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Sean Yates: It's All About the Bike: My Autobiography
Before Bradley Wiggins, there was Sean Yates. Behind Bradley Wiggins, there was Sean Yates. One of only five Britons to wear the yellow jersey in the Tour de France, Sean Yates burst onto the cycling scene as the rawest pure talent this country has ever seen. After turning professional at the age of 22, he soon became known as a die-hard domestique, putting his body on the line for his teammates. Devastatingly fast, powerful, and a fearless competitor, Yates won a stage of the Tour, as well as the Vuelta a España, in 1988, and went on to don the coveted maillot jaune six years later. Having put British cycling on the map as a rider, Yates was soon in demand as a directeur sportif, using his tactical knowledge to inspire a new generation of cyclists to success. And after Team Sky came calling, Yates was the man to design the brilliant plan that saw Sky demolish the opposition in 2012, and for Bradley Wiggins to become the first cyclist from these shores to win the Tour. Straight-talking, entertaining, and revelatory, It's All About the Bike is the story of a remarkable career told from the unique perspective of a man who is immersed in the history of the sport he loves.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published September 12, 2013
14 people are currently reading
40 people want to read
About the author
Sean Yates
5 books2 followersSean Yates is an English former professional cyclist and former head directeur sportif at team Sky.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
March 10, 2016
I know nothing about cycling. Nothing. I don't ride a bike and have never watched racing on TV. Not even the 2012 Olympics. After a careful read of the first chapter, I developed the teensiest understanding. The thing is, this book made me want to understand. It was a gripping story from first to last; a real human drama. It has so many narrative threads: the small-town boy done good, the mighty brought down by scandal, the sheer delight of physical ability, and the technical details of the trade. Sean and his co-author, John Deering, did thorough research on who was where when, and they picked out the highlights that added best to the flow, while acknowledging the cycling greats Sean trained, raced and worked with. I also liked Sean's wry self-awareness about his OCD, health issues and family regrets. If this is what sports biographies are like, I have a lot of catching up to do.
March 18, 2014
I have been a fan of Yates for years, no decades, from when I started watching the Tour de France when he was one of the few English mens actually taking part in the race.
He has an illustrious career both as a rider and latterly as a directeur sportif of the Discovery team and for the Sky victories of Wiggins. As a rider he broke several records, some of which he still holds, including the fastest Tour de France time trail on a normal bike (since broken with dedicate time trial bikes) and when he broke the 10 mile time trial record twice in one day, a feat never achieved since then.
He was most famous as a domestique, a rider who works for the leader and the the team as a whole by pace setting collecting food, water and so on. He could go all day and ride hard and fast. He had a number of notable wins, and until the recent years, was one of the few English men to wear the maillot jaune in the Tour de France.
He was close to Lance Armstrong, firstly as a team member and then as a director sport if for the Discovery team. He denies any knowledge of the Armstrong drug taking, and I tend to believe him as he a is straight talking guy, but he is tarnished by association.
I have read a lot of cycling books and biographies and this is one of the better ones. He did write it with another author, but his voice shines through clearly.
He has an illustrious career both as a rider and latterly as a directeur sportif of the Discovery team and for the Sky victories of Wiggins. As a rider he broke several records, some of which he still holds, including the fastest Tour de France time trail on a normal bike (since broken with dedicate time trial bikes) and when he broke the 10 mile time trial record twice in one day, a feat never achieved since then.
He was most famous as a domestique, a rider who works for the leader and the the team as a whole by pace setting collecting food, water and so on. He could go all day and ride hard and fast. He had a number of notable wins, and until the recent years, was one of the few English men to wear the maillot jaune in the Tour de France.
He was close to Lance Armstrong, firstly as a team member and then as a director sport if for the Discovery team. He denies any knowledge of the Armstrong drug taking, and I tend to believe him as he a is straight talking guy, but he is tarnished by association.
I have read a lot of cycling books and biographies and this is one of the better ones. He did write it with another author, but his voice shines through clearly.
September 28, 2022
As a sports book this was fine...from early on Yates makes it clear that he is not going into the whole Lance Armstrong doping thing..mainly as this is covered in many other cycling books and also as he mentions he rode with Lance pre Cancer so arguably at a time when doping wasn't as it's peak.
He did however work with Lance again on his last four in a team role it seems from reading this but I will give Yates the benefit of the doubt..his own record isn't bad if put under scrutiny.
Anyhow it's a decent read and although we often see Yates as the loyal domestique there are enough wins here to show he was a capable rider in his own right.
Doping of course can't be wholly avoided due to the era and he remains a defender of Lance which does have some validity...Lance was a big target so probably pays a bigger price than some who where sports but still feted as heroes on the continent and beyond.
The book looks at the emotional turmoil and it's effect on the family dynamic too which was decent...often these kind of books gloss over all that are just blurt out statistics ,science and tactics thus losing the human.
Anyhow a perfectly workable cycling book.
He did however work with Lance again on his last four in a team role it seems from reading this but I will give Yates the benefit of the doubt..his own record isn't bad if put under scrutiny.
Anyhow it's a decent read and although we often see Yates as the loyal domestique there are enough wins here to show he was a capable rider in his own right.
Doping of course can't be wholly avoided due to the era and he remains a defender of Lance which does have some validity...Lance was a big target so probably pays a bigger price than some who where sports but still feted as heroes on the continent and beyond.
The book looks at the emotional turmoil and it's effect on the family dynamic too which was decent...often these kind of books gloss over all that are just blurt out statistics ,science and tactics thus losing the human.
Anyhow a perfectly workable cycling book.
November 5, 2015
An interesting history of Yates. Tells all about his childhood and his cycling carreer. Really interesting stuff and great for cycling fans.
He states early on in the book that this isn't a book for those wanting the dirt on Lance and the rest of the Peloton, and that makes this book a better read.
But, I must admit that the writing style and how it sometimes jumped from Yates' perspective to a quote by someone else sometimes left me a little confused and i had to re-read sections to make sure i was getting the person right.
There were a few comments and statements made in the book that left me wondering why they had been added and what they were implying.
He states early on in the book that this isn't a book for those wanting the dirt on Lance and the rest of the Peloton, and that makes this book a better read.
But, I must admit that the writing style and how it sometimes jumped from Yates' perspective to a quote by someone else sometimes left me a little confused and i had to re-read sections to make sure i was getting the person right.
There were a few comments and statements made in the book that left me wondering why they had been added and what they were implying.
May 17, 2015
Great book. Sean is one of the best. I thought his chapter on his health,which he was most modest about and thought it was boring, was very interesting as some were as mine and it's interesting what they can do when money is no object. He was directeur sportif for Bradley Wiggins 2012 Tour de France win and his Olympic Gold Medal. He still,at 55, rides his bike, usually when most are still in bed, every day. Respect.
June 11, 2023
Brilliant book. Well worth a read. I love his stories. It's one thing to see these races on TV, however you don't get to see what goes on in. Very well written.
September 19, 2015
Really good read about how professional cycling has changed in the last 30 years. very frank at times and also interesting perception on the Lance Armstrong issue. Worth a read.
July 14, 2023
Though not quite in the very top tier of cycling autobiographies I've read (David Millar - Racing Through the Dark, Tyler Hamilton - The Secret Race), this deserves to be in the next tier. Very interesting and entertaining - mainly because Yates is clearly pretty mad and this energy and craziness pervades all that he does - whether riding or as a DS. An insightful read, Yates seemed to get into cycling almost accidentally, and then worked his way up through local then national time trials before breaking into the amateur and professional scene.
In his book he doesn't take the opportunity to state he never doped, which is fair enough, but given his long association with Lance one is left feeling that it might well be possible that this omission is telling, and that he did (as they all seemed to back then).
Sean bucked the trend by continuing to ride hard and competitively long after he retired, for example electing to ride between transition stages on stage races where he was DS!
A really interesting section was his commentary on the Wiggins/Froome story when Froome attacks him at the summit. I feel Yates' explanation sheds the most light on this I've seen and doesn't paint Froome in a great light, but perhaps as you might expect.
8/10
In his book he doesn't take the opportunity to state he never doped, which is fair enough, but given his long association with Lance one is left feeling that it might well be possible that this omission is telling, and that he did (as they all seemed to back then).
Sean bucked the trend by continuing to ride hard and competitively long after he retired, for example electing to ride between transition stages on stage races where he was DS!
A really interesting section was his commentary on the Wiggins/Froome story when Froome attacks him at the summit. I feel Yates' explanation sheds the most light on this I've seen and doesn't paint Froome in a great light, but perhaps as you might expect.
8/10
November 7, 2018
I love this book. A story of a great man today known best for his work with the Sky team.
He’s done so much more prior to this to which some of those achievements still stand. He was also involved through important pivotal moments in cycling history.
I bought the book because I just liked what I saw of him and found him serious, knowledgeable and funny. You won’t be disappointed in his stories and his life. It reminds me of how it used to be, no internet, no new devices every five minutes and people wanting them it was just about riding a bike and having fun.
He’s done so much more prior to this to which some of those achievements still stand. He was also involved through important pivotal moments in cycling history.
I bought the book because I just liked what I saw of him and found him serious, knowledgeable and funny. You won’t be disappointed in his stories and his life. It reminds me of how it used to be, no internet, no new devices every five minutes and people wanting them it was just about riding a bike and having fun.
March 11, 2019
I have read a lot of cycling autobiographies and whilst this one was interesting enough, it wasn't as engaging as others I have read. I am not quite sure why.
There were plenty of results, statistics and a chronological list of events but I didn't feel much in the way of personality or emotion either from the writer or in relation to his various colleagues and rivals over the years.
I found that the most revealing section was that written by his first wife which gave a great insight into life with a highly motivated (not to say obsessive) professional athlete.
There were plenty of results, statistics and a chronological list of events but I didn't feel much in the way of personality or emotion either from the writer or in relation to his various colleagues and rivals over the years.
I found that the most revealing section was that written by his first wife which gave a great insight into life with a highly motivated (not to say obsessive) professional athlete.
November 4, 2022
I really enjoyed this book. I’ve been following cycling for about 30 years and so caught the tail end of Sean’s career on the bike. I never realised he’d gone into director sportive roles and surprisingly had no idea he was DS for Sir Bradley in 2012. What an achievement for both! The title of the book says it all and what I liked was his clear descriptions of himself and his actions as well as what was going on around him at the time. I thoroughly recommend this book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 27, 2023
Can’t say I know more about the strategies used in bike racing than I did before I read it - the descriptions of breaks and sprints and bridging the gap pass by in a pleasant blur of jargon - but this was a lovely read, and I hope I can say I now know more about bike racing in general.
This feels caustic, honest, and made for an entertaining read.
This feels caustic, honest, and made for an entertaining read.
October 4, 2017
Sean was one of a few British riders to try their luck in France in the 80's and succeed.
This book starts before he started racing and covers his life in great detail.
This book starts before he started racing and covers his life in great detail.
December 24, 2021
I started off on this book as a naive modern cycling fan having no clue Sean Yates was an ex-pro 😂 but a great read come the end and ultimately someone who just loves his bike
January 12, 2023
Bit of a lunatic to be honest, but a very interesting life at the heart of some of the biggest moments in World & British cycling over the last 40 years.
March 11, 2014
There are interesting bits in this book if you like cycling. It was written with no regard for narrative though so it's a simple, linear trajectory from his first race as a kid to his last one as he was older. He would've done better to group his anecdotes under common themes otherwise, as it is, it wasn't as engaging a read as it could have been.
November 3, 2015
An interesting read about one of the toughest competitors in the peloton. Would have been nice to have learnt a bit more about the doping in and around the sport when he was riding but obviously his friendships and loyalty to his fellow riders means more to him than headline grabbing.
October 19, 2015
A fine read. A life full of sporting adventure and a view into the inner workings of cycling over the past twenty years.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews