Jeremy Whittle Libros

The Tour de France stands as the most grueling sports event globally, a three-week, 2,000-mile test of endurance and skill, attracting the largest live audience annually. Beyond being a sporting epic, it has woven itself into the fabric of French national culture, with the achievements of seven-time champion Lance Armstrong boosting international interest. This visual journey through the race's history showcases the extreme conditions faced by early competitors and the controversies of recent years, capturing the emotions tied to its rich sporting, social, and cultural legacy. Stunning photographs highlight cycling's greatest champions and the evolving landscape of France over the past century. The narrative features iconic figures from Maurice Garin to Eddy Merckx and the modern Armstrong era, illustrating the heroism, passion, and tragedy inherent in the race. The excitement surrounding the three-week circuit is palpable, with dramatic starts, thrilling finishes, and celebrity fans like Orson Welles and Robin Williams. Roadside spectators eagerly await the peloton against the backdrop of France's breathtaking scenery. This comprehensive account culminates with the Tour's inaugural visit to London in 2007, marking a significant milestone in its storied history.

When two plainclothes policemen arrested champion cyclist David Millar in a restaurant near Biarritz in 2004 for doping, it marked the beginning of a two-year exile from cycling and the end of everything else: his multimillion dollar contract with one of the biggest teams in the sport, his opulent lifestyle, the support of his teammates and closest friends, and the gold medal he’d won months before at the world championships. This candid memoir follows a young and idealistic cyclist from the early-morning streets of Hong Kong to the highest echelons of the sport in France where, overcome by peer pressure and the stress of remaining at the top, he started using the red blood cell–boosting substance EPO. Millar, reinstated to the sport and now an ardent critic of doping, paints an intriguing and frenetic portrait of professional cycling and of the pressures and seediness lurking beneath the surface. As pulse-pounding and suspenseful as a thriller, this piercing, moving memoir shines a light into the dark corners of cycling and, by extension, all of world-class sport.