Tour De France, 1903-2003 by Jean-Marie Leblanc
The Tour de France is the world's largest annual sporting event with worldwide audience figures only exceeded by the Olympics and the Football World Cup. Yet its first edition in 1903 was little more than an outlandish publicity stunt staged by L'Auto newspaper to increase its circulation throughout France. But by the end of the century, no single sporting event could compare for excitement, passion and adventure - not to mention sheer physical difficulty - and few could claim to have had such a fascinating and even turbulent history. Year by year, this book chronicles the first one hundred years of the Tour, and more importantly, captures its spirit. It draws on an unprecedented wealth of photography and journalism from L'Equipe's archives. 'The history of the Tour is a huge history, with fantastic, epic stories. I'm just one of the actors on the stage of TDF history...looking at the photos and history of the 100 years of the Tour I was able to learn this history' - Lance Armstrong
TOUR DE FRANCE has been selling extremely well and has made number 6 in THE SUNDAY TIMES bestseller list! Reviews for TOUR DE FRANCE have been very good:'The Official Tour de France Centennial 1903 - 2003 is the English version of a weighty tomeThis is a glossy definitive history with several pages devoted to each race from its inception and includes route maps, the riders, the bicycles, the mountains and the epic battles for yellow, plus all the scandals and statistics. It is packed with many magnificent photographs taken from the archives of L'Equipe. It is a marvellous reference book and exceptional value.' THE TIMES 30/6/03 THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY featured a round-up of cycling books by Simon O'Hagan: 'In its official history, Weidenfeld has had the advantage of unfettered access to the archives of L'Equipe, the French daily sports paper which in its original guise as L'Auto magazine was the organization that founded the Tour.' (29/6/03) THE DAILY TELEGRAPH ran a full-page feature on the Tour with photos and a credit for the book (30/6/03) THE GUARDIANfeatured a round-up of cycling books (5/7/03) 'stunningly illustrated'. 'Just like the race itself 'The Official Tour de France Centennial' is a gigantic, glamorous affair... what really makes this book special is the mix of writing styles that so accurately reflect the race... The prose is elegant, occasionally pompous, and always with a hint of chauvinism that has helped keep theTour an undeniably French event even in a global environment. The official Tour centenary publication is a glorious tribute to the race itself.' CYCLING WEEKLY (19/7/03) 'This 359 page book is the biggest we've received to date, and from its coverage of the 1903 event to 2003, it keeps your interest. Not least through its use of large format photography, where pictures really do say it all - far more succinctly than words... this is a magnificent record of a century of the greatest show on earth... Magnificent warts and all look at the greatest bike ride on earth.' CYCLING PLUS (1/9/03) LONDON CYCLIST ran a compare-and-contrast review with the Carlton book, which gave our book the edge over photos. THE SPECTATOR will be reviewing. ORIENT EXPRESS magazine haverun an extract of photographs from TOUR DE FRANCE in their June issue.
L'Equipe is France's premier sports newspaper. In 1903 it founded the Tour de France and its archives contain the world's most complete record of the race. Lance Armstrong is the record 6-time winner of the Tour de France.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780297843580 |
| ISBN 10 | 0297843583 |
| Title | Tour De France, 1903-2003 |
| Author | Jean-Marie Leblanc |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | Orion Publishing Co |
| Year published | 2003-06-12 |
| Number of pages | 360 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |