The 2005 Tour de France: Armstrong's Farewell [Paperback]

John Wilcockson (Author), Andrew Hood (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 18, 2005

The Tour de France’s mix of superstars like Lance Armstrong, and white-knuckle cycling through some of Europe’s most beautiful — and extreme — terrain has made the race for the yellow jersey a seminal event in world sports. In this popular annual guide, John Wilcockson of and Andrew Hood VeloNews, in collaboration with expert photographers, captures the grit and glory of the three-week race, including what makes 2005 unique: Armstrong’s attempt at a record-breaking seventh consecutive win. The book begins with follow-up coverage from last year’s race to bring readers up to date. An overview of the course, the race, and the contestants is followed by a stage-by-stage, race-by-race account of the Tour, including a course map with stage elevations, race descriptions, anecdotes, and a complete list of finishers. Dramatic color images by renowned cycling photographer Graham Watson and others bring this exciting event to life from start to finish.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Wilcockson has been writing about cycling for 30 years

Pardon Our Monsters is Andrew Hoods first book. He won the Irving Layton Award for Undergraduate Fiction at Concordia University, and his stories have appeared in Concordias Soliloquies and Headlight Anthology. He lives in Montreal.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: VeloPress (October 18, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1931382689
• ISBN-13: 978-1931382687
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 6.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,113,578 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A excellent resource for cycling fans, January 31, 2006

By 

Theodore (Ventura, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The 2005 Tour de France: Armstrong's Farewell (Paperback)

John Wilcockson and Andrew Hood have composed a terrific book for readers who wish to learn more about the Tour de France and gain a deeper appreciation of Lance Armstrong's cycling abilities.

The "2005 Tour de France: Armstrong's Farewell" is worth the book's price for many reasons. The goal of the book is to give a reader an understanding and an appreciation for the difficult task of not only finishing the Tour de France, a three week, twenty-one stage epic trip of 2,233 miles, but also of finishing first -- seven times in a row. The authors, Wilcockson and Hood, clearly know the history and technical details of the Tour having worked as writers for VeloNews magazine. The book's overall presentation is assisted by artsy Futura fonts, full color photos from Graham Watson, and a full set of statistics concerning the Tour de France.

Quotes from the experts in the field of professional cycling give encouragement to a reader who might by trying to cycle faster and farther. Floyd Landis from the Phonak team, puts everything into perspective when he says, "In no way do I want what Lance has in life, other than to be the best bicycle racer I can be" (p. 53). On page 164 Levi Leipheimer from the Gerolsteiner team, says, "There is always something that you can improve on." And Armstrong provides the ultimate perspective by saying, "I don't think my sport accomplishments are going to make my trip to heaven any easier" (p. 266). Armstrong shows that he is the best and infers that the only thing greater than winning the Tour de France is being loving and forgiving.

The chapters alternate between personal skeches of the riders and the thrills of the 2005 Tour. We learn that cyclists are human, too, and have bounced back from tragic injuries. David Zambriskie "smashed healong" into vehicle that "pulled out in front of him" in 2003 which required a long convalescence (p. 26). Alejandro Valverde "fell in a freaky, high speed crash" during the 2004 Vuelta that left him painfully "writhing on the ground" (p. 103). And Alexander Vinokourov watched is best friend crash in the 2003 Paris-Nice race, "go into a coma" and pass which has left a hole in Vinokourov's heart to this day (p. 132). Every cyclist, it seems, has dealt with tragedy and has bounced back with courage. Armstrong's courageous comeback is equally amazing.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Poor English, May 30, 2006

By 

Peter Headland (San Mateo, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The 2005 Tour de France: Armstrong's Farewell (Paperback)

Take a look at the sample - in those few pages the author shows his English is poor (and his editor should be fired). He uses "infer" when he means "imply", "prodigy" when he means "protégé", "through" instead of "throughout", the list goes on.

Beyond that, the style is plodding.