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the road book 2020 - edited by ned boulting. road book publishing hardback 649pp illus. £50

the road book - ned boulting

'for four months, nothing moved. the racing had stopped.'

it is the football commentating cliché of the century, and probably last century too. "it's a game of two halves". given the wide variation in stops and starts involved in american football, i can only but presume the comment is more readily associated with soccer. initial impressions would suggest that american football is a game of nigh on 27 halves. and though i mean no disrespect to those who follow what is unironically referred to as 'the beautiful game', i'm also making the assumption that description of a soccer game as consisting of two halves (essentially a tautological statement), is not intended to hold some hidden meaning.

the road book 2020 - ned boulting

cycling, even taking into account the genres of cyclocross and track racing, could never assume the mantle of 'two halves'. granted, in events such as paris-roubaix, there are cobbled sections and then there are not; or, as happened in 2020, no sections whatsoever. and rather obviously, when it comes to three-week grand tours, those beg to be described as games of somewhere around 19 actual stages, an observation that is highly unlikely ever to enter the lexicon as 'cliche'. for which we should be forever grateful, in my opinion.

so it may seem confusing that i have the temerity to describe this monolith of a book - the road book 2020 - as a book of two halves. and having said that, i cannot but admit that i am far more in favour of one half than the other. (not that the lesser of the two should be in any way demeaned). and it will perhaps surprise you not that i have actually attempted to employ the book as a doorstop, a function in which its substantial heft proved highly efficacious.

aside from the endpapers featuring a double-page spread of pavé, placing the reader in precisely the correct frame of mind to read wout van aert's opening essay about the art of winning in 2020's decidedly out of sync racing season, there is a great deal to admire over the course of well over 600 pages. and to maintain parity, van aert's eloquence is followed by that of anna van der breggen. buoyed by their respective success in the season from hell, the reader is now ready and willing to experience the race season according to road book editor, ned boulting. i fervently hope, for ned's sake, that the position of editor did not entail checking the veracity of the race results that follow. and as i consider that scary thought, it dawns on me that my contention that here is a book of two halves may be seen from an alternative viewpoint; the racing that took place pre-covid-19 and those taking place in its midst.

the road book 2020 - ned boulting

for clarity, allow me to make my case.

i am making the supposition that the true purpose and raison d'etre of this second edition of the road book, is to present the results of each and every uci world tour sanctioned race that took place from one end of the season to the other. when i was still at school and undertaking my sixth year studies art certificate, spending my time drawing aeroplanes at the nearby airport, i was regularly petitioned by the school's plane spotters, to take down any registration numbers seen on my visits. i have no idea why, but i would imagine that, if any of those spotters now share my obsessiveness with the velocipedinal world, they would be the very individuals who examine every last placing in any race you care to mention.

the road book 2020 - ned boulting

i claim no superiority of intellect in stating that it's the book's other half that intrigues and entertains me more. essays by rob hatch, richard williams, lukas knofler, matt rendell, max leonard and the inestimable, will fotheringham, amongst others, including giro winner, tao geoghegan hart, are as manna for the soul: words rather than numbers. but, at the risk of undermining the immense amount of work that has obviously gone into tabulating more race results than at which you can shake a disc brake, i am besotted with the woodcut-like illustrations that top each of the essays. sadly, i could find no reference to the artist amongst the myriad of credits that abound front and rear of this book, but mr boulting kindly offered a link to the artist's online presence (matthew green). now i can rest, a happy blogger.

the road book 2020 - ned boulting

but aside from unique illustrations, the balance of eye candy versus numerical supremacy, is beautifully addressed in the form of a colour picture gallery from the lens of photographer russ ellis. and, of course, it's not all results that remain. each and every professional male and female team is dealt with in great detail, while the ascendancy of indoor competition is addressed for the first time, a form of racing that we must thank our lucky stars, did not end up informing every last page of the 2020 road book.

however, despite my reticence to engage with the numerical half of the road book, there's a certain fascination in discovering just who crossed the finish line in 130th place in milan sanremo (albasini, 15.05 minutes behind opening essayist, wout van aert), or that m. delage stood 141 places behind primoz roglic in the vuelta espana. as one who has never participated in a pub quiz, i'm unsure whether questions to which those provide the answers, are ever asked, surrounded by several pints of lager and a packet of crisps.

but, as an object, in and of itself, it is so high in the desirability stakes, that it takes on the persona of being every bit as essential as a saddle, pedals or a shiny chain. you can peruse the road book website, read reviews such as this, or even ignore it completely. but when its substantial presence rests aside your leather armchair, you just know you had to have it, and to ensure that everyone in your peloton well knows that a copy sits proudly upon your bookshelf. this is indeed luxury that you have to afford. surely that front tyre will surely last a few hundred kilometres more?

thanks to the generosity of the road book publishers, any readers who purchase a copy via the link below, will receive a ten percent discount when entering the code WMP10. even in the middle of a pandemic, isn't life great sometimes? | buy the road book 2020 | illustrator, matthew green

friday 12 march 2021

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