Full Gas: How to Win a Bike Race – Tactics from Inside the Peloton

Road racing wasn’t always the tactical, high‑speed mind game it is today. In the early days, riders simply went full gas for as long as they could, winning Grand Tours by hours rather than seconds. Now, a single puncture can derail three weeks of effort, and the sport has become nothing short of chess on wheels — a blend of power, nerve and razor‑sharp decision‑making.

Full Gas dives into the real question every fan asks: how do you actually win a bike race? How do pros handle crosswinds, cobbles, elbows‑out sprints and the chaos of a packed peloton? Why do cool heads and clever bluffing matter just as much as raw watts? And what makes a breakaway artist so thrilling to watch?

Cycling writer Peter Cossins takes you inside team buses and race radios, where pro riders and directeurs sportifs break down their tactics — the triumphs, the mistakes and the split‑second calls that decide everything. From summit finishes to last‑second sprints, from bold attacks to brilliant deception, this book reveals the strategy behind the spectacle.

Fast, frantic and sometimes baffling, road racing can be hard to decode. Full Gas is the essential guide that finally makes sense of the peloton — and shows why cycling is one of the most fascinating sports on earth.