Nicole Cooke's The Breakaway and Boardmans's autobiography, neither were ghost written.
Cooke's book is excellent and if you want an insight into women's racing compared to men's, it's essential and compulsive reading. If I had a criticism it's its absoluteness. Cooke leaves no room for other views and whilst I'm sure that she's not lying or exaggerating, I was left feeling I'd like to read another account of the same events from a different perspective. There's also some hypocrisy in her intimation of other riders by association with only a vague acknowledgement that the same could be said of her. Nevertheless, highly recommended, especially in light of the recent Sutton and BC inquiries.
Boardman,s book was excellent, funny and insightful, especially about BC. If you want an entirely different summation of what BC have achieved than Cooke's, read it. Striking is the comparison of wages when Boardman turned professional in 92/93 with GAN, earning 90k plus bonuses. A decade later, Cooke turned professional, earning 8K and then after a successful year 20k and she had to go to court to get paid her salary.
Boardman's tales include describing getting home after the 92 Olympic win and going to the chippy, the Dolphin, were they gave him his chips free. Only the once mind, he says. High standards in the Dolphin, one Gold medal, one portion of free chips.
Particularly enlightening was the formation of the Secret Squirrel club and what they did. Not everything is sweetness and light though. There are some heavier sides to Boardman's character, the kind that are common amongst the highly driven, people who can achieve what he has done. The latter part of the book deals with his move to commentating and the beginning of his cycle advocacy and again, it's a fascinating read. Highly recommended.
