'Major Taylor, the black American cyclist and 1899 World Sprint Champion, was the highest paid and most famous athlete in what was then the world’s most popular and lucrative sport. Spectators packed stadiums in North America, Europe and Australasia to watch him race. In the United States, however, his white rivals’ racial bigotry, hatred, threats, and dangerous and dirty riding tactics became intolerable. It was in Australia, in 1904, facing his American arch enemy, that hostilities came to a head.'
Source: Publisher's blurb.
'In 1902 Australia was staging the richest cycling events in the world. When black American athlete, 'Major' Taylor, arrives to compete he has to confront not only the White Australia Policy but the prejudices of the other competitors - his own countrymen.'
Source: Screen Australia.