ONE mountain range, three countries; 11 regions, 112 routes, 310 climbs, 10,716km of riding and 260,646m of vertical gain.

Yorkshireman Peter Cossins, award-winning writer of Full Gas and The Yellow Jersey - Daily Telegraph cycling books of the year 2019 and 2020, respectively - heads further afield in his new book, A Cyclist’s Guide to the Pyrenees.

Crossing mountain ranges, countries and various terrains, it details the best road cycling routes on both the French and Spanish sides of the 500km-long Pyrenean chain, as well as in Andorra.

The routes range from 50-kilometre loops passing some of the most extraordinary of France’s Cathar castles to 200-kilometre Tour de France-like epics over several passes. It includes renowned ascents such as the Col du Tourmalet, the Col d’Aubisque and Plateau de Beille, and lifts the lid on hundreds of climbs across the range, highlighting points of historical significance and the best roads to tackle them.

From newcomers venturing into the mountains for the first time to experienced cyclists aiming to push their limits and explore new terrain, Peter offers dozens of routes for riders of every level, in every part of the Pyrenees.

Described as “the ultimate companion to any bike ride into Europe’s most beguiling mountain range”, A Cyclist’s Guide to the Pyrenees, published by Great Northern Books, also includes practical information, with every route downloadable.

Peter Cossins has been writing about cycling for more than 25 years. He worked for Cycling Weekly and Cycle Sport then for Procycling for many years, and was also the magazine’s editor. He has written several books.

Born in Scarborough, Peter moved to Heckmondwike as an infant then to the West Country. He later moved to Ilkley, where he spent a dozen years before he and his wife moved to France with their children. He now lives in the French Pyrenees.

* Also published by Great Northern Books is a hardback title by Bradford writer David Joy, exploring the heroic railways linking Lancashire and Yorkshire. Piercing the Pennines tells the stories behind the awe-inspiring tunnels, railways and the magnificent feats of engineering that went into building them.

Yorkshire and Lancashire led Britain and the world into the Industrial Revolution, yet were long cut off by the Pennine chain. The railway age finally brought the two counties together and ensured the continued growth of Manchester as one of Britain’s most remarkable cities. It was linked to Leeds and Sheffield by a series of heroic railway tunnels, three of which were successively the longest in the world when completed in the 1840s.

Often taken for granted, they are portrayed in this book as extraordinary achievements against seemingly insuperable odds. David captures their epic construction in the harshest of conditions with high loss of life. The book, which includes a wide variety of illustrations, from period lithographs to present-day photos, explores tunnels such as Woodhead, built by a labour force of 1,000 men described as ‘depraved, degraded and reckless, living like savages in stone shelters’; Standedge, forming a more direct link between Manchester and Leeds with a “magnificent station” at Huddersfield; and Totley, at over three-and-a-half miles the longest trans-Pennine tunnel when completed in 1894.

David Joy is a founder member of what is now the Friends of the Dales and a founder trustee of the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust. For almost 40 years he was local secretary of the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England and has an MBE for services to the environment.

* Piercing the Pennines (published July 1) and A Cyclist’s Guide to the Pyrenees are published by Great Northern Books. Call (01274) 735056 or visit gnbooks.co.uk