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Road Captain: My Life at the Heart of the Peloton
FEATURING A FOREWORD FROM MARK CAVENDISH AND CONTRIBUTIONS FROM GERAINT THOMAS, CHRIS FROOME AND ROD ELLINGWORTH.
A rare insight into the heart of pro cycling and the inner workings of the peloton, from Team Sky and Ineos Grenadiers legend, Luke Rowe.
There’s one well-established truth in professional the strongest always wins. Yet in a sport of champions, victory is only possible as a team. At the heart of that team effort, that unity, is the road captain.
After more than a decade as the pre-eminent road captain in professional bike racing, Luke Rowe reveals here for the first time the intricacies of that role. As he lifts the lid, he provides the ultimate insider’s view on racing tactics and strategy within the professional peloton. He gives readers an unprecedented insight into what exactly is going on within that pulsing mass of athletic power and state-of-the-art machinery, seen through the eyes of the rider tasked with leading his team to glory.
Featuring exhilarating stories from his years at Team Sky and Ineos Grenadiers – where he played a fundamental role in the team’s dominance at the Tour de France, leading Chris Froome, Geraint Thomas and Egan Bernal to their Tour victories – Luke shows what it’s like to manage a road race unfolding at 60km/h. As he points out, it is ‘like playing chess on wheels’.
Road Captain immerses readers in the team dynamics, tactical complexities and split-second decisions vital to success in professional cycling. It discloses the mental and physical battles taking place within a group of riders, and reveals how the biggest bike races are won.
A rare insight into the heart of pro cycling and the inner workings of the peloton, from Team Sky and Ineos Grenadiers legend, Luke Rowe.
There’s one well-established truth in professional the strongest always wins. Yet in a sport of champions, victory is only possible as a team. At the heart of that team effort, that unity, is the road captain.
After more than a decade as the pre-eminent road captain in professional bike racing, Luke Rowe reveals here for the first time the intricacies of that role. As he lifts the lid, he provides the ultimate insider’s view on racing tactics and strategy within the professional peloton. He gives readers an unprecedented insight into what exactly is going on within that pulsing mass of athletic power and state-of-the-art machinery, seen through the eyes of the rider tasked with leading his team to glory.
Featuring exhilarating stories from his years at Team Sky and Ineos Grenadiers – where he played a fundamental role in the team’s dominance at the Tour de France, leading Chris Froome, Geraint Thomas and Egan Bernal to their Tour victories – Luke shows what it’s like to manage a road race unfolding at 60km/h. As he points out, it is ‘like playing chess on wheels’.
Road Captain immerses readers in the team dynamics, tactical complexities and split-second decisions vital to success in professional cycling. It discloses the mental and physical battles taking place within a group of riders, and reveals how the biggest bike races are won.
- GenresNonfictionSportsCycling
278 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 5, 2025
27 people are currently reading
76 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
November 11, 2025
A (now former) professional cyclist's book (and, in all fairness, more so a memoir or a form of autobiography) for bike geeks and, more specifically, (hardcore, primarily British) fans of professional bicycle road racing.
Does that somewhat on the niche side of things? Well, it is what it is.
On the one hand, my money says that - and, yes, I'm subdividing a hyper-specialized market at this point - most European cycling fans (OK, OK, by that I probably mean French or Italian or Belgian or German or Spanish cycling fans) won't be tempted by this to begin with, and cycling fans on this (the non-European) side of the pond, and particularly if you're over the age of (let's randomly choose a sweet spot) 40 (and, yes, I'm both ... and 40 is a distant memory), you're probably better off with Hincapie's Loyal Lieutenant or Barry's Inside the Postal Bus, both of which I preferred.... But ... but ... if you're a British cycling fan of a certain age, and what you think of as bike racing's glory days are the UK's golden generation's ... starting with, say, Cavendish and Wiggins ... (somewhat) recent run of successes, nay, dominance on the world cycling scene, well, this book is for you!
And, if none of what I said above resonates, well, take my word for it, or, even better, read the book, because the author makes no bones about the fact that, when the UK's Sky and Ineos teams were at their peak, the Tour de France was a snooze fest, and lots of folks - OK, most of the world - resented the team ... and enough began losing interest in the sport that the powers that be took steps (with mixed results) to reinstate competitive balance. If you're not a bicycle racing fan, then ... I dunno ... just ask yourself how popular the Star Wars franchise would have become if the protagonist or first-person narrator was Darth Vader's deputy or the Empire's lead logistics officer.
From a completely different perspective, the author's experience, insight, and the authenticity of his voice (... nah, this does not read like it was ghost written) make the work informative (for the right audience), but Rowe isn't sitting around waiting for the literary prize committees to open their nomination envelopes.... [If you're ever looking for something more along those lines, I'm guessing most folks will point you in the direction of the sublime classics: Bobet's Tomorrow We Ride or Fournel's Need for the Bike.] But that's the least of the author's concerns (for innumerable reasons).
For better or worse, I've found a number of other pro cyclists' memoirs (and, among contemporaries, that includes Cavendish and Sagan) more engaging, but ... I almost certainly cared more about, and was more invested in, those riders (and their teams) than Rowe (and Sky/Ineos). Still, this was informative and entertaining enough, and it was very much an easy and a quick read. I'm not surprised many in the cycling community enjoyed this.
Does that somewhat on the niche side of things? Well, it is what it is.
On the one hand, my money says that - and, yes, I'm subdividing a hyper-specialized market at this point - most European cycling fans (OK, OK, by that I probably mean French or Italian or Belgian or German or Spanish cycling fans) won't be tempted by this to begin with, and cycling fans on this (the non-European) side of the pond, and particularly if you're over the age of (let's randomly choose a sweet spot) 40 (and, yes, I'm both ... and 40 is a distant memory), you're probably better off with Hincapie's Loyal Lieutenant or Barry's Inside the Postal Bus, both of which I preferred.... But ... but ... if you're a British cycling fan of a certain age, and what you think of as bike racing's glory days are the UK's golden generation's ... starting with, say, Cavendish and Wiggins ... (somewhat) recent run of successes, nay, dominance on the world cycling scene, well, this book is for you!
And, if none of what I said above resonates, well, take my word for it, or, even better, read the book, because the author makes no bones about the fact that, when the UK's Sky and Ineos teams were at their peak, the Tour de France was a snooze fest, and lots of folks - OK, most of the world - resented the team ... and enough began losing interest in the sport that the powers that be took steps (with mixed results) to reinstate competitive balance. If you're not a bicycle racing fan, then ... I dunno ... just ask yourself how popular the Star Wars franchise would have become if the protagonist or first-person narrator was Darth Vader's deputy or the Empire's lead logistics officer.
From a completely different perspective, the author's experience, insight, and the authenticity of his voice (... nah, this does not read like it was ghost written) make the work informative (for the right audience), but Rowe isn't sitting around waiting for the literary prize committees to open their nomination envelopes.... [If you're ever looking for something more along those lines, I'm guessing most folks will point you in the direction of the sublime classics: Bobet's Tomorrow We Ride or Fournel's Need for the Bike.] But that's the least of the author's concerns (for innumerable reasons).
For better or worse, I've found a number of other pro cyclists' memoirs (and, among contemporaries, that includes Cavendish and Sagan) more engaging, but ... I almost certainly cared more about, and was more invested in, those riders (and their teams) than Rowe (and Sky/Ineos). Still, this was informative and entertaining enough, and it was very much an easy and a quick read. I'm not surprised many in the cycling community enjoyed this.
July 13, 2025
Very interesting and plainly written insight of what real life at the centre of a team, making the calls, and more is like.i have read a lot of cycling books and watch a lot of road racing on tv, but still learned a lot. Very interesting.
July 2, 2025
I found this book interesting, because it’s written from a completely different perspective to some of the other cycling books that I have read. Most of the other books I have read have been people going for glory in either sprints or in general classification but Luke has been focussed on the success of the team more than him as an individual. As a result the insights into the role of road captain and what that entails have been fascinating. I listened to the audiobook which is read by the author.
September 4, 2025
Well done Luke. Been a fan of watts occurring for years but this was such a pleasure to read. Made me tear up multiple times. Congrats on your career and best of luck as a DS.
December 8, 2025
This was an entreteinkng book to hear while riding. Narrated by Luke himself he describes with detail the, unbeknownst to me, role of road captain. There are also some stories about the peloton and some of the GC leaders he worked with as well.
July 21, 2025
There is a great book to be written about the goings on inside Team Sky but this is not it
The best part of the book is the tactical insight Rowe gives and the details of races. However, the elephant in the room throughout the whole book is the issue of doping. There's absolutely no reference to the Dr Freeman/jiffy bag stuff. Not just in a spill the beans way but also in the literal sense that it's never mentioned. Even just commenting on how it affected the team and the riders would have been interesting but there's nothing.
He acknowledges Mike Barry's "tricky past" with US Postal but offers no real opinion on how he felt about riding with someone who was banned for doping. Instead he just says he's a "good bloke" and the new that he was "involved in the scandal really broke my heart". He also speaks warmly of another doper form the US Postal team, Hincapie. The two would message each other and Rowe speaks of the respect he has for him. Rowe looks up to both Barry and Hincapie as mentors.
Doping is discussed as if it's an unfortunate thing that happened to some riders, rather than a choice people actively made. It's treated in a dismissive, passive way, like if a rider had an unlucky crash or a bout of illness.
There's no deeper discussion doping or his thoughts about riding with the previous generation of riders who were mired in the doping culture.
There's a whole chapter on Froome, who is mentioned a lot throughout but not once does Rowe ponder how Froome went from donkey to thoroughbred in such a short pace of time.
On Froome - "Froomey always had a bit of a habit of under fueling because he didn't want to put on weight during the Tour". Compare that with today's obsession with getting 90-140g of carbs per hour. Must have been on some good "marginal gains" then to still win grand tours when under fueled....
Froome is super skinny as he hardly ate anything apparently but there's no mention of the corticosteroids and abuse of TUEs that various leaks and reports have uncovered already.
No mention for persona non grata Dr Richard Freeman. David Rozman, who has been in the news very recently in relation to possible doping links, is mentioned but only passing. Unlike Froome's tweets, he can't be deleted from this book.
Froome's salbutamol positive is mentioned briefly but about 10x more attention is given to the behavior of the French fans at the Tour following on from it
There's sections written by colleagues such as Rod Ellingworth and Froome about Rowe which basically boil down to "Luke is great and here's why
Rowe admits that that sky domination of the TDS and the way they ride was "shit to watch" and "boring" and that he got too big for his boots with regards to his tough guy attitude towards the rest of the peloton, so he gets points for honesty on that, at least
Rowe had a severe concussion in 2025 that he says effectively ended his career.but there's no discussion of this. I would have liked to have known what it was like in the hours, days and weeks after, how did it effect it him mentally, physically etc. Concussion is a hot topic in sport so more on this would have been good
None of the things Rowe mentions as marginal gains that helped Team Sky become so dominant - hard training intervals, weighing food, keotones- seem especially impressive or revolutionary. Which is no surprise, given what we now know.
One day I hope Wiggins or even Froome will spill the beans on Team Sky. I didn't expect Rowe to but to completey ignore the elephant in the room makes for a disappointing read
The best part of the book is the tactical insight Rowe gives and the details of races. However, the elephant in the room throughout the whole book is the issue of doping. There's absolutely no reference to the Dr Freeman/jiffy bag stuff. Not just in a spill the beans way but also in the literal sense that it's never mentioned. Even just commenting on how it affected the team and the riders would have been interesting but there's nothing.
He acknowledges Mike Barry's "tricky past" with US Postal but offers no real opinion on how he felt about riding with someone who was banned for doping. Instead he just says he's a "good bloke" and the new that he was "involved in the scandal really broke my heart". He also speaks warmly of another doper form the US Postal team, Hincapie. The two would message each other and Rowe speaks of the respect he has for him. Rowe looks up to both Barry and Hincapie as mentors.
Doping is discussed as if it's an unfortunate thing that happened to some riders, rather than a choice people actively made. It's treated in a dismissive, passive way, like if a rider had an unlucky crash or a bout of illness.
There's no deeper discussion doping or his thoughts about riding with the previous generation of riders who were mired in the doping culture.
There's a whole chapter on Froome, who is mentioned a lot throughout but not once does Rowe ponder how Froome went from donkey to thoroughbred in such a short pace of time.
On Froome - "Froomey always had a bit of a habit of under fueling because he didn't want to put on weight during the Tour". Compare that with today's obsession with getting 90-140g of carbs per hour. Must have been on some good "marginal gains" then to still win grand tours when under fueled....
Froome is super skinny as he hardly ate anything apparently but there's no mention of the corticosteroids and abuse of TUEs that various leaks and reports have uncovered already.
No mention for persona non grata Dr Richard Freeman. David Rozman, who has been in the news very recently in relation to possible doping links, is mentioned but only passing. Unlike Froome's tweets, he can't be deleted from this book.
Froome's salbutamol positive is mentioned briefly but about 10x more attention is given to the behavior of the French fans at the Tour following on from it
There's sections written by colleagues such as Rod Ellingworth and Froome about Rowe which basically boil down to "Luke is great and here's why
Rowe admits that that sky domination of the TDS and the way they ride was "shit to watch" and "boring" and that he got too big for his boots with regards to his tough guy attitude towards the rest of the peloton, so he gets points for honesty on that, at least
Rowe had a severe concussion in 2025 that he says effectively ended his career.but there's no discussion of this. I would have liked to have known what it was like in the hours, days and weeks after, how did it effect it him mentally, physically etc. Concussion is a hot topic in sport so more on this would have been good
None of the things Rowe mentions as marginal gains that helped Team Sky become so dominant - hard training intervals, weighing food, keotones- seem especially impressive or revolutionary. Which is no surprise, given what we now know.
One day I hope Wiggins or even Froome will spill the beans on Team Sky. I didn't expect Rowe to but to completey ignore the elephant in the room makes for a disappointing read
August 13, 2025
Luke warm. 3/5
A fairly standard cycling bio with some interesting insights on the pro peloton and race tactics. Luke selflessly rode for others during his career and he rarely got the plaudits, however his role as road captain was an important one within Sky/Ineos during their dominant years. He details what this entailed, from directing the riders on the road in crosswinds to giving team mates a pre-race psychological pep talk. He knows his stuff and is pretty vocal, so he’ll likely thrive in the next stage of his career as a DS. Sometimes it comes across that he knew everything and was better at strategy and positioning than everyone else in the peloton, and it reminded me of the acronym FIGJAM! That said he does acknowledge that races are hard to control and he owns up to his mistakes which is admirable. I enjoyed the anecdotes about Froomey, though the chapter on G was a bit thin and the stories of crosswinds became a bit repetitive. There are some interesting views on what went wrong at Ineos, and also around rider burnout and race safety, but these are all too brief. Overall the book was one third commentary on being a race captain and two thirds a bio of a retiring pro. An enjoyable read, however it was all quite superficial.
A fairly standard cycling bio with some interesting insights on the pro peloton and race tactics. Luke selflessly rode for others during his career and he rarely got the plaudits, however his role as road captain was an important one within Sky/Ineos during their dominant years. He details what this entailed, from directing the riders on the road in crosswinds to giving team mates a pre-race psychological pep talk. He knows his stuff and is pretty vocal, so he’ll likely thrive in the next stage of his career as a DS. Sometimes it comes across that he knew everything and was better at strategy and positioning than everyone else in the peloton, and it reminded me of the acronym FIGJAM! That said he does acknowledge that races are hard to control and he owns up to his mistakes which is admirable. I enjoyed the anecdotes about Froomey, though the chapter on G was a bit thin and the stories of crosswinds became a bit repetitive. There are some interesting views on what went wrong at Ineos, and also around rider burnout and race safety, but these are all too brief. Overall the book was one third commentary on being a race captain and two thirds a bio of a retiring pro. An enjoyable read, however it was all quite superficial.
Read
July 25, 2025DNF’d at 40%
Luke makes it very clear in the first chapter, that this is a book on his role of being the Road Captain. It’s not an exposé of Sky/Ineos, it’s not dishing dirt or anything sensational so if you’re the type of cycling fan obsessed with doping stories and crying online about Jiffy bags then you’ll be disappointed. It’s a book on tactics and that’s it, plain and simple.
It fulfils its brief and if you want to read about tactics in the peloton then you’ll not be disappointed as Luke really knows his stuff. The 100+ pages I read concentrated heavily on how to ride as a team in crosswinds and as much as I respect Luke, I sort of lost interest and I retired to the broom wagon.
Not a bad book, it just wasn't what I was after, and thats ok. I was hoping for more content on training, stories from training camps and nutrition, maybe with some amusing anecdotes thrown in. A good friend of mine read it at the same time and found it fascinating so there you go.
Luke makes it very clear in the first chapter, that this is a book on his role of being the Road Captain. It’s not an exposé of Sky/Ineos, it’s not dishing dirt or anything sensational so if you’re the type of cycling fan obsessed with doping stories and crying online about Jiffy bags then you’ll be disappointed. It’s a book on tactics and that’s it, plain and simple.
It fulfils its brief and if you want to read about tactics in the peloton then you’ll not be disappointed as Luke really knows his stuff. The 100+ pages I read concentrated heavily on how to ride as a team in crosswinds and as much as I respect Luke, I sort of lost interest and I retired to the broom wagon.
Not a bad book, it just wasn't what I was after, and thats ok. I was hoping for more content on training, stories from training camps and nutrition, maybe with some amusing anecdotes thrown in. A good friend of mine read it at the same time and found it fascinating so there you go.
September 4, 2025
I've been a Watts Occuring listener for years so I mostly bought this as a show of support for Luke, a small "thank you" for the analysis and (mostly) bants.
Therefore I didn't have high hopes of mind-blowing revelations here and, yeah, that's how it is.
Some fun stories, some solid insight but certainly not a literary masterpiece nor all that captivating if I'm being honest.
3 stars is being a bit generous I feel like; but again: it'd be foolish to expect something vastly different.
Therefore I didn't have high hopes of mind-blowing revelations here and, yeah, that's how it is.
Some fun stories, some solid insight but certainly not a literary masterpiece nor all that captivating if I'm being honest.
3 stars is being a bit generous I feel like; but again: it'd be foolish to expect something vastly different.
October 12, 2025
Really interesting perspective on being a road captain in a team. Refreshing too that it wasn’t always about the good times, and some of the most interesting aspects were things that a fan of the sport who had watched the race wouldn’t ever have the chance to see.
I’ll be really interested in his career as a DS to see how he develops in that role.
I’ll be really interested in his career as a DS to see how he develops in that role.
August 20, 2025
A fantastic insight to world of cycling, capturing the relatively unknown but important role of the road captain. I really enjoyed this book being a big fan of Luke Rowe, but never realised how instrumental he was to the Sky / Inios team’s success and achievements.
September 10, 2025
Listened to audiobook narrated by author.
Excellent for fans of British road cycling. Luke provides an engaging, informative and unique insight into what it's like to be a road captain at a successful cycling team.
Excellent for fans of British road cycling. Luke provides an engaging, informative and unique insight into what it's like to be a road captain at a successful cycling team.
October 19, 2025
It’s not until you really watch a cycle race, like the Tour de France, as to how tactical it really is. Luke Rowe was a road captain for Team Sky and INEOS, in this book he explains how he learnt his trade and how tactics are developed. A very interesting book.
July 30, 2025
A bit repetitive at times but some good insights into what’s going on and also why Sky/ Ineos have slowed down .
September 8, 2025
Genuine mince.
How many times can one man say the same thing in a slightly different way?
Gave up after just a few chapters of him boasting about himself.
How many times can one man say the same thing in a slightly different way?
Gave up after just a few chapters of him boasting about himself.
September 11, 2025
no one else will care about this but it was a holiday read. bit dull at times but interesting to me
September 27, 2025
Some info about how important a road captain is in cycling. Gratuitous swearing. Overall feels like something to make money for Luke.
November 17, 2025
A memoir/autobiography audiobook read by the author just hits different.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews