In May 1958 Russell Mockridge started to write this book, the story of his life as a racing cyclist. On September 13, 1958, while competing in a road race on the outskirts of Melbourne, he was killed.

Shy and bespectacled Mockridge was the black sheep of Australian cycling and also its greatest all-round champion. He dominated both the track and road - at the time of his death he was the reigning national sprint, pursuit, and road race champion. His race record in the legendary Melbourne to Warrnambool stood for nearly twenty-five years.

At the 1952 Olympics he won two gold medals in one afternoon. His first forays into European racing, where he won the Paris Grand Prix and Six-Day event and completed both Paris-Roubaix (finishing behind Fausto Coppi and Jacques Anquetil) and the brutal 1955 Tour de France, hinted at even greater glory.

Here is the forgotten story of Australia’s finest cyclist ever.