Behind the Yellow Jersey : Racing in the Shadows of Kelly and Roche

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A Racing Cyclist's Perspective

The author happens to race at a time when two of the most gifted English-speaking riders the world has ever seen are emerging from a small bunch of hard-riding Irishmen who get together week after week to tackle the wind, rain and rough roads on their small island. This is a no punches pulled account of high-level amateur bike racing that is both gripping and revealing, as Cusack shares the trials and tribulations of rising from a touring cyclist to a member of the Irish Olympic Squad in just three seasons. A personal friend of Roche's, he offers insights into the temperament that would ultimately lead to victory in the Tour de France, Tour of Italy and the World Championships, as well as commentary on the stoic Kelly and his legend in the domestic bunch.

Michael Cusack began his cycling career in 1973 with the Dublin Wheelers Cycling Club. After a second place finish in the National junior championships the previous season, he was controversially named to the Irish Olympic Squad. He rode his first Tour of Ireland in 1975, finishing the eight-day race won by Pat McQuaid. In 1976, he was invited to race in the United States and Canada by the Raleigh-sponsored Century Road Club of America. He finished 3rd at the Criterium de Montreal, Canada before returning to Ireland. The following season he was named to the Irish Team for the inaugural Tour of Europe, where he finished 36th after five days of racing from Reims through the Vosges Mountains to the finish in Strasbourg. Cusack then represented Ireland in the 1978 Tour of Ireland, where he supported team leader Stephen Roche. He finished third on the final stage outside Dublin. He was named to the initial Irish Olympic Squad for the 1980 Summer Olympics, along with Stephen Roche, Bernard McCormack, John Shortt and Alan McCormack, but retired from racing 1979 to pursue a writing career.