Team on the Run: The Inside Story of the Linda McCartney Pro Cycling Team

by John Deering

It was the biggest cycling team ever seen in Britain, supported by one of the world's most famous names. They took on the old school Europeans in their own backyard, pushing a huge wave of support and excitement before them as they shook the foundations of one of the world's most traditional sports. Then, on the brink of greatness, the house of cards folded. Now, for the first time, the full inside story of the Linda McCartney Pro Cycling Team is told. This is the story of how the most famous vegetarian in the world came to sponsor the world's only vegetarian professional sporting team. Hear about how a small-time British outfit grew so quickly they elbowed their way into the Tour of Italy, and then delve into the mystery of how a team personally funded and endorsed by one of the world's richest men could dissolve into thin air virtually overnight, millions in the red.

Genres: Cycling

224 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2002

Reviews

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Account of the rise and demise of the Linda McCartney team – the worse pieces being the verbatim press releases reproduced in the book which show the author at his over-enthusiastic and naive worst, but other than that an easy reading and reasonably interesting account.

[Nick Sweeney · Rating 5 out of 5]

One for fans of cycling, I think. This is the story of the ill-fated Linda McCartney team, which got a glimpse of glory for the 3 years of its existence, involving cycling legends on their way out of the sport, such as Sean Yates (who later went on to be a manager at Sky before his slightly dodgy past was revealed) and those on their way in, like a young Bradley Wiggins who, it is fair to say, had yet to hit form. A great read, written by the team's press man, with compassion, irony and a lot of humour, much of it self-deprecating. Fans of cycling would like it, I think, because you can't always just read about the success stories, and it's getting tedious to read about dopers, and from that point of view it's a perfect book that shines a different light on the sport.