Andy Devaney
Former Tour de France climber Pippa York has ridden straight into the William Hill Sports Book spotlight, sharing this year’s top literary honour with Irish sports writer David Walsh. Their memoir, The Escape: The Tour, the Cyclist and Me, has been crowned William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award 2025 winner, a result that feels a bit like a summit finish no one quite saw coming – not least the winner herself.
The book follows Scottish stage-race specialist York and Sunday Times chief sports writer Walsh as they return to the modern Tour de France, revisiting a sport they both know better than is probably healthy. Along the way, The Escape dives into cycling’s old ghosts – doping, gender, sports psychology – while revisiting York’s 11 appearances on the race when the world knew her as Robert Millar.
Glasgow-born York, one of Britain’s most successful road cyclists, takes the prize with her debut book, becoming only the fifth cycling title ever to claim the famous trophy. Walsh, meanwhile, becomes the latest Irishman to get his hands on the sport’s most coveted spine of paper, following his compatriot Conor Niland, who won the 2024 award for The Racket, co-written with journalist Gavin Cooney.
A heavyweight field for a heavyweight prize
The Escape emerged from a seven-strong shortlist for the 37th edition of the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award, the longest-running and richest prize in sports writing. The judging panel was chaired by sports journalist Alyson Rudd and included former professional footballer Clarke Carlisle, broadcaster Gabby Logan and comedian Elis James, alongside Dame Heather Rabbatts, Mark Lawson and Michelle Walder.
If that sounds like the sort of committee that could overrule the Vatican, it also explains why getting to a winner wasn’t exactly a formality.
Winning author York said: “I’m quite surprised to win the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award, but very pleased. I have to thank David [Walsh] for his insight into my life, my situation and for his understanding.
“It was good to spend time with David over those summers at the Tour de France. Writing this book was emotional and at times difficult.”
Co-writer Walsh added: “It feels amazing to win the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award. This is an important book because it shows that people in Pippa’s situation are human beings. And of all the human beings I travelled with on the Tour de France, she was maybe the single most wonderful.
“The book was a labour of love in a way, because we had such a good time together. For the book to be awarded the greatest prize in the world of sports writing, it’s overwhelming.”
In addition to the trophy and a place in the William Hill Sports Book hall of fame, York and Walsh also share a £30,000 cheque – not quite Tour de France GC money, but enough to keep the coffee and memories flowing.
‘A tour de force’ – judges hail The Escape
The William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award, first presented in 1989, exists to reward excellence in sports writing. This year, the judges clearly felt they had more than one contender.
Chair of the judging panel Alyson Rudd said: “It proved to be quite the task for the judging panel to settle on a winner, thanks to a heavyweight shortlist of candidates.
“This year’s nominees exemplified the quality of sports writing, across a broad spectrum of topics, shining a light on some of the key issues of our time – power and its influence, self-reflection and the hidden stories behind elite performance.
“Pippa and David ultimately collected this year’s prize thanks to the engaging narrative of The Escape, a tour de force which explored both the troubled past of cycling and Pippa’s own personal journey, told through the lens of a travelogue style which emphasised the beauty and history of one of sport’s greatest spectacles.”
So The Escape isn’t just another Tour book about watts, gels and men in yellow. It’s a story about identity, accountability and what happens when the peloton – and life – moves on but you still need to find your place in it. Exactly the sort of depth the William Hill Sports Book prize has been pushing into the spotlight for nearly four decades.
An impressive supporting cast
Not that York and Walsh sprinted to the line unchallenged. The 2025 shortlist was as stacked as a Grand Tour mountain stage.
- Finding the Edge, the autobiography of England cricket great Sir James Anderson, co-written by The Maccabees guitarist and author Felix White, brought swing, nostalgia and the sort of English gloom only cloud cover at Lord’s can provide.
- Ultra Women by endurance athletes Lily Canter and Emma Wilkinson celebrated women pushing through the limits of mind and body over absurd distances.
- States of Play by Independent journalist Miguel Delaney tackled the modern football machine and the forces reshaping the game.
- The Last Bell by two-time William Hill Sports Book of the Year winner Donald McRae added yet another heavyweight contender from one of the prize’s most decorated alumni.
- Engulfed by football journalist James Montague and Test Cricket by Daily Telegraph cricket correspondent Tim Wigmore completed the list, ensuring bat-and-ball fans were more than catered for.
Each shortlisted author received £3,000, a reminder that in the world of sports writing, you don’t have to finish first to make the podium.
But this year, the yellow jersey – or perhaps rainbow stripes – belongs to Pippa York and David Walsh. With The Escape: The Tour, the Cyclist and Me, they’ve delivered a William Hill Sports Book winner that doesn’t just revisit the Tour de France; it rewrites what a cycling memoir can be.
