so you want to be a pro?
Joe Parkin's book, A Dog in a Hat, is also interesting in this regard.
Someone talented, but not quite talented enough. On the ADR team with Greg Lemond the year of Lemond's 8 second tour victory, but on the B squad, despite sort of being promised that he'd still be able to ride the tour. Rode Paris-Roubaix, but did a lot more local kermis. Seems like almost every time he was on the way to a good result, he flatted, or got tangled with the food bag, or whatever, but there was usually something.
The chapter on kermis races is priceless including the small part about selling them: "Over the years I have recounted the stories of selling kermis races, and the response has run from shocked disbelief and anger to fascination. My experience as a pro cyclist in Europe has me with a somewhat altered moral code ..."
Terrifically written, imo.
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