Tour de France: The History, the Legend, the Riders [Hardcover]

Graeme Fife (Author), Chris Boardman (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 1999

It is one of sport’s toughest ordeals and the ultimate test for professional cyclists. The Tour de France sees riders pitted against all kinds of terrain and weather, in unrelenting competition with their rivals for three weeks. This entertaining and highly-acclaimed book gives a compelling insight into the mystique of the race and the unique fascination it has always exercised on devoted bike fans and occasional enthusiasts alike. Graeme Fife’s Tour de France tells tales of great solo rides, amazing fortitude, terrible misfortune and triumph over the odds from the race’s remarkable history. Combining meticulous research with a pacy narrative style, Fife paints a colourful and memorable picture of the men whose exploits have give the Tour an enduring universal appeal.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Fife has an infectious enthusiasm for the Tour and it shows in every sentence... A difficult book to put down." -- THE INDEPENDENT --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Publisher

The Tour de France is not only the ultimate test for professional cyclists, it is one of the most grueling ordeals in all of sports. It sees man and bicycle pitted against all kinds of terrain and weather through weeks of unremitting competition. Combining meticulous research with a pacy narrative style, Graeme Fife's "Tour de France" paints a colorful picture of the men whose exploits have given the race an enduring fascination. Named as one of Britain's top five sports books in 1999 by both "THE INDEPENDENT" and "THE TIMES," "Tour de France" has now been fully revised to include the 2000 race. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Mainstream Publishing; Updated edition (May 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1840181923
• ISBN-13: 978-1840181920
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #437,389 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Hard to follow. Ego trip for the author., January 5, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Tour de France: The History, the Legend, the Riders (Hardcover)

First, let me say that I love the tour. I follow it with fanatic closeness and read as much about the tour as I possibly can. Now let me say that I really didn't like this book. The book jumps around from rider to rider in differnt time periods and then interjects the author's comments on climbing a particular hill (mountain). It is really hard to see what the organization of the book is. The author also says some really cruel thing. For example he calls big mig "Lovely man. No brain." and puts down LeMond.

The most irritating part is the author has written his thoughts on climing some of the classics, but not in a race. He climbs them as part of a tour. It comes across as an ego trip and adds nothing to the book, particularly when this part is interjected in the middle of a writeup on a totally different subject.

I'd really rather read a book from Abt. He is a supremely better author. The photos are also somewhat poor, especially when compared to Watson's photos in such books as Lance Armstrong and the 1999 Tour De France (which is a significantly better book).

The book does have some good insites into older battles in the tour, but they really don't merit buying this book.

One last nit is the author's use of French phrases with little or no explaination. I don't read very much French. Guess the author figured "Cest la Vie".

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A big let-down, July 19, 2000

By 

Mike van Niekerk - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tour de France: The History, the Legend, the Riders (Hardcover)

Agree with A Reader from Colorado: the book does not live up to its title - more like "some history, some legends, some riders", a scattered, piecemeal collection of description and historical anecdote, with more about the author's own daytrip cycling up a couple of mountain climbs than I was interested in: personal diary entries that don't segue successfully with the other content.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Comes across a little opinionated, but..., February 19, 2002

By 

Richard (Sydney, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tour De France: The History, the Legend, the Riders (Mainstream Sport) (Paperback)

Despite his unfair treatment of Miguel Indurain's great career and Paul Kimmage's great book ("A Rough Ride"), this book does give the reader an interesting glimpse into the history of this great race. As others have commented, it is not comprehensive, the content being driven by the author's own passion for parts of the event's history.

Worth a read if only to help understand the origins of the drugs scandals of recent years which can be traced back to the early years of the sport.