Slaying the Badger: LeMond, Hinault and the Greatest Ever Tour de France - Softcover

Moore, Richard

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0224099868 ISBN 13: 9780224099868

Publisher: Yellow Jersey Press, 2014

Synopsis

The Tour de France is renowned for its chaos and drama. But no other Tour has quite compared to what played out in 1986. That year witnessed a show-stopping rivalry that had spectators across the world agog. 
     Greg LeMond, a fresh-faced and mercurial youngster, dubbed 'L'Américain', was a naïve Tour newbie. Frenchman Bernard 'The Badger' Hinault was five times winner and as tough as old boots. Though polar opposites, they were both fiercely competitive, both equally brilliant. So why was the world shocked that they were at each other's throats? They were meant to be team-mates. Their explosive rivalry broke every rule in the book. No one wins the Tour single-handed; out there your team counts for everything. After his previous year's win Hinault had pledged his absolute support for LeMond, but as 1986 the Tour circled France, his constant attacks on his team-mate seemed like cold-blooded sabotage. Why was Hinault putting LeMond in jeopardy? Would he crack under the pressure? Something sinister was going on, but no one knew quite what. 
     Slaying the Badger relives the adrenaline, the agony, the camaraderie, the betrayals, and the pure exhilaration of that epic year, as the biggest conundrum of Tour history is finally laid bare.

About this title

From the Back Cover

Tour de France, 1986: The battle lines are drawn. America's hope, Greg LeMond, fights to dethrone "the Badger," French hero Bernard Hinault.

Former world champion LeMond is gunning for his first Tour victory. Hinault is clawing his way toward a record-breaking sixth.

LeMond, mercurial and raw, struggles for recognition. Hinault, fiercely combative and relentlessly aggressive, wants to go out on top.

On his side, LeMond has two team allies. But Hinault has five.

And there's one other problem: They're on the same team.

Their explosive rivalry burned the rule book, shredded friendships, shattered careers, and destroyed convention. It also led to the greatest Tour de France ever raced, an epic, chaotic, confounding, and ultimately exhilarating war of pure adrenaline, cold-blooded calculation, and extraordinary athleticism.

Heroism, treachery, spectacle, controversy, betrayal: In detail and emotion, Richard Moore brilliantly reconstructs the mind-boggling story of the 1986 Tour de France, the greatest race of them all.

About the Author

RICHARD MOORE is a freelance journalist and author. His first book, In Search of Robert Millar, won Best Biography at the 2008 British Sports Book Awards. His second book, Heroes, Villains & Velodromes, was long-listed for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year. He writes on cycling and sport and is a regular contributor to the Guardian, Sky Sports and The Scotsman. He is also a former racing cyclist who represented Scotland at the 1998 Commonwealth Games.

About this edition

• Publisher: Yellow Jersey Press
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0224099868
• ISBN 13: 9780224099868
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 320