The Man and His Bike

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“One of the most entertaining sports books I have ever read,” wrote Joe Short of The Daily Express — and it’s easy to see why. In this award‑winning collection of cycling tales, Wilfried de Jong strips the sport back to its rawest essence: why we ride, why we watch, why we suffer, why we keep coming back for more.

With his unmistakable mix of comic timing and quiet melancholy, de Jong reflects on life, love and mortality from the saddle of his trusted bike. Sometimes he’s chasing the peloton through the chaos of Paris–Roubaix; sometimes he’s alone in nature, wrestling with his thoughts. Sometimes he’s dealing with a rogue bird, or explaining why he’s standing stark naked on Belgian cobbles with a tyre in his hand. Whatever the moment, he captures the strange, beautiful madness of cycling like few writers can.

These stories reveal a sport built on pain, punishment and the constant possibility of failure — yet one that somehow liberates and inspires us. De Jong unlocks the emotional truth of cycling: the joy, the obsession, the absurdity, the transcendence.

A cult classic in the Netherlands and beyond, this collection is essential reading for anyone who has ever turned the pedals, watched a race, or wondered why cyclists put themselves through it all.