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the road book-a cycling almanack. edited by ned boulting with cillian kelly. road book publishing. 896pp illus. £50

the road book - boulting, kelly

there will no doubt be sharp intakes of breath when i inform you that i have an o-level in statistics, a word that several of my classmates had great difficulty in even pronuncing correctly. allegedly, therefore, i am able to regale any agglomeration of individuals as to the intricacies of the arithmetic or geometric mean, point out the efficacy of either the median or the mode while intelligently discussing the three axioms of probability. thankfully, i do not recall learning any of the above principles, preferring instead to rely on inspired guesswork or ignoring the problem in the hope that it might go away.

but, in a manner similar to the obsession we all display regarding the velocipede and its immediate surroundings, there are those who display all the same symptoms towards statistics. heck, there's even an office for national statistics, producing a wide range of mostly incoherent and unintelligible (to me at least) figures relating to economics, society and population. yet we may all have come into contact with this mathematical discipline through the latter aspect of the phrase 'lies, damn lies, statistics and marketing'. politicians are generally in thrall to such numbers, if only on the basis that interpretation appears to be 9/10ths of the law; you can use statistics to prove pretty much everything.

who amongst us has not witnessed product advertisements on the telly, claiming that 85% of customers agreed, only to discover that the sample from which the percentage was gleaned, numbered only 54? i tend to side with graeme obree, who once told me that 92% of all statistics were made up on the spot.

i fear it would be overstating the case to infer that statistical representations, even when presented in a graphic and colourful manner are intrinsically interesting to anyone other than the perpetrator. but that's not to say that the world would be a better place were it bereft of statistics and if proof were required, perhaps the finest place to begin would be the newly released road book, edited by ned boulting with statistical assistance from cillian kelly, a software developer who is a contributor to the highly respected velocast and a total geek when it comes to acquiring statistics relating to cycling's competitive milieu.

if that post ride coffee-shop discussion dissolves into a heated argument over who took the points jersey in last january's 'la tropicale amissa bongo', the wind speed and direction on stage one of the 'vuelta a san juan' or whether there actually is such a thing as the 'gp industria & artigianato', cillian kelly's your man. to imply that a colossal book such as this contains the results of every official race that took place on the 2018 international calendar is actually not that hard to believe, but i really wouldn't want to have been the individual responsible for fact checking and proof reading.

however, having introduced the subject of statistics with less than overriding enthusiasm, it would be true to say that not everyone will find themselves compulsively glued to each and every one of the book's 896 pages. at least, that would surely be the case were it true that each and every page turn brought even more lists of names and numbers allied to the year's competitive realm. judiciously, mr boulting has decreed that cillian's numerical prowess be interspersed with highly entertaining essays. despite the road book's £50 price tag, i'd be inclined to argue that those essays are worth the price of admission alone.

education first directeur sportif, tom southam explains why modern-day cycle racing is a tad different than was once the case, while philippa york offers her thoughts on why being number one in the team may or may not be all it's cracked up to be. meanwhile, regular contributor to rouleur, morten okbo provides a dane's insight into what we brits need to learn about winning. there are also brief appearances by chris froome and geraint thomas, while ned boulting offers an overview of the season we've just witnessed. harry pearson explains why niki terpstra rarely wins any popularity polls in the peloton, marianne vos points out that she hasn't actually gone away after all and tom dumoulin's israeli domestique, chad haga recounts life in this year's giro d'italia.

other details that help place much of the foregoing in some sort of perspective, include lists of world tour and pro continental teams, historical world tour results for both men and women, principal uk domestic results, such as the spring cup, grand prix, energy tour and national circuit series, along with the women's national road and energy tour series. there's also a respectful section featuring obituaries of those who passed away in 2018, including andy rihs, armand de las cuevas and michael goolaerts amongst others.

editor ned boulting has been quoted as saying he doesn't really expect anyone to read the road book from cover to cover. it's more of a (very large) reference book that can be used to settle the arguments that pepper any sunday morning peloton, or scoured for some of the most obscure cycle racing statistics, in order to bolster your standing in the clubhouse or on twitter. however, it might be worth getting a surveyor's report on the structural integrity of your bookcase.

the road book

saturday 3 november 2018

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