Olympic Gangster: The Legend of José Beyaert - Cycling Champion, Fortune Hunter and Outlaw - Brossura

Rendell, Matt

Brossura

ISBN 10: 1845963989 ISBN 13: 9781845963989

Casa editrice: Mainstream Publishing, 2009

Riassunto

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 to other people's rules, lived his many lives on his own terms.

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Recensione

"A riveting tale that would be unbelievable were it not for [Rendell's] impeccable research" (Independent on Sunday)

"Separating myth from reality . . . and bringing it together with the sure-handedness we've come to expect is award-winning author Matt Rendell" (The Bookseller)

Descrizione del libro

The remarkable biography of a 1948 Olympic cycling champion who became a swashbuckling fortune-hunter in Columbia

Su questa edizione

• Editore: Mainstream Publishing
• Data di pubblicazione: 2009
• ISBN 10: 1845963989
• ISBN 13: 9781845963989
• Rilegatura: Copertina flessibile
• Numero edizione: 1
• Numero di pagine: 352