Book description
Restlessly vital and possessed of great physical strength, José
Beyaert lived many lives. During the Second World War, he boxed and
trafficked arms for the Resistance on his bicycle. After it, he became
an international cyclist. In 1948, a mile from the end of the Olympic
road race around Windsor Park, he broke away alone to take the gold
medal and started an adventure that would last the rest of his life.
A Tour de France rider in the sport's golden age, José was invited
to open a new velodrome in Colombia, South America. He travelled,
intending to stay a month. Instead, driven by his thirst for
adventure, he stayed for fifty years, becoming by turns athlete,
coach, businessman, emerald-trader, logger, smuggler, perhaps even
hired killer.
Matt Rendell, who knew José Beyaert and met many of his family,
friends and associates, tells the fascinating story of an
almost-forgotten sporting hero who, incapable of living by other
people's rules, lived his many lives on his own terms.
Matt Rendell writes regularly for several leading publications and is
part of the ITV Tour de France production team. he was named Best Sports
Biographer at the British Sports Book Awards in 2007.
