Written off as fat and useless in his youth, Mark Cavendish has sprinted to the front of the Tour de France peloton to become cycling's brightest star and its most outspoken.
Following his debut best-seller "Boy Racer," Cavendish has truly come of age as one of the best cycling sprinters of all time.
In "At Speed," the Manx Missile details what it took to become the winningest Tour sprinter ever, examines the plan that led to his world championship victory, reveals the personal toll of his sacrifice that helped teammate Bradley Wiggins become the UK's first-ever Tour de France winner, and confesses his bitter disappointment at the London Olympic Games.
Screaming fights with teammates, rancorous contract negotiations, crushing disappointments for Mark Cavendish, winning is always the cure. His book At Speed is the page-turning story of a living legend in the sport of cycling.
Born and raised on the Isle of Man, Mark Cavendish became a world track champion as a teenager in 2005 and a Commonwealth Games gold medalist a year later. In 2008 he regained his world title on the track with British teammate Bradley Wiggins. After switching his focus to the more glamorous world of road cycling, Cavendish set a new record of four stage wins in the 2008 Tour de France. He won six stages of the 2009 Tour de France and the prestigious Milan-San Remo one-day classic then went on to win the green points jersey and become the winningest Tour sprinter in history.
Widely regarded as the most exciting and charismatic young rider to join the sport in years, Cavendish will be the most closely watched sprinter in the pro peloton in 2013.