Download or read book The Tour is Won on the Alpe written by Jean-Paul Vespini and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: If there is one mountain climb that embodies the spirit and magic of the Tour de France, it is the Alpe d'Huez. Its twenty-one hairpin turns and average gradient of 8.1 percent over 13.1 kilometers have become legendary, changing the careers of Americans Greg LeMond and Lance Armstrong, and nearly destroying Jan Ullrich and Marco Pantani. Here at last is the definitive history and unforgettable story of cycling's greatest challenge. In The Tour is Won on the Alpe: The Classic Battles of the Tour de France, cycling historian Jean-Paul Vespini tells the story of this celebrated climb and the mountain that so often acts as the ultimate arbiter for cycling's biggest prize. Each chapter covers one ascent, starting with Fausto Coppi's astonishing victory in 1952. Cycling's most famous names are all present and accounted for: Coppi, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Pedro Delgado, Miguel Indurain, Marco Pantani, and of course the American victors Greg LeMond and Lance Armstrong. Jean-Paul Vespini's riveting descriptions of each battle to the top include candid interviews with riders, new insight into epic rivalries, and little-known but fascinating facts about the climb that has become a rite of passage for every rider in the peloton.
Download or read book Alpe d Huez written by Peter Cossins and published by Aurum. This book was released on 2015-05-28 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It has been called the Tour de France’s ‘Hollywood climb’, and there is no doubt that Alpe d’Huez has played a starring role in cycling’s history since its first encounter with the sport back in 1952 when the legendary Fausto Coppi triumphed on the summit. Re-introduced to the Tour in 1976, Alpe d’Huez has risen to mythical status, thanks initially to a string of victories by riders from Holland, whose exploits attracted tens of thousands of their compatriots to the climb, which has become known as ‘Dutch mountain’. A snaking 13.8-kilometre ascent rising up through 21 numbered hairpins at an average gradient of 7.8%, Alpe d’Huez is the climb on which every great rider wants to win. Many of the sport’s most famous and now even infamous names have won on the Alpe, including Bernard Hinault, Joop Zoetemelk, Lucho Herrera, Marco Pantani and Lance Armstrong. As well as days of brilliance, there have controversies such as the high-speed and drug-fuelled duels of the EPO years in the 1990s and into the new millennium. In Alpe d’Huez, veteran cycling journalist Peter Cossins reveals the triumphs, passion and despair behind the great exploits on the Alpe and discloses the untold details that have led to the mountain becoming as important to the Tour as the race is to resort at its summit. It is a tale of man and machine battling against breath-taking terrain for the ultimate prize.
Download or read book The Monuments written by Peter Cossins and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2014-03-13 with total page 469 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Peter Cossins is an engaging writer whose conversational style makes this an effortless yet interesting read. The cosy tone delivers a great deal with a good balance of history and anecdotes. If you wish to explore cycling beyond the Grand Tours this is the book.' - Carlton Kirby An awe-inspiring history of the five most legendary 'classic' races in world cycling. The Tour de France may provide the most obvious fame and glory, but it is cycling's one-day tests that the professional riders really prize. Toughest, longest and dirtiest of all are the so-called 'Monuments', the five legendary races that are the sport's equivalent of golf's majors or the grand slams in tennis. Milan–Sanremo, the Tour of Flanders, Paris–Roubaix, Liège–Bastogne–Liège and the Tour of Lombardy date back more than a century, and each of them is an anomaly in modern-day sport, the cycling equivalent of the Monaco Grand Prix. Time has changed them to a degree, but they remain as brutally testing as they ever have been. They provide the sport's outstanding one-day performers – the likes of Philippe Gilbert, Fabian Cancellara, Mark Cavendish, Tom Boonen, Peter Sagan and Thor Hushovd – with a chance to measure themselves against each other and their predecessors in the most challenging tests in world cycling. From the bone-shattering bowler-hat cobbles of the Paris–Roubaix (rumoured to be Bradley Wiggins' next challenge) to the insanely steep hellingen in the Tour of Flanders, each race is as unique as the riders who push themselves through extreme exhaustion to win them and enter their epic history. Over the course of a century, only Rik Van Looy, Eddy Merckx and Roger De Vlaeminck have won all five races. Yet victory in a single edition of a Monument guarantees a rider lasting fame. For some, that one victory has even more cachet than success in a grand tour. Each of the Monuments has a fascinating history, featuring tales of the finest and largest characters in the sport. In The Monuments, Peter Cossins tells the tumultuous history of these extraordinary races and the riders they have immortalised.
Download or read book Mountain Higher written by Daniel Friebe and published by Hachette UK. This book was released on 2017-04-20 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The hidden gems of Europe's best roads and passes, from the authors of the hugely successful Mountain High. Following the success of Mountain High: Europe's Greatest Cycle Climbs comes a volume focusing on the continent's lesser-known, challenging and spectacular mountain roads and passes. From the heights of the Ötztal Glacier Road in Austria to the 'secret' side of the legendary Alpe d'Huez, Mountain Higher: Europe's Extreme, Undiscovered and Unforgettable Cycle Climbs explores 50 soon-to-be cult locations and captures stunning scenery from off the beaten track. Featuring the technical details (maps, profiles, lengths, heights) that made Mountain High an indispensable reference book, as well as dynamic descriptions of the routes themselves and Pete Goding's breathtaking photography, this book is a stylish and practical guide to the hidden gems that every true cycling enthusiast needs to know about.
Download or read book Mountain High written by Daniel Friebe and published by Hachette UK. This book was released on 2017-02-16 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: SHORTLISTED FOR THE BRITISH SPORTS BOOK AWARDS Mountain High is a book for cyclists of all interests and abilities - from experienced club racers to enthusiastic amateurs looking for the world's greatest cycle challenge. Packed with practical route information and advice on each climb, Daniel Friebe's beautifully written text explains why each mountain pass merits inclusion in the top 50 with superb descriptions of the majestic scenery, the heroic deeds of cycling's legendary riders or the sheer endeavour and exhilaration of reaching the summit. With over 250 specially commissioned photographs taken by specialist cycling photographer Pete Goding, this really is the ultimate guide to Europe's 50 best climbs. Featured rides include: Tour de France icons Alpe d'Huez, Col du Galibier, Mont Ventoux, Col de l'Izoard and Col du Tourmalet; the Passo dello Stelvio, Passo Fedaia, Le Tre Cime di Lavaredo and other sacred summits from the Giro d'Italia; plus Spain's formidable Alto de l'Angliru, Austria's Grossglockner and forty more mountain legends.
Download or read book Tour de France Legendary Climbs written by Richard Abraham and published by Carlton Books. This book was released on 2016-05-03 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Explore the thrill and intensity of the Tour de France's most challenging climbs as never before, through the breathtaking aerial photography of Google Earth. In this stunning book, 20 notorious Hors Categorie climbs from the race--ascents that are beyond classification--are captured in high-definition satellite imagery. They include the 2,715-meter ascent of Col de la Bonette, the historic Great St Bernard Pass, Col du Galibier's incredibly torturous 15 percent gradient climb, and Alpe de Huze's famous hairpins. As well as providing expertly annotated high-definition maps of these ascents, the book charts the daring Tour exploits of iconic Tour riders such as Fausto Coppi and Marco Pantani.
Download or read book Pedalare Pedalare written by John Foot and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2011-05-03 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story of Italian cycling is the story of Italy in the twentieth century.
Download or read book The Hardmen written by The Velominati and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2017-11-07 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Embrace and revel in the stories of the toughest cyclists of all time, told by The Velominati, originators of The Rules. Read and get ready to ride . . . In cycling, suffering brings glory: a rider's value can be judged by their results, but also by their panache and heroism. Prepared to be awed and inspired by Chris Froome riding on at the Tour de France with a broken wrist or Geraint Thomas finishing it with a broken pelvis. In The Hardmen the writers behind cycling superblog Velominati.com and The Rules will tell the stories and illuminate the myths of not just the greatest cyclists ever, but the toughest. From Eddy Merckx to Beryl Burton, and from Marianne Vos to Edwig Van Hooydonk, the book will lay bare the secrets of their extraordinary and inspirational endurance in the face of pain, danger and disaster. After all, suffering is one of the joys of being a cyclist. Embrace climbs, relish the descents, and get ready to harden up . . .
Download or read book God is Dead written by Andy McGrath and published by Random House. This book was released on 2022-03-10 with total page 301 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: •SHORTLISTED FOR THE WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD 2022• •A SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE TIMES AND THE GUARDIAN• The remarkable untold story of the mercurial cycling prodigy Frank Vandenbroucke, written by William Hill award-winning author Andy McGrath. They called him God. For his grace on a bicycle, for his divine talent, for his heavenly looks. Frank Vandenbroucke had it all, and in the late Nineties he raced with dazzling speed and lived even faster. The Belgian won several of cycling's most illustrious races, including Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Paris-Nice and Ghent-Wevelgem. He was a mix of poise and panache who enthralled a generation of cycling fans. Off the bike, he only had one enemy - himself. Vandenbroucke dabbled in nocturnal party sessions mixing sleeping pills and alcohol and regularly fell out with team managers. By 1999 his team had suspended him and this proved to be the start of a long, eventful fall from grace. Depression, a drug ban, addiction, car crashes, divorce and countless court appearances subsumed his life. He threatened his wife with a gun. He tried to commit suicide twice. And when police found performance-enhancing drugs at his house, Vandenbroucke said they were for his dog. It seemed he had finally learned from his mistakes. Then, on 12 October 2009, aged just 34, Vandenbroucke was found dead in a hotel room in Senegal. Guided by exclusive contributions from his family, friends and team-mates, William Hill award-winning author Andy McGrath lays bare Vandenbroucke's chaotic, complicated life and times. God is Dead is the remarkable biography of this mercurial cycling prodigy.
Download or read book The Death of Marco Pantani written by Matt Rendell and published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson. This book was released on 2012-11-15 with total page 462 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The intimate biography of the charismatic Tour de France winner Marco Pantani, now updated to include the 2014 and 2015 investigation into Pantani's death. National Sporting Club Book of the Year Shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award 'An exhaustively detailed and beautiful book . . . a fitting, ambivalent tribute - to the man, and to the dark heart of the sport he loved' Independent On Valentine's day 2004, Marco Pantani was found dead in a cheap hotel. It defied belief: Pantani, having won the rare double of the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France in 1998, was regarded as the only cyclist capable of challenging Lance Armstrong's dominance. Only later did it emerge that Pantani had been addicted to cocaine since 1999. Drawing on his personal encounters with Pantani, as well as exclusive access to his psychoanalysts, and interviews with his family and friends, Matt Rendell has produced the definitive account of an iconic sporting figure.
Download or read book Racing Hard written by William Fotheringham and published by Faber & Faber. This book was released on 2013-06-06 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Few British schoolchildren of the seventies can have been as obsessed with the Tour de France as William Fotheringham, who smuggled copies of Miroir du Cyclisme into lessons to read inside his books. He saw the Tour for the first time in 1984, avidly following that year's race on television in the Normandy village where he lived. Since joining the Guardian in 1989, William Fotheringham has been at the forefront of British cycling journalism. Here he reflects on the events of the last twenty-three years - the triumphs, the tragedies and the scandals that have engulfed the world's most demanding sport. Key articles from his career are annotated with notes and reflections. What would he have said if he'd known then what we all know now about Lance Armstrong? Which cyclists and teams were not all they seemed? And which victories still rank as the greatest of all time? This is the definitive collection of cycling reporting.
Download or read book 100 Greatest Cycling Climbs written by Simon Warren and published by Frances Lincoln. This book was released on 2013-04-01 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cycling is Britain’s biggest boom sport and nowhere is the boom more evident than on the road: once seen as the preserve of serious racers, the road bike has recently found a new lease of life due to the popularity of challenge rides and Sportives. It is now possible for cyclists of all abilities to ride a well marked, well marshalled event just about any weekend of the year, usually based around one, two or sometimes as many as ten fearsome hills. For the first time, here is a pocket-sized guide to the 100 greatest climbs in the land, the building blocks for these rides, written by a cyclist for cyclists. From lung busting city centre cobbles to leg breaking windswept mountain passes, this guide locates the roads that have tested riders for generations and worked their way into cycling folklore. Whether you’re a leisure cyclist looking for a challenge or an elite athlete trying to break records stick this book in your pocket and head for the hills. To watch a video of Simon Warren in action click here
Download or read book The Tour According to G written by Geraint Thomas and published by Hachette UK. This book was released on 2018-11-01 with total page 307 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The inspirational inside story from the 2018 Tour de France and Sports Personality of the Year winner "This year G was the strongest rider, and he finally had Lady Luck on his side. An unstoppable combination" Chris Froome "I understood what Geraint's win meant: for him, for me, for the team, and for Wales, too" Dave Brailsford "Wow!" Thierry Henry For years Geraint Thomas appeared blessed with extraordinary talent but jinxed at the greatest bike race in the world: twice an Olympic gold medallist on the track, Commonwealth champion, yet at the Tour de France a victim of crashes, bad luck and his willingness to sacrifice himself for his team-mates. In the summer of 2018, that curse was blown away in spectacular fashion - from the cobbles of the north and the iconic mountain climbs of the Alps to the brutal slopes of the Pyrenees and, finally, the Champs-Elysees in Paris. As a boy, G had run home from school on summer afternoons to watch the Tour on television. This July, across twenty-one stages and three weeks, and under constant attack from his rivals, he made the race his own. With insight from the key characters around Geraint, this is the inside story of one of the most thrilling and heart-warming tales in sport. Not only can nice guys come first - they can win the biggest prize of all.
Download or read book Cycling Climbs written by and published by Laurence King Publishing. This book was released on 2015-03-03 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cycling uphill is always hard, and cycling all the way to the summit of a mountain can be excruciating, yet road cyclists from across the world have long embraced the hairpin bends, steep gradients and thin air of mountain roads. This book of 20 cycling climbs from across Europe, the USA and South America offers a glimpse into the allure of reaching the high mountains by bike. Each climb includes a dedicated drawing by Nigel Peake – which can be detached and framed – and a description of the climb, including details of its height, length and gradient. Notorious stories of each climb's inclusion in the great cycling races, such as the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France, are also told, as well as tips for following in the tyre tracks of the greats and taking these monsters on yourself. This is a complete guide to 20 legendary cycling climbs and a unique document of the suffering and reward that cyclists seek up in the cols and passes of the mountains.
Download or read book Comeback 2 0 written by Lance Armstrong and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2009-12 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Lance Armstrong is a seven-time winner of the Tour de France and fulltime cancer fighter. He oversees the Lance Armstrong Foundation, a nonprofit organization that assists cancer patients around the world with managing and surviving the disease. He won the first of his record-setting seven Tour de France wins after surviving a nearly fatal bout with testicular cancer. In 2008, he was named one of Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People. He lives in Austin, Texas.
Download or read book Cycling in the French Alps written by Jim Henderson and published by Cicerone Press. This book was released on 2010-09-09 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A guidebook to nine of the most picturesque cycling routes through the Alps of south-east France. The eight circuits, plus the Grand Traverse from Geneva to Nice, include the classic high passes of the French Alps (Galibier, Iseran, Izoard, etc) as well as cycle routes in the pre-Alps and Southern Jura.
Download or read book How I Won the Yellow Jumper written by Ned Boulting and published by Random House. This book was released on 2012 with total page 418 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Follow Ned Boulting's experiences covering the world's most famous two-wheeled race. His story offers an insider's view of life behind the scenes of the Tour, as well as detailing the complexities and absurdities of reporting on the race and confronting the riders seconds after they cross the line.
