Ebook: The Medal Factory: British Cycling and the Cost of Gold

In the early 1990s British cycling was an irrelevance on the world stage. Yet by the Beijing Olympics in 2008 it had turned itself into the most feared track squad in the sport. Four years later, in 2012, British Cycling and British riders would dominate the sport on both road and the London Olympic velodrome, thanks to the efforts to Team GB, Bradley Wiggins and Team Sky.

This dramatic turnaround was driven by bold, visionary leadership from Peter Keen, Dave Brailsford, Shane Sutton, Chris Boardman, Steve Peters and a supporting cast of coaches and riders. But how was this astonishing transformation achieved? Simply by good luck and Lottery funding? A happy meeting of minds?

As the medals and yellow jerseys piled up, the questions started to pile up too. Was the regime at British Cycling a healthy one? Did staff and riders at Team Sky (later INEOS) bend the rules to the point of breaking them? Were allegations of bullying, sexism and drug use well-founded? This book will tell the story from pre-Lottery amateurism to post-2014 meltdown, talking to all the major players through those tumultuous years.