The Book

(Cover image for illustrative purposes only).

A book is taking shape... one built on history, endurance, and the roads that made the Tour.

In July 2027 I will ride the Tour of Tours with Le Loop. A curated journey through twenty‑one of the most iconic stages in Tour de France history. These are the climbs, valleys, towns and battlegrounds that defined eras, crowned champions, and shaped the mythology of the race. It is not the full modern Tour route; it is a deliberate selection of some of the greatest stages ever ridden.

The training and the charity story already live elsewhere on this site, but this page exists for something different: the book.

The research has already begun; the archives, the old reports, the riders who shaped each stage, and the drama that unfolded on those roads. Some of the writing is underway too: early drafts, historical notes, and the scaffolding of chapters that will eventually form the finished work.

But the book cannot be completed yet…

It needs the ride. It needs the training. It needs the reality of riding those same roads after the Tour first crossed them.

Each stage chapter will open with the story of the original stage, the past, before moving into the present. My 2027 ride, woven into the history that came before it. The book only works once both halves exist.

The writing will continue through and after the event, and the finished book will be published in autumn 2027.

Until then, the journey continues elsewhere on the site, through the blog, and through the fundraising for the William Wates Memorial Trust.