Former pro Dan Martin nominated for prestigious book prize

Chased by Pandas, Dan Martin’s autobiography of his career in professional cycling, has been nominated for the cycling book of the year prize as part of the Sunday Times Sports Book Awards. The Irishman’s book is one of half a dozen that are up for the award, the winner of which will be revealed in a ceremony held at The Oval cricket ground in London on 24 May.

‘Really happy to have made this shortlist. #chasedbypandas tried to bring something different to cycling books. Hope any of you who have read it enjoyed my take,’ Martin said on Twitter following news of his nomination.

The Irishman faces strong competition for the prestigious prize, notably from Beryl, Jeremy Wilson’s biography of Beryl Burton, which won the William Hill Sports Book of the Year prize last December. Alyson Rudd, the chair of the judging panel for that award, said of Wilson’s book: ‘Too few biographies focus on sports women, but this book helps to alter the balance. It is quite simply a tour de force and leaves the reader emotionally drained but also uplifted. Beryl deserved for her story to be told in style and Jeremy Wilson achieves that while also charting the more controversial elements of her extraordinary life.’

The four other books on the list are: The Break, Ineos team director Steve Cummings’ account of his 15-year racing career; Jan Ullrich, Daniel Friebe’s biography of the controversy-hit 1997 Tour de France champion; Two Wheels Good, Jody Rosen’s history and mystery of the bicycle; and Climbers, Peter Cossins’s exploration of the characteristics, feats and foibles of the sport’s kings and queens of the mountains.