Belgium is a country driven by an extraordinary passion for a single sport: cycling. The stories are legion: the farmer who constructed his own cobbled climb so as to get one up on his neighbour; the father who rebuilt a velodrome so that his son could train to be a world champion; the cafe owner who organised a cycle race through (not past, but through) the bar where his regulars drank their brown beers. Passion, Cobbles and Beer will take the reader deep into the world of Belgian cycle racing, legendary among aficionados of the sport as one of its most vibrant and quirky heartlands, home to some of the greatest races - the Tour of Flanders and Liege-Bastogne-Liege, cycling's greatest champion in Eddy Merckx. It is a small country which has always been disproportionately influential within cycling, providing a wealth of greats from its relatively small population. This book will explain why as William Fotheringham delves deep into the culture and people of this historic cycling nation. Praise for William Fotheringham `Merckx - a natural champion who regularly rode himself and others into agony and glory - is a fine choice for a writer of Fotheringham's skill and cycling knowledge... A fascinating, often bleak portrait of a remarkable athlete and an unnerving man.' The Sunday Times