The Tour de France is “three weeks of physical, mental and emotional suffering”, but it remains the “most beautiful target in sport”. With the 2013 race, which started in Corsica on June 29, on until July 20, this is the book every enthusiast will want next to the television in this centenary year.
Four of France’s top cycling historians collaborated on this large format hardback, an appetising souvenir, a fascinating history and a definitive guide to the world’s biggest annual sporting event.
From the inaugural race in 1903 to details of the current 100th, readers are taken on a chronological tour of the battles and routes of every race, with big names from past and present well showcased.
From the first winner, Maurice Garin, through five-time champions Anquetil, Merckx, Hinault and Indurain to first British champion, Sir Bradley Wiggins, the text reflects the highlights, tragedies and scandals of this tough event, including the rise and fall of Lance Armstrong.
The story of the tour’s origin is an intriguing one, involving three sports journalists, a Jewish officer in the French army who was unjustly condemned as spying for Germans and renowned Gallic novelist Emile Zola who took up his cause at the close of the 19th century.
The initial foundations were fleshed out in the offices of L’Auto-Vélo where editorial staff had been charged with coming up with an idea that would not only herald the new century in fantastic style, but would help save the newspaper, which was in dire financial straits.
Their front page of January 13, 1903 announced that the inaugural Le Tour de France would take place on July 19.
Sixty riders registered for this race, some professionals and many part-time riders from all over France. They included carpenters, blacksmiths, innkeepers and trapeze artists. They paid 10 francs to enter and received five francs a day from the organisers. The prize fund amounted to 20 000 gold francs.
They left Montgeron at 3.16pm, heading for Lyon on bikes that weighed around 15kg, racing day and night on dirt roads. Maurice Garin, nicknamed the “Little Sweep”, won the first stage, reaching Lyon after 17 hours, and maintained his lead to Marseille and again to Toulouse. He steamed on, triumphant in Nantes and finally in Paris. Only 21 entrants finished, but a large section of the population was inspired and the newspaper pushed its circulation to more than 100 000.
The fourth tour was the first to encompass a full circuit of the country, extending the distance from 2 994km to 4 637km. There were 13 stages and many hills to climb, and the race was won by climber René Pottier.
The pioneer cyclists had to contend with more than just poor road surfaces, as parts of the early tour took place at night, with riders depending on moonlight or weak lamps.
In 1910 riders were sent into the high Pyrenees, an unprecedented test, and the following year the Alps featured strongly as the race increased by 600km. In 1914 the tour had just finished when riders started receiving mobilisation orders: the Great War halted the cycle tour for some years and claimed the lives of many in the cycling fraternity. The tour took off again in 1919.
In the inter-war years Belgian, Italian and Luxembourg winners took on the French successfully, with Spanish and German cyclists also appearing in the top 10. In 1939, with tension rising, the only foreigners taking part were Belgians, winning first, third and fifth places. After World War II the tours resumed in 1947 when new talent came to the fore.
Photographs illustrate the development of modern racing cycles. An American won in 1986, and an Irishman the following year. Danish rider Bjarne Riis won in 1996, but later admitted to using a blood-booster and was disqualified. The doping saga had begun.
In 1999 Lance Armstrong returned to the race after a two-year absence for treatment for cancer. At that stage his victory made him a symbol of what could be overcome by cancer victims.
But questions were asked and after probes Armstrong was eventually stripped of his titles in 2000 and the following four years.
His seventh “win” in 2005 saw evidence of his cheating mounting and in 2012 he was given a lifetime ban by the US Anti-Doping Agency and disqualified from all wins back to 1998. In 2012 Bradley Wiggins became the first Briton to win the tour with teammate Chris Froome finishing second.
The 2013 Tour de France started on the Mediterranean island of Corsica and finishes on the Champs-Elysées on July 21. This well-indexed production contains more than 250 evocative photographs and 100 route maps.