The Tour Is Won on the Alpe: Alpe d'Huez and the Classic Battles of the Tour de France (Photography) (Paperback)

by Jean-Paul Vespini (Author), David V. Herlihy (Translator), Jean-Marie Leblanc (Introduction) "TWENTY-ONE SWITCHBACK TURNS, FOLDED AND DRAPED ACROSS A forested mountain face..." (more)
Key Phrases: Félix Lévitan, best young rider, directeur sportif, Lance Armstrong, Laurent Fignon, Van Impe (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"The Tour Is Won on the Alpe is a great place to start tracing the sport's last half-century. The book recreates the slopes, screaming masses of fans, and exhausted riders that make up the legend of the Alpe. If you want to get to know the Alpe, this is your reference guide." --PodiumCafe.com

Review
"It is testament to the author's skill and enthusiasm that reading places you right there, amongst the sea of orange that constitutes the annual Dutch army."

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: VeloPress (May 28, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1934030236
• ISBN-13: 978-1934030233
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #335,241 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great read but questionable history., December 22, 2008

By	Jeffrey S. Nyman "bakerdog" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is a fun read to get some basic history on Alpe d'Huez, but some of the facts, especially on Lance Armstrong, are wrong. Also, there are a couple of chapters that have contradictory "facts". I think that the results in back are correct, but I do not know for sure and finding at least two things that are not correct make me question the stuff I do not know for sure.

The two things I am referring to are that the author states that Armstrong announced in 1995 that he had testicular cancer, but that did not happen until 1996 after the Atlanta Olympics. The other mistake is that the author states that Armstrong won the world championship in '94 when in fact he won it in '93 during his first year as a pro, and I believe the youngest person at the time to win the world road racing championship, but again I could be worng on that.

With that said, I have enjoyed reading the book and hope that these were just two small editing errors that will be addressed in later editions. As a fan of the tour and especially Alpe d'Huez, I love to see a history of the stage in all of its forms.