The Climb: The Autobiography

Chris Froome readily admits in 'The Climb' that he is a reserved character - as is ex-teammate Bradley Wiggins, who by the kindle X-ray count is mentioned almost 400 times. Hence one must shell out odd-teen currency units for what they can't tell us through the cycling media. Deciding whose story to read first was fairly simple, given that Froome is a more prolific road cyclist, which is my primary interest. I had planned to read Wiggins' perspective at some point for fairness but Froome argues their conflict was an invention of the media. Best quote on Wiggins - "We love the impressions [of other people] but I think sometimes we all wish that Brad would give us more of an impression of himself."'The Climb' could be simplified into two parts narrative-wise: before and after Froome's uptick in performance following his treatments for bilharzia in 2011. His early days in Africa and as a neo-pro in Europe are funny and inspirational, whereas the blow-by-blow of literally every stage of the three Tours de France he contested at the time of writing makes for duller reading. The tone is consistently funny and self-effacing, but the content becomes a rewording of his race diaries, which could be impossible to follow for non-cycling addicts who didn't watch the 2012 and 2013 editions of le Tour. It is worthwhile to hear that behind the immaculate Rapha kits Team 'Skyborg' has a beating heart. Richie Porte gets around 150 mentions, right behind Chris Froome's Kenyan mentor David Kinjah, which should demonstrate the importance of their 'Richie Froome' symbioticism (all credit to Paul Sherwen). It will be interesting to see how Froome does without Porte as his teammate in 2016.All told, Froome is the hero cycling needs right now but it is as if nobody wants to take up that message. Quoth Arthur C. Clarke, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." Says Froome, "I believe the prevalence of cheating and the fatalistic belief that 'everybody' was doing it retarded the progress of clean science in cycling training." It isn't a huge leap to say that 'marginal gains' and sports science is indistinguishable from doping's performance gains. But for now the peformance narrative is all legacy of the 2012 USADA decision against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, which is that's what the general public will think of the sport for quite some time. Yet Chris Froome's closing words upon his first Tour de France victory in 2013 ring true: "this is one yellow jersey that will stand the test of time." It's a shame the general public wasn't listening.

I bought this after Froome won his 3rd Tour de France title in a row this year. I'm not finished with the book yet, but I've been very pleasantly surprised with the book so far. I'm not sure whether the author had help in writing the book, but it is quite well-written and sounds very authentic. On top of that Froome is pretty obviously an intelligent and thoughtful person who happens to be a world-class cyclist with an extremely unusual and (to my way of thinking) interesting early life. Born and raised in Kenya, tutored by native Kenyan cyclists, fluent in Swahili and maybe other African languages. Froome was bitten by the cycling bug early and had the kind of inner passion that took him from very, very humble beginnings to the pinnacle of the cycling world. I started to appreciate his cycling ability much more after the 2016 TDF stages where he pulled off some very exciting and non-typical rides: winning a stage with a daring and risky surprise attack after cresting a long climb and then battling a breakaway group and going head-to-head with Peter Sagan for miles at the end of a stage--which he lost, but not by much. This guy can ride a bike with the best of them and has written a superlative account of how he got to where he is. Head and shoulders above 99% of sports bio's/auto-bio's. Highly recommended.STP

I am an avid cyclist and have been a participant and fan of the sport since the late 1960's. In recent years there have been a spate of books written about the sport by active and former professionals. The code of silence has been broken and many of the books that have emerged in the past few years have truly exposed the inner workings of professional cycling - the good, bad, and ugly.There is no antidote to cynicism and its not possible to prove a negative, which means fine individuals smeared with the same suspicion as genuine scoundrels. The emergence of Chris Froome from apparent obscurity to the top ranks of cycling has been put forth as a reason for suspicion. Yet when you read this fine autobiography his path to his current status is perfectly clear and reasonable. If anything he's written, given his stature, simply didn't happen, the falsehoods would have been exposed within days of its publication.Chris Froome is a remarkable person with an amazing personal story and the inside story of some of the events that cycling fans have followed closely for the past 5 years or so is fascinating. Let's put it this way: having read his book will make this year's Tour de France far more interesting, if he survives - and if you read his story you will appreciate what a long shot his success will be if he achieves it. An inspiring story combined with an excellent tutorial on contemporary sport cycling.

I have read many of cycling books, triathlon books, and running books. If I had to recommend one book for cycling, this would be it! Chris Froome's story is amazing and his attitude is as pure as they come. I very rarely read books at lightning speed, but this book was an exception. Reading this gives you an insight to the world of the mind of a great champion. And, not just a Tour de France champion, but a champion of life. While Froome endeavors to win races, he doesn't let that desire taint him as a person. He is much more concerned with being a good person instead and not tarnishing the lives of those around him. He is what cycling needs right now. This pureness, insight, and maturity is what is needed in all of sports and in life. Unlike other books which I've read and felt like I was being duped (to only find out later that I was), my instinct doesn't feel this way here. But, all this aside, this is a great book if you like cycling! And, I should add I a also a Wiggo fan too. But, nevertheless a good book and highly recommended!Also, I don't know why people are complaining about the price who haven't read it and putting it down in the review section. It was worth every penny to me.

Excelente libro

ほとんどのプロサイクリストとは全く違う背景をもつフルーム選手のストーリーです。残念ながら日本語には翻訳されていないみたいですが、英語が読め、サイクリングに関心を持ちの方には大変おすすめします。話もそうですが、書き方も非常に面白いです。具体的な内容はばらしたくないですが、たくさん笑っただけではなくサイクリストとしても刺激となりました。輸入品であっても、値段が低く、郵送も2週間しかかかりませんので、購入することで損はしません！

Great cycling book, not well written, but HONEST and raw which is what I really liked! A cyclist I can trust!

Great Book, could not put this book down! From start to finish Loved it. Easy to read.

Libro para los aficionados al ciclismo. Encuadernado en tapa blanda. Presenta algunas fotos a color en el interior. En inglés. Envío perfecto como es habitual con amazon.