Within Rouleur Seventeen

photos by Dan Sharp

The most recent issue of Rouleur contains two different views from inside the European pro peloton. The first, from Rapha Condor Sharp's own Tom Southam tells the tale of racing on home soil at the Tour of Britain.. And though a broken elbow during the Lincoln GP cemented the fact that Southam would not join his teammates this week at the Tour of Japan, come September he will be ready to tackle the familiar routes once again. Here is to wishing Tom the speediest of recoveries.

An excerpt from Tour of Britain:

I always feel like something is slightly out of place at the Tour of Britain, like someone has photoshopped an image of a bike race on top of a picture of the British countryside. Even though I have ridden the race four times now, I am still a little confused by the feeling of the party being at my house. Even the lengthy transfers take on a slightly surreal feeling: I am on the M4, where I often am, but what is the Katusha bus doing here?

The second piece that appears near the back of issue Seventeen is from Michael Barry and Camille McMillan's recently released Le Metier. Chronicling his life on the road as a Professional Cyclist over the past few years.

McMillan's photos provide an eerie accompaniment to the writing as the majority of them feature Barry in cycling kit, and on the bike, but rarely do we see his face, having the effect of echoing the thoughts of the man on the bicycle.

Issue Seventeen of Rouleur is available now.