Shadows on the Road

In 2012, veteran cyclist Michael Barry announced his retirement from the sport after riding for several top professional teams, including US Postal and Team Sky. Weeks later he testified against his former team mate Lance Armstrong, as part of the USADA investigation. In a stunning piece of writing, Barry explores the dreams and passion of a young, idealistic cycling fan from Toronto, what it was like to go on to ride as a teammate alongside such giants of the sport as Lance Armstrong, Mark Cavendish, Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome, and how those dreams were compromised early on in his career by a sport in crisis. But it is also the story of his eleven years riding clean, before and after his time in the notorious US Postal Team. What was it like to head for Europe at such a young age, and what was it like to escape the environment of doping, to try and start again, all the time aware that past actions may one day catch up with him? Offering a unique and elegiac insight into the life and mind of a professional sportsman - the pressures, sacrifices, fears, crashes, injuries and neuroses - Shadows on the Road: Life at the Heart of the Peloton, from US Postal to Team Sky is a must-read for cycling and sports fans alike.