The Climb: The Autobiography

I bought this after Froome won his 3rd Tour de France title in a row this year. I'm not finished with the book yet, but I've been very pleasantly surprised with the book so far. I'm not sure whether the author had help in writing the book, but it is quite well-written and sounds very authentic. On top of that Froome is pretty obviously an intelligent and thoughtful person who happens to be a world-class cyclist with an extremely unusual and (to my way of thinking) interesting early life. Born and raised in Kenya, tutored by native Kenyan cyclists, fluent in Swahili and maybe other African languages. Froome was bitten by the cycling bug early and had the kind of inner passion that took him from very, very humble beginnings to the pinnacle of the cycling world. I started to appreciate his cycling ability much more after the 2016 TDF stages where he pulled off some very exciting and non-typical rides: winning a stage with a daring and risky surprise attack after cresting a long climb and then battling a breakaway group and going head-to-head with Peter Sagan for miles at the end of a stage--which he lost, but not by much. This guy can ride a bike with the best of them and has written a superlative account of how he got to where he is. Head and shoulders above 99% of sports bio's/auto-bio's. Highly recommended.STP

I really enjoyed this book. Was not a huge Froome fan before (didn't dislike him either, just indifferent) but after reading his story it's hard not too root for the guy. He had such an interesting childhood and for the reviewer who did not like those sections, I found them to be the meat and potatoes of the story. Hearing what exactly was going on in the tour with Wiggins was also very interesting. I want to read Wiggins account now so I can compare them although I'd be inclined to believe Froome's account. Also, the insight to how Team Sky operates is very interesting. I have no trouble believing that they would be very "plan oriented" and by design unable to switch up if things do not go according to plan. All in all, one of the better books on cycling to come out in the last year or so. Although he did take a few shots at Armstrong it was refreshing to read a cycling book that was not page after page after page of Armstrong bashing.

I thoroughly enjoyed this look into the life of Chris Froome. My first look at the race from the inside - how does a team chose a rider to champion? What are the rivalries like inside a team as one champion finishes his reign and is required to support another? What does it feel like to crash? To climb the steepest mountains? Face the crowds on the road? How does one go from boy who likes to ride his bike to champion of arguably the world's most famous race? It's all in there. It's really nice to know the life story of this now 3-time champion. Like a bike race, this book was long, and slow in some parts, part so rewarding at the finish!

Chris Froome readily admits in 'The Climb' that he is a reserved character - as is ex-teammate Bradley Wiggins, who by the kindle X-ray count is mentioned almost 400 times. Hence one must shell out odd-teen currency units for what they can't tell us through the cycling media. Deciding whose story to read first was fairly simple, given that Froome is a more prolific road cyclist, which is my primary interest. I had planned to read Wiggins' perspective at some point for fairness but Froome argues their conflict was an invention of the media. Best quote on Wiggins - "We love the impressions [of other people] but I think sometimes we all wish that Brad would give us more of an impression of himself."'The Climb' could be simplified into two parts narrative-wise: before and after Froome's uptick in performance following his treatments for bilharzia in 2011. His early days in Africa and as a neo-pro in Europe are funny and inspirational, whereas the blow-by-blow of literally every stage of the three Tours de France he contested at the time of writing makes for duller reading. The tone is consistently funny and self-effacing, but the content becomes a rewording of his race diaries, which could be impossible to follow for non-cycling addicts who didn't watch the 2012 and 2013 editions of le Tour. It is worthwhile to hear that behind the immaculate Rapha kits Team 'Skyborg' has a beating heart. Richie Porte gets around 150 mentions, right behind Chris Froome's Kenyan mentor David Kinjah, which should demonstrate the importance of their 'Richie Froome' symbioticism (all credit to Paul Sherwen). It will be interesting to see how Froome does without Porte as his teammate in 2016.All told, Froome is the hero cycling needs right now but it is as if nobody wants to take up that message. Quoth Arthur C. Clarke, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." Says Froome, "I believe the prevalence of cheating and the fatalistic belief that 'everybody' was doing it retarded the progress of clean science in cycling training." It isn't a huge leap to say that 'marginal gains' and sports science is indistinguishable from doping's performance gains. But for now the peformance narrative is all legacy of the 2012 USADA decision against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, which is that's what the general public will think of the sport for quite some time. Yet Chris Froome's closing words upon his first Tour de France victory in 2013 ring true: "this is one yellow jersey that will stand the test of time." It's a shame the general public wasn't listening.

the book has been well written and you can basically live yourself into the story. having read the book i have a different opinion of Chris. the way he grew up and lived in Kenya and later in South Africa,just gives you a different perspective of the man. nothing he achieved he was given on a plate. he had to fight for everything and to get to the top. what made him different from other cyclist,is he had to fight every step of the way to show to the world,he is the best in the world. this is one of those books you cant put down and just want to to read more and what a pity when it came to a end. so wish there was another 300 pages :):)

I'm not a huge cycling fan and don't usually like autobiographies. I'm also an editor and am therefore very fussy about what I read as I often think books have been over- or under-edited.I chose to read this because in the snapshots I'd seen and read of Chris Froome in the media, he didn't seem like the typical sportsperson. I wanted to find out why, and The Climb explains. It is a very well written and often fascinating and funny account of an unconventional route into professional sport.The key theme for me was that despite his very obvious passion for success, Froome is a lovely guy. Not to say that there are no nice guys in sport, but you get the impression that Froome is as much concerned about being a decent human being as he is about being a Grand Tour winner. In The Climb, he writes about how pleased he was to find that a soigneur had named his newborn son after him because of his character rather than because of his achievements on the bike.But Froome is more than just a nice guy who rides a bike. Anyone who has ever considered him to be boring should read this book. Quiet and introverted is not the same as boring. And because he is quiet and introverted, reading this is probably the only way to learn about the man behind the jersey.I hope there will be a comprehensive update to this autobiography at the end of Froome's professional cycling career as this ends at his first TdF victory, so plenty more to be written already!This is one autobiography that will stand the test of time.

A story of an unlikely Tour winner his beginnings were sewn with obstacles many of his contemporaries in Europe and US did not face. Yes he was lucky in meeting the right people at the right time who helped him to the leading rider postion in one of the best cycling teams in the post-Lance era. But you cannot avoid admiring and crediting his perseverence, hard work and sacrifices made - with a solid dollop of panache - to not only win the Tour, Giro and Vuelta at various times, and also restore some of the sport's lost credibility due to doping. A thoroughly enjoyable read, cracling with dynamism and personality - much like the individuala at its core.

It was very interesting to read about Chris Froome's background; he had a tough early life. I found myself almost suffering the pain and exhaustion of his training and incredible Grand Tour events. I have often watched some of the Grand Tours on TV and although the commentary helps, it is difficult to guess what it is like for the individual rider but reading this book has clarified that. I think that the appalling behavior of the French onlookers is unacceptable. If this happened at Football cricket or Rugby the host would lose the event. However, I guess the Tour De France will not be taken elsewhere. I am not basing my views on the book but what I see for myself on TV. I have been to the Tour of Britain and position myself with a camera (no flash) on the side of the road well away from the cyclist. Dave

This long book for me resembled one of the bike races being easy to read in parts but hard going in others and by the half way point it had come to being a challenge to finish it and I did eventually do so. There were some interesting general sections whilst others tended to be rather and I suppose as expected excessively bike focused. Some might say why buy it if not a bike fan well I watched the Tour de France mainly for the places and scenery on the occasions he won so that was the appeal. My mindset towards reading this book was not aided by reading early on about his recollections of taking young bunnies from a kindergarten and feeding them live to his pet pythons although he did not explain how it was that the people in charge of the kindergarten failed to notice that the rabbits were continuously going missing. At the end of the book though as always there had been many things learnt about the author and his unique life story.

Even though I've not been on a bike with any regularity since my student days, I have long been fascinated by the human endurance and mental strength required to succeed in professional cycling. I'm also intrigued by the group dynamics of team road racing in which the lesser riders sacrifice their own ambitions for the good of the 'queen bee' who leads the team.Seeing that the book was written with David Walsh, author of the excellent 'Seven Deadly Sins' in which he recounted his battle to prove that Lance Armstrong was a cheat, and wanting to know more about Froome, the enigmatic quiet man of cycling, I was sure this would be a good book. Or if not a good book, at least a well written one.It's actually a bit of a mix. I LOVED the early chapters about Chris's life growing up as a nerdy white kid hanging out with the cool Kenya cyclists before being sent to school in South Africa where he regularly crept out of school in the early hours to go training. His relationship with his divorced parents and his brothers is heart-warming. I enjoyed his musings on why he had to change his nationality and his condemnation of the officials in Kenyan cycling. I found his climb up through the ranks of the peleton, his repeated mistakes and gradual learnings all very interesting.The problem was that the second half of the book turns into a bit of a snore-fest of detailed descriptions of races interspersed with unpleasant incidents between Froome and Wiggins. It's clear that Froome was seen as dispensable by Dave Brailsford and Team Sky, making it all the more remarkable that he still went on to achieve so much with them.It's sad to read of broken promises and let-downs by Team Sky and if it's all true - and I've no reason to think it's not - Froome really does seem to have been a victim of the team's preferences for Wiggins. The problem is that there's nothing very attractive about people using autobiographies to settle scores and despite his best efforts not to knock his team mate, there's a clear (and probably justified) chip on Froome's shoulder over his treatment.The book ends with Froome's first Tour de France win. I suspect a lot of his story was just beginning at that point. But I'm not sure I could have faced reading the stage by stage details of another 4 or 5 Tours.I liked Froome before and I still like him now. I'm glad I know more about his childhood and his motivations but there comes a point when another mountain climb starts to read much the same as all the others.