The Beast, the Emperor and the Milkman

SHORTLISTED FOR THE TELEGRAPH SPORTS BOOK AWARDS 2020 - CYCLING BOOK OF THE YEARLONGLISTED FOR THE WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR 2019'A joy.' - Ned BoultingEvery nation shapes sport to test the character traits it most admires.In The Beast, the Emperor and the Milkman, committed Belgophile and road cycling obsessive Harry Pearson takes you on a journey across Flanders, through the lumpy horizontal rain, up the elbow juddering cobbled inclines, past the fans dressed as chickens and the shop window displays of constipation medicines, as he follows races big, small and even smaller through one glorious, muddy spring.Ranging over 500 years of Flemish and European history, across windswept polders, along back roads and through an awful lot of beer cafes, Pearson examines the characters, the myths and rivalries that make Flanders a place where cycling is a religion and the riders its lycra-clad priests.

Prologue: Brick chimneys and iron men1. The Final 200 Kilometres2. A Motor for a Heart3. Donkeys and Carnivals4. A Wednesday in Hell5. Holey Socks and a Cool Head6. It's a Family Affair7. Show Me the Money8. The Bulldog and the Red Guard9. The Devil and Meester Maertens10. D'ye Ken Tom Boonen?11. Pot Bellies and Barbra Streisand12. Staying SmallAcknowledgementsIndexPicture credits