Download or read book The First Tour de France written by Peter Cossins and published by Bold Type Books. This book was released on 2017-06-06 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From its inception, the 1903 Tour de France was a colorful affair. Full of adventure, mishaps and audacious attempts at cheating, it was a race to be remembered. Cyclists of the time weren't enthusiastic about participating in this "heroic" race on roads more suited to hooves than wheels, with bikes weighing up to thirty-five pounds, on a single fixed gear, for three full weeks. Assembling enough riders for the race meant paying unemployed amateurs from the suburbs of Paris, including a butcher, a chimney sweep and a circus acrobat. From Maurice "The White Bulldog" Garin, an Italian-born Frenchman whose parents were said to have swapped him for a round of cheese in order to smuggle him into France as a fourteen-year-old, to Hippolyte Aucouturier, who looked like a villain from a Buster Keaton movie with his jersey of horizontal stripes and handlebar moustache, the cyclists were a remarkable bunch. Starting in the Parisian suburb of Montgeron, the route took the intrepid cyclists through Lyon, over the hills to Marseille, then on to Toulouse, Bordeaux, and Nantes, ending with great fanfare at the Parc des Princes in Paris. There was no indication that this ramshackle cycling pack would draw crowds to throng France's rutted roads and cheer the first Tour heroes. But they did; and all thanks to a marketing ruse, cycling would never be the same again.
Download or read book Butcher Blacksmith Acrobat Sweep written by Peter Cossins and published by Jonathan Cape. This book was released on 2018-06-07 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the winner of the Telegraph Sports Book Awards Cycling Book of the Year 2018 The first Tour de France in 1903 was a colourful affair full of adventure, mishaps and audacious attempts at cheating. Its riders included characters like Maurice Garin, an Italian-born Frenchman, said to have been swapped for a round of cheese by his parents in order to smuggle him into France to clean chimneys as a teenager, Hippolyte Aucouturier with his trademark handlebar moustache, and amateurs like Jean Dargassies, a blacksmith who had never raced before. Would this ramshackle pack of cyclists draw crowds to throng France's rutted roads and cheer the first Tour heroes? Surprisingly it did, and, all thanks to a marketing ruse dreamed up to revive struggling newspaper L'Auto, cycling would never be the same again. Peter Cossins takes us through the inaugural Tour de France, painting a nuanced portrait of France in the early 1900s, to see where the greatest sporting event of all began.
Download or read book Tour de France written by Christopher S. Thompson and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2008-03-08 with total page 436 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this highly original history of the world's most famous bicycle race, Christopher S. Thompson, mining previously neglected sources and writing with infectious enthusiasm for his subject, tells the compelling story of the Tour de France from its creation in 1903 to the present. Weaving the words of racers, politicians, Tour organizers, and a host of other commentators together with a wide-ranging analysis of the culture surrounding the event including posters, songs, novels, films, and media coverage Thompson links the history of the Tour to key moments and themes in French history. Examining the enduring popularity of Tour racers, Thompson explores how their public images have changed over the past century. A new preface explores the long-standing problem of doping in light of recent scandals.
Download or read book Sprinting Through No Man s Land written by Adin Dobkin and published by Little A. This book was released on 2021-07 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The inspiring, heart-pumping true story of soldiers turned cyclists and the historic 1919 Tour de France that helped to restore a war-torn country and its people. On June 29, 1919, one day after the Treaty of Versailles brought about the end of World War I, nearly seventy cyclists embarked on the thirteenth Tour de France. From Paris, the war-weary men rode down the western coast on a race that would trace the country's border, through seaside towns and mountains to the ghostly western front. Traversing a cratered postwar landscape, the cyclists faced near-impossible odds and the psychological scars of war. Most of the athletes had arrived straight from the front, where so many fellow countrymen had suffered or died. The cyclists' perseverance and tolerance for pain would be tested in a grueling, monthlong competition. An inspiring true story of human endurance, Sprinting Through No Man's Land explores how the cyclists united a country that had been torn apart by unprecedented desolation and tragedy. It shows how devastated countrymen and women can come together to celebrate the adventure of a lifetime and discover renewed fortitude, purpose, and national identity in the streets of their towns.
Download or read book A Race for Madmen written by Chris Sidwells and published by HarperCollins UK. This book was released on 2010 with total page 21 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: No sporting event has had its past and present, its highs and lows so intricately entwined with those of a country like the Tour has with France.
Download or read book Le Tour written by Geoffrey Wheatcroft and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2004 with total page 420 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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 60 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. Geoffrey Wheatcroft's masterly 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 20th century.
Download or read book The Science of the Tour de France written by James Witts and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2016-06-16 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Take an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to create a world-class cyclist. James Witts invites you into the world of marginal gains to discover the innovative training techniques, nutrition strategies and cutting-edge gear that are giving today's elite cyclists the competitive advantage. Find out why Formula One telemetry is key to more bike speed; how power meters dictate training sessions and race strategy; how mannequins, computational fluid dynamics and wind-tunnels are elevating aerodynamics to the next level; why fats and training on water alone are popular in the peloton; and why the future of cycling will involve transcranial brain stimulation and wearable technology. With contributions from the world's greatest riders, including Marcel Kittel, Peter Sagan and Bauke Mollema, and the teams that work alongside them: Etixx-Quick Step, Team Sky, Tinkoff, Movistar, BMC Racing, Trek-Segafredo and many more. Also meet the teams' sports scientists, coaches, nutritionists and chefs, who reveal the pioneering science that separates Contador and Cancellara from the recreational rider. To win the Tour de France takes stamina, speed, strength... and science.
Download or read book The Story of the Tour De France written by Bill McGann and published by Dog Ear Publishing. This book was released on 2006-07 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Dirty Feet written by Les Woodland and published by . This book was released on 2021-02-28 with total page 198 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dirty Feet is a fresh look at the Tour de France. Henri Desgrange was so bothered by his racer's hygiene that he would publish the names of riders who did not wash after a day of racing on France's dirt roads.
Download or read book The Official History of The Tour De France written by Andy McGrath and published by Hachette UK. This book was released on 2021-10-19 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Official History of the Tour de France is a celebration of one of the greatest annual sporting events, and the premier competition in world cycling. Through more than 300 photographs, rarely-seen documents and items of memorabilia, this book covers more than a century of fascinating stories on the Tour and its iconic yellow jersey. This revised and updated edition includes an authoritative narrative account of each major era, up to and including the thrilling 2020 Tour - a dramatic contest completed against all the odds - and a preview of the 2021 event. There are features on superstar cyclists and memorable moments from each period of the event's rich history, and a foreword from legendary Tour de France champion Stephen Roche, all of which combines to form the definitive illustrated book on the Tour.
Download or read book The Comeback written by Daniel de Visé and published by Atlantic Monthly Press. This book was released on 2018-06-05 with total page 473 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Greg LeMond was Lance Armstrong before Lance Armstrong . . . the story of a true hero . . . This is a must read if you believe in miracles.”―John Feinstein, New York Times–bestselling author In July 1986, Greg LeMond stunned the sporting world by becoming the first American to win the Tour de France, the world’s pre-eminent bicycle race, defeating French cycling legend Bernard Hinault. Nine months later, LeMond lay in a hospital bed, his life in peril after a hunting accident, his career as a bicycle racer seemingly over. And yet, barely two years after this crisis, LeMond mounted a comeback almost without parallel in professional sports. In summer 1989, he again won the Tour—arguably the world’s most grueling athletic contest—by the almost impossibly narrow margin of 8 seconds over another French legend, Laurent Fignon. It remains the closest Tour de France in history. “[A] blend of chaos, kindness and cruelty typifies the scenes that journalist de Visé brings to life in this sympathetic-verging-on-reverential retelling of LeMond’s trailblazing career (first American to enter the tour, first to win it) . . . As an author in quest of his protagonist’s motivation, [de Visé] subjects it to extreme torque.”—The Washington Post “A great book . . . Well written and thoroughly researched . . . Engrossing and hard to put down. If you’re a Greg LeMond fan, The Comeback is a must read because it’s a detailed accounting of his career and―more importantly―his life and person off the bike. It’s also an important reminder that American cycling did not begin and end with Lance Armstrong.”—PEZ
Download or read book Tour de Force written by Mark Cavendish and published by Sourcebooks, Inc.. This book was released on 2022-07-12 with total page 221 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From illness and mental health challenges to becoming the most successful British cyclist at the age of 22, Mark Cavendish shares his inspiring account of his record-breaking rise to the top of the world's biggest cycling stage at the 2021 Tour de France. Deep down, Mark Cavendish thought he was finished. After illness, setbacks and clinical depression, the once fastest man in the world had been written off by most. And at the age of 36, even he believed his explosive cycling career would fade out with a whimper. The Manxman hadn't won a single Grand Tour stage in Italy, Spain, or France since 2016. But then came his incredible resurrection at the 2021 Tour de France. Included on the Deceuninck Quick-Step team at the very last minute, only after Sam Bennett suffered an injury, Mark set about rewriting history. He claimed back the green jersey he first wore in 2011, and his four stage victories finally saw him matching Belgian legend Eddy Merckx's all-time record of 34 Tour de France stage wins. Cycling greats are never content, and Cavendish's dogged determination and inner strength had earned him the record that few believed he could ever achieve. This is his own intimate account of that race, right from the saddle of the miracle tour. Praise for Tour de Force: "The greatest comeback in sports history." —GQ magazine "A miracle." —Eddy Merckx
Download or read book Inside the Tour de France written by David Walsh and published by Vintage. This book was released on 1994 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Based on the 1993 Tour, this book describes the world of professional cycle racing in the way of a latter-day Canterbury Tales. Interviews with all the key players produce an in-depth study of how the sport works and the driving force that makes the riders push themselves to the limit of their endurance and sometimes beyond.
Download or read book Le Tour de France written by Luke Edwardes-Evans and published by Carlton Books. This book was released on 2018-05 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Filled with features and fabulous images, this official celebration of the famed Tour de France is now updated to include the 2017 race Generally considered the greatest test of endurance in sports, the Tour de France covers more than 2,200 miles in just over three weeks, climbing high into both the Alps and Pyrenees before ending on Paris's iconic Champs- lys es. This updated edition, with brand-new features and stories, gives an authoritative account of each major era up to and including the 2017 Tour--when Britain's Chris Froome joined an elite club of four-time and three-in-a-row winners. In addition to more than 300 photographs, some dating back to the nineteenth century, there are features on the superstars, coverage of memorable moments in every era, thrilling action shots, and pictures of souvenir brochures, period newspapers, posters, stickers, postcards, and letters will engross every fan of the sport.
Download or read book Tour de France 100 written by Richard Moore and published by VeloPress. This book was released on 2013 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presents a pictoral history of the Tour de France, highlighting the athletes, memorable races, and the scandals.
Download or read book Tour de France 100 written by Peter Cossins and published by Cassell. This book was released on 2013-05-07 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Published to mark the 100th anniversary of the world's most prestigious cycle race - the Tour de France - this is the definitive guide. Published to mark the 100th anniversary of what is widely recognized as the world's most grueling, fiercely contested and famous cycle race, this is a lavish and impressive guide. It contains comprehensive profiles of 100 of the Tour's most famous stages, each featuring unique, detailed computer-generated artworks of the route, along with key facts, figures and information that together produce a multitude of facts and stories. In other words, a complete and expert examination of the race through its most dramatic and striking moments. The book also presents 300 fascinating photographs that capture historic events, along with a comprehensive directory listing every jersey winner, and a narrative front section that explores the more bizarre stories and myths surrounding the race. A fitting celebration of a unique sporting event.
Download or read book The Unknown Tour de France written by Les Woodland and published by Cycle Pub. This book was released on 2009 with total page 152 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sometimes it's the little things in life that make all the difference, like chromosomes, sperm, bugs or an endangered seabird that nests in old-growth forests. But, what's big or what's little depends entirely on your perspective. Faye Pearson is a three-and-a-half-foot tall female scientist doing entomological research in the tallest trees on Vancouver Island, who is pit with a ragtag group of protesters against the might of a multinational logging corporation. The story of Faye and her struggle to function in a world not made for people her size is poignant and heart-warming. Whether she is lusting after her climbing partner, standing up to a conflicted logging boss, dressing down an insulting interviewee, nurturing a wayward child in the midst of an environmental standoff, or being carted off under the arm of a Mountie, you'll be unable to resist this amazing woman. There is a fall in Eriksson's novel, but also incredible moments of grace. Falling from Grace is a novel of no small achievement.
