Precious little va-va-Froome in this dour cycling memoir

The Climb: The Autobiography. By Chris Froome. Viking, €24.99. Reviewed by Brendan Daly.

Chris Froome: the cyclist's autobiography is long on rigidity and short on self-examination. Picture: Getty

As Vincenzo Nibali won the Tour de France last Sunday, steaming down the Champs-Élysées to a finish line that had once been almost 3,700 kilometres away, he did so without facing competition from Chris Froome, the English winner of last year’s yellow jersey. The favourite going into this year’s Tour, Froome withdrew after stage five, having fractured his wrist and hand.

It wasn’t the first crash of Froome’s career. Just ten seconds into ...