Climbs and Punishment

**Shortlisted for Cycling Book of the Year at the Cross British Sports Book Awards 2015**

Cycling journalist Felix Lowe makes the leap from raconteur to rouleur, taking to the saddle for the first time to complete his very own grand tour of Europe.

Lowe''s light-hearted and entertaining travelogue charts his progress as he cycles 2,800 kilometres from Barcelona to Rome, crossing three countries and cycling over three mountain ranges, taking in some of cycling''s most fabled climbs. As he follows in the tracks of some of the world''s greatest wheelmen, Lowe puts professional cycling''s three major stage races - the Tour de France, Vuelta a Espa-a and Giro d''Italia - under the microscope, whilst capturing the potent mix of madness, humour and human spirit that make people identify with the sport so strongly.

Powered by local delicacies and his trademark blend of self-deprecating humour and barbed wit, Lowe takes readers on an immersive journey through the