Sticking elbows. Voices and confidences of the best generation of Spanish cycling. Laura Meseguer. Prologue by Pedro Delgado and epilogue by Pedro Horrillo. 270 pages. The sphere of books.
A Spaniard (not only) moderately interested in cycling (not only) reserve a small space in his travel bag for this vacation to read one of the latest books published on this sport. Obviously the protagonists appearing at the top of the cover photo attract attention. Alberto counter, Joaquim Rodrguez (Purito) and Alejandro Valverde. But in this chronicle of a generation there is also room for ‘the bulk of the peloton’ which is reflected in the image on the bottom of the volume cover. Because the hook and the maximum interest resides in the stars, but the journalist Laura Meseguer manages to offer us a complete story, fortunately not exhaustive in results and races, of what cycling has been in the first decades of this century: the new versatility of our runners, the scourge of doping who modeled a posteriori classifications very different from those that were shown to us live, the problems of our great runners in the laboratories and in the courts sports essential human values to work well on cycling teams, the various castes operating in the cycling universe …
All that world is reeling in the reading of memories and confidences, many of them amusing and others that surprise the reader, of the protagonists. Purito Rodrguez, Pedro Horrillo and scar Freire they form the main thread of the narrative, while Alejandro Valverde, Alberto Contador and Carlos Sastre I know a hundred more at both victorious and depressing situations who lived throughout those years. The story is completed with other great cyclists who do not distribute autographs when they leave home, but who have also been fundamental in this story. People like Angel Vicioso, Jess Hernndez, Juanma Garate, Juan Antonio Flecha, Markel Irizar, Haimar Zubeldia, David Lpez The Pablo Lastras, among others.
The work of Laura Meseguer, who has rarely been a chronicler in the races -s tireless interviewer, host of debate programs after the stages, presenter of UCI events …- is necessary to remind us, now that almost everyone has left the ‘donkey’, which we have had one of the best generations of spanish sport and world cycling and that it has gone unnoticed for multiple reasons, as summarized by Perico Delgado in his foreword. Reading is pleasant, some anecdotes are hilarious and the cocktail of whispers and transcendent moments is balanced and tasty. The book is not intended for those who record the penultimate flat stage of the Taiwn Tour, but even this tribe will be interested.
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