Roche maintains winning streak with Irish Sports Book of the Year award

Posted 18 November 2011

Nicolas Roche chalked up a remarkable off-season win last night when his biography ‘Inside The Peloton’ was named as the Irish Sports Book of the Year at the prestigious Bord Gáis Irish Book Awards.

Roche was presented with the award at a gala event held at Dublin’s RDS attended by many of the country’s top authors and entertainers.

His best selling book, which is published by Transworld and which hit the shelves in the last couple of months, was one of six books shortlisted in the Irish Sports Book of the Year category.

The nominees in the category also included former pro cyclist and well known award winning Irish journalist Paul Kimmage for his excellent book ‘Engage: The Fall and Rise of Matt Hampson’.

Other nominees included jockey AP McCoy for his autobiography, Irish rugby international Donncha O’Callaghan for his autobiography Joking Apart, former Liverpool and Irish international Ronnie Whelan for his book Walk On: My Life in Red and Philip O’Connor for his book A Parish Far From Home.

Roche’s book, written in collaboration with Irish journalist Ger Cromwell, details the story of his career to date and how he as the son of legendary Giro d’Italia, Tour de France and World Champion Stephen Roche fought to make his own mark on the sport.

Honest, eloquent and passionate about how the cycling world should be, Roche has gained acclaim and a devoted fan base for his Tour diaries which were serialized in the Irish Independent.

Now a major contender for a podium finish in a grand tour, Roche has expanded on those diaries to tell in full the story of life in the peloton and of the remarkable events that have brought him to this point in his career.

From furious spats with teammates and exhilarating races against the world's best, this is a gripping cycling adventure and sportsman's tale with views on Roche's career thus far from former world number one Sean Kelly, 1987 Tour de France winner Stephen Roche and Olympic champion Bradley Wiggins intertwined.

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