seconds upon seconds, to build them up for the overall win.
MARIJN DE VRIES
-The Dutch journalist and former professional cyclist has penned a piece for The Road Book titled "A Rider by Conviction: The Contradictions of Being Marlen Reusser". Marijn dissects Marlen Reusser's, extroadinary background from entering politics as a 16-year old to riding at the very highest level and her commitment to climate activism. It is a life like no other, and a career which has taken a unique path.