For what could be a dry book it is fantastically engaging, bringing in brief highlights of Ellingworth' s own cycling career and then the way he worked through jobs into the position to be the driving force behind the coaching and system that would take Britain from a bit-player in cycling, to the world-force the country is today.
It's an entertaining book that has something for you in terms of a coaching manual, management philosophy, or a look behind the scenes as the big names of British cycling are developed. For anyone with an interest in the sport it gives a look at the Academy system that produced riders like Geraint Thomas, Ben Swift, and others, with a huge focus on the guy who turned up in a beat up boy racer car in Manchester, and is now the most valuable sprinter in the world; Cav.
Clear through the book is Ellingworth's close relationship with Mark Cavendish and his genuine affection for him and the other academy riders as he develops them, personally and professionally and imposes strict discipline and imparts life-skills that will serve them well in the pro scene when they advance on to the big time.
The book covers the development of Team Sky and doesn't skirt round the problems and tensions in the new team, nor pulls back from the author's obvious feelings about various riders who have cheated to be where they are. The story shows how Ellingworth pulls together a new type of team for the 2011 world championships, with a single focus, and builds towards the race in Copenhagen, demonstrating his real passion for the sport and the team he's leading. Inevitably the high of those world champs is followed by the disappointment of the Olympic Road race in London, and that almost lends a slight anticlimax to the end of the book. However it would be fair to say it is probably how many fans and people involved felt at the time so it stands as a reminder and perhaps an indication of how hard winning the rainbow stripes really was.
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