Sticky Bottle: The Cycling Year According to Carlton Kirby

Eurosport's legendary commentator Carlton Kirby takes us all on a tour of the professional cycling race year. A companion title to his bestselling Magic Spanner, this witty, affectionately written book takes fans into cycling's less familiar, often wonderfully bizarre corners.

A true cycling nut would be hard pushed to name all 36 races in just a 'normal' UCI World Tour. But there are so many more: 375 on the European Tour alone and many more on the America Tour (80), the Asia Tour (65), and the Africa Tour (45). It's a year-long schedule, most of it unfamiliar. They may be amazing, they may be odd, but all have their place in the Sticky Bottle calendar.

Big races and small ones find a place in Sticky Bottle as well as the relatively unknown. Here are personal and historical tales of cycling wonder and woe, plus a healthy smattering of the bizarre.

From the early season Comunitat Valenciana event that is full of crashes because riders are so rusty, via the Tour of Croatia with its bullet holes and potholes, Sticky Bottle is a fun yet informative guide to the cycling year. A mix of personal anecdotes and racing history, it will entertain and enlighten in equal measure.

As with his bestselling debut book Magic Spanner, TV's 'Mr Cycling' gives us a witty behind-the-scenes view, one that the average fan rarely gets to see or hear about. Welcome to the cycling year!

'A genuine one-off with a ready wit and a killer anecdote to hand at all times' - Rouleur