Bloody Minded

My Life in Cycling

De: Alex Dowsett

Narrado por: Joshua Riley

Bloomsbury presents Bloody Minded by Alex Dowsett, read by Joshua Riley.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE SPORTS BOOK AWARDS 2024 – CYCLING BOOK OF THE YEAR

'Immensely readable and revealing'
The Guardian

'A must read'
Phil Liggett, MBE

'A story like no other in cycling'
Ned Boulting

IMAGINE COMPETING IN THE WORLD'S MOST BRUTAL CYCLE RACES, KNOWING THAT A CRASH COULD BE FATAL

Alex Dowsett is one of Britain's greatest cyclists. He has ridden Grand Tours and Classics for elite teams including Sky and Movistar and broke the iconic World Hour Record – the ultimate time trial challenge. With humour, insight and honesty, Alex recounts his years as a pro-cyclist and the challenges he has faced in his struggle to reach the top.

Alex has achieved all this despite being the only able-bodied elite sportsperson in the world with haemophilia A. He describes how the condition – in which falls can be fatal – both blighted his young sporting life, and boosted his determination to succeed. Every professional cyclist requires courage, but Alex takes fearlessness to another level in a sport where injury and suffering are a given.

With an all-star cycling cast, including Bradley Wiggins, Chris Froome, Mark Cavendish and Lance Armstrong, this pulsating book lifts the lid on life in the peloton at the world’s top level. From his highs – including Giro d’Italia stage victories – to his frustrations at the injustices he faced in the sport, Alex's memoir perfectly chronicles a career in which he was driven equally by love and rage.

Combining Alex's personal triumphs with his unique take on being part of the golden age of British cycling, this is an unmissable tale of sporting endeavour.

'A fascinating insight into the mindset of an elite sportsman who overcame great odds to reach the very top'
Simon Brotherton

'The humblest super-talent in the peloton, proving nice guys can win. A wonderful book'
Carlton Kirby

'An inspiration for anyone who wants to do whatever they’re told they can’t.'
Michael Hutchinson

'Such an inspiring tale. Poignant and moving, and told with forthright honesty'
Peter Cossins

©2023 Alex Dowsett (P)2023 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Inspiration

Love who Alex is as a human. His story is honest and inspiring to hear. Perfectly narrated

Page-turner

Motivating and inspiring!
Fantastic book, a lot of insight in to elite sports and food for thought.
A must read!

Well done Alex, you little bleeder

From watching Alex’s YouTube videos, this book feels like it’s written in his authentic voice. The hemophilia talk can feel repetitive but I think it’s more obvious in the audio version as you cover more pages more quickly. The racing details and behind the scenes stuff are fascinating. This book feels honest, and like a reflection of the person Alex seems to be and not just the normal glowy biography

Fascinating insight into the sport. Love the myriad anecdotes.

A wild ride. Really dug this listen. As an amateur cyclist, I loved the stories of struggle and accomplishment.

Honest and Exciting

Alex does a great job of pulling back the curtain on professional cycling and weaving his story of overcoming a significant barrier. Inspirational and enjoyable.

Great activism and wonderful story

I love professional cycling and hearing Alex’s stories about different teams, races, and the peloton was fun! His journey in life and cycling was lovely, relating to his family and growth as a person. His activism and giving back to the hemopheliac community is fantastic.

So much better than I thought.

Slow start but after feeling squeamish about needles and hearing what he had to go through the book really excited me and I couldn’t put it down.

Insightful!

Cannot put my finger on it but I found a few things rather self-contradictory.

I think a story of an athlete who has been mildly unhappy with their career is worthy of being told but I wonder what this story would sound like being given a couple of years for the emotions to settle…

A Bit too Cheesy

Less about hemophilia and more about bikes and racing would have been better. And the author spends so much of the book thanking this person and that person and that organization and how great is his family.....makes you cringe a bit. Anyway some people will like this stuff.

Coulda shoulda woulda

Long tale of gripes and things he should have won, if only events or people hadn’t conspired against him.