I’m not going to claim 2020 was the best year of cycling I’ve ever witnessed, but it was the one I enjoyed watching the most. That’s despite the fact that the nearest I came to the action in person was getting my nose really close up to the telly.

Starting with a cracking early season that was stopped unexpectedly in its tracks, the radically back-loaded 2020 calendar saw conventions turned upside down, plans switched and unlikely champions crowned.

Of course, the reason for this upheaval was the Covid pandemic. It was also the reason that once racing was allowed to reconvene, the vicarious thrill of watching people racing their bikes was all the more exciting.

Now onto its third year, The Road Book bills itself as cycling’s definitive almanack. At almost 650 pages this hardback volume contains month-by-month stats and results from every important race of the season, along with essays and profiles from many of the key players.

It’s hard not to think that at three years old it’s already chronicling some pretty radical cycling history.