In cycling, suffering brings glory: a rider’s value can be judged by their results, but also by their panache and heroism. Hear about Chris Froome riding on at the Tour de France with a broken wrist and Geraint Thomas finishing it with a broken pelvis, and you’ll never look at a premier-league footballer’s diving theatrics the same way again.

In The Hardmen, the writers behind cycling superblog Velominati.com, will tell the stories and illuminate the myths of not just the greatest cyclists ever, but the toughest. From Eddy Merckx to Beryl Burton, and from Marianne Vos to Edwig Van Hooydonk, the book will lay bare the secrets of their extraordinary and inspirational endurance in the face of pain, danger and disaster.

The Velominati are founders of an online community which (ir)reverently celebrates road cycling. Their infamous Rules cover training (‘it never gets easier, you just go faster’), equipment (‘the correct number of bikes to own it n+1’), socks and coffee.

The editor Frank Strack writes for Cycling magazine.