Jeroen Wielaert - Bravo, les Hollandais (02-019)

It is Tour de France time, so I read about cycling. This book is written by a famous Dutch cycling journalist. It is not really a book, more a collection of portraits. The best thirty cyclists in Dutch history all got a chapter. Very informative, some nice stories, especially about the Tours before the war and in the fifties. Plenty of funny anecdotes. Nevertheless, in the end, the book wasn't too satisfying. Anyone who has heard Wielaert talk on the radio during Radio Tour de France can feel the passion coming through the airwaves. He just loves this race, he adores the heroes. His radio-columns show plenty of insight, eye for detail and the love of the sport. And that's exactly what I miss in here. There's nothing wrong with the book, it's just all so very tame, it could have done with a bit of pepper.