Le Tour : A history of the Tour de France - Hardcover

Wheatcroft, Geoffrey

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0743231104 ISBN 13: 9780743231107

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2003

Synopsis

A masterful and hugely entertaining history of the Tour de France's first hundred years. When Henri Desgrange began a new bicycle road race in 1903, he saw it as little more than a temporary publicity stunt to promote his newspaper. The sixty cyclists who left Paris to ride through the night to Lyons that first July had little idea they were pioneers of the most famous of all bike races, which would reach its centenary as one of the greatest sporting events on earth. The races of the early twentieth century -- as with the late -- were marred by cheating and chicanery, but before long the Tour became a national institution. Along the way the event opened a window both inwards upon French culture, inspiring a whole new kind of journalism, ruthless civic rivalries and any number of popular songs, and also outwards upon European politics. Geoffrey Wheatcroft's masterful history of the Tour de France's first hundred years is not just a hugely entertaining canter through some great Tour stories; nor is it merely a homage to the riders whose names -- Coppi, Simpson, Mercx, Armstrong -- are synonymous with the event's folly and glory; focusing too on the race's role in French cultural life it provides a unique and fascinating insight into Europe's twentieth century.

About this title

About the Author

Geoffrey Wheatcroft is a journalist and historian, a former literary editor of the SPECTATOR and 'Londoner's Diary' editor of the EVENING STANDARD, whose last book THE CONTROVERSY OF ZION won an American National Jewish Book Award. He has always been fascinated by the Tour de France, and covered it in 2002 in preparation for writing this highly original book.

Review

"One of the best books on the subject for non-aficionados." —Times Literary Supplement

"A fascinating book."  —Spectator

"Admirable and beautifully written."  —Daily Mail

"Terrifically entertaining . . . A near masterpiece."  —Independent

"The full, foreign strangeness of the tour is mesmerisingly evoked . . . This is a charming, often moving book, bursting with joie de vivre."  —Daily Telegraph

“Brings a fresh eye to the Tour and a larger view of its cultural context. Well-read and genial, this self-confessed armchair athlete proves a surprisingly adept historian.”  —Guardian

“Written with lordly panache, the book manages to retain its narrative drive while making frequent forays into other areas of French life . . . His research is impressive, he brings characters to life, and he understands the Tour’s mythic qualities and why they matter so much . . . This is a great story, vividly told.”  —Independent on Sunday

About this edition

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0743231104
• ISBN 13: 9780743231107
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 320