New book in May: Riis - Stages of Light and Dark

Bjarne Riis, the former professional cyclist, Tour de France winner and now owner of the Saxo Bank WorldTour team is launching his autobiography in English this coming May, having already been a bestseller in his native Denmark and in Germany.

The thoughtful Danish broadsheet newspaper Politiken said about the book, "It is very rare to find such a well-told and honest biography as this one, where the main character fearlessly sacrifices himself."

According to the UK publishers, "Brutally honest and as furiously fast-paced as one of his breakaways from the peloton, Riis has a powerful insight into the life and mind of one of the sport’s key figures and the latest addition to the growing list of classic cycling books."

As well he might, speaking from the perspective of a team manager and rider who has scaled the heights of success and admitted he was one of the dopers in winning the Tour de France in 1996.

This will be a must-read whatever we think of the famously taciturn Dane, not least because of his personal insider's tales from the modern era of pro cycling: from Fignon, Hinault and LeMond to Armstrong and Ullrich and on to the Schleck brothers and Alberto Contador. For some of us that will be our whole cycling lives.

Riis - Stages of Light and Dark by Bjarne Riis
ISBN: 978-1907637-51-3
320pp in paperback with 16pp of colour pictures
Publication date: 14 May 2012
Price: £12.99

Details: visionsp.co.uk