Mountains According to G by Geraint Thomas

Geraint Thomas is always ready to provide entertaining quotes in any interview, and that light-hearted style carries over into his first two books; the formula continues with Mountains According To G, which focuses on a key aspect of so many race results – including his own.

Back in 2015, Geraint Thomas put his name to The World Of Cycling According To G, and seeing a current professional cyclist give his thoughts on a wide range of cycling matters, along with some biographical information – albeit without much depth in either – was unusual. That undemanding and easy-to-read style set the tone for his future books.

The Gee-quel

This was followed in 2018 by The Tour According To G, which capitalised on his unexpected but well-deserved win in that year's Tour de France: it was primarily a 'day in the life' account of his experience, so the biographical aspect was necessarily limited to that race.

Just seven pages of the first book are given to a chapter called 'Climbing,' which ends with a variation on Greg Lemond's famous comment: 'We all hurt, we just do so at different speeds.' Not surprisingly this new book is an extension of that chapter, rejoicing in the old cliché, in cycling, you can ride the same venue as the best in the world – unlike most other sports.

Ghost writer Graham Fordyce once again does a good job of writing in a style that can pass as G's own words. But while the book claims to discuss 'cycling's greatest climbs,' it's actually only 25 of them – and then only climbs Thomas has ridden in training or racing.

No pictures

From a UK perspective, you can only share his experiences on two climbs in Wales, one in England, and none in Scotland or Ireland. This is certainly not a comprehensive catalogue of significant mountains, and don't expect inspiring landscape photos; there are no photos at all. Nor are there any maps or profiles, just a few statistics from race performances (though they include some from that 2018 victory).

It is not a Great Cycling Climbs kind of reference that can help with your planning, nor a Higher Calling type philosophical treatise as to why you might plan such a trip in the first place.

View from the top

Mountains According To G is more about the personal challenge of racing up these climbs, and tips for how to do it successfully. Of course, most people will never be in that position, but if you have ridden any of these, it can be interesting to read about the pro experience.

It seems Thomas once viewed the Mortirolo Pass as 'the hardest climb we race up,' but with a few more years of racing at the sharp end, he's expanded that to 'a trio of brutes ... Solden, the big Swiss, sorry Austrian bastard. The Portet, two horrible climbs in one. And the Mortirolo, a road that makes no sense.'

A-Hoy there

In a typically G comment, when discussing the Sa Calobra climb in Majorca he pokes fun at Chris Hoy, 'who named one of his range of road bikes after the climb, despite going up it as often as I've had caviar for tea.' We know he over-did the celebrations a bit after his Tour de France win, but even then I doubt that sturgeon roe was in his diet.

There's a bonus chapter at the end called 'G's top ten climbers' – all riders who reached their peak during the time G has been in the pro peloton. With that proviso, Chris Froome narrowly beats Alberto Contador; Thomas is always the team player!

G plans

At one stage the publisher must have thought 2020 had played in their favour, as Thomas entered the Giro as favourite with the delayed race's new finish only four days before publication. As we now know, that particular marketing plan didn't work out...

I doubt many people expected mountains to be Thomas' next topic, but perhaps he'll hold forth on anything to do with cycling if he can link his name to it. Maybe we should expect one about Zwift next year?

Overall

Fans of G (and his engaging style) will welcome this latest book from a much-loved rider, and Mountains According to G still leaves plenty of room for the inevitable biography. Others might struggle to justify the purchase, though, thanks to the perhaps predictable lack of depth, rather limited approach to the world's greatest climbs, and less forgivable lack of pictures.

Verdict

An easy and engaging read, if a bit lacking in breadth and depth – and pictures