Tour de France

The Tour de France begins today!  The Tour de France is a 21 day men's bicycle race held in multiple stages.  It was first organized in 1903 to increase sales for a newspaper.  The Tour de France has occurred every year since it's beginning with exceptions for the two World Wars.  Here are 10 nonfiction reads on Le Tour.

Boy Racer: My Journey to Tour de France Record Breaker by Mark Cavendish - Boy Racer unmasks the manic, brutal world of professional cycling from the candid viewpoint of the sport's brash young superstar, Mark Cavendish.
Written off as fat and useless in his youth, Cavendish's hunger for success and his sheer natural ability has forged him into one of cycling's youngest phenoms -- and one of cycling's most accomplished sprinters.
Boy Racer is a page-turning journey of pure exhilaration--candid, opinionated, and scrupulously honest--chronicling Cavendish's rapid rise from local hero to National Champion to Tour de France stage winner. Along the way, Cavendish takes us behind the scenes of the Tour de France to unmask the intrigue, the mayhem, the hysteria, and the adrenaline-fueled chaos of professional cycling.
Vivid, unflinching, brilliantly conveyed, Boy Racer will sweep you up in the swirl of the racer's world and deliver you to the finish line with an insider's story from the freshest voice and most agile mind in bike racing.

The Comeback: Greg Lemond, the True King of American Cycling, and a Legendary Tour de France by Daniel de Vise - In July 1986, Greg LeMond stunned the sporting world by becoming the first American to win the Tour de France, the world's pre-eminent bicycle race, defeating French cycling legend Bernard Hinault. Nine months later, LeMond lay in a hospital bed, his life in peril after a hunting accident, his career as a bicycle racer seemingly over. And yet, barely two years after this crisis, LeMond mounted a comeback almost without parallel in professional sports. In summer 1989, he again won the Tour--arguably the world's most grueling athletic contest--by the almost impossibly narrow margin of 8 seconds over another French legend, Laurent Fignon. It remains the closest Tour de France in history. The Comeback chronicles the life of one of America's greatest athletes, from his roots in Nevada and California to the heights of global fame, to a falling out with his own family and a calamitous confrontation with Lance Armstrong over allegations the latter was doping--a campaign LeMond would wage on principle for more than a decade before Armstrong was finally stripped of his own Tour titles. With the kind of narrative drive that propels books like Moneyball, and a fierce attention to detail, Daniel de Visé reveals the dramatic, ultra-competitive inner world of a sport rarely glimpsed up close, and builds a compelling case for LeMond as its great American hero.

French Revolutions: Cycling the Tour de France by Tim Moore - Not only is it the world's largest and most watched sporting event, but also the most fearsome physical challenge ever conceived by man, demanding every last ounce of will and strength, every last drop of blood, sweat, and tears. If ever there was an athletic exploit specifically not for the faint of heart and feeble of limb, this is it. So you might ask, what is Tim Moore doing cycling it?
An extremely good question. Ignoring the pleading dictates of reason and common sense, Moore determined to tackle the Tour de France, all 2,256 miles of it, in the weeks before the professionals entered the stage. This decision was one he would regret for nearly its entire length. But readers-those who now know Moore's name deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as Bill Bryson and Calvin Trillin-will feel otherwise. They are in for a side-splitting treat.
French Revolutions gives us a hilariously unforgettable account of Moore's attempt to conquer the Tour de France. "Conquer" may not be quite the right word. He cheats when he can, pops the occasional hayfever pill for an ephedrine rush (a fine old Tour tradition), sips cheap wine from his water bottle, and occasionally weeps on the phone to his wife. But along the way he gives readers an account of the race's colorful history and greatest heroes: Eddy Merckx, Greg Lemond, Lance Armstrong, and even Firmin Lambot, aka the "Lucky Belgian," who won the race at the age of 36. Fans of the Tour de France will learn why the yellow jersey is yellow, and how cyclists learned to save precious seconds (a race that lasts for three weeks is all about split seconds) by relieving themselves en route. And if that isn't enough, his account of a rural France tarting itself up for its moment in the spotlight leaves popular quaint descriptions of small towns in Provence in the proverbial dust. If you either love or hate the French, or both, this is the book for you.

Road to Valor: A True Story of WWII Italy, the Nazis, and the Cyclist Who Inspired a Nation by Aili & Andres McConnon - Gino Bartali is best known as an Italian cycling legend: the man who not only won the Tour de France twice, but also holds the record for the longest time span between victories.  During the ten years that separated his hard-won triumphs, his actions, both on and off the racecourse, ensured him a permanent place in Italian hearts and minds.
In Road to Valor, Aili and Andres McConnon chronicle Bartali's journey, starting in impoverished rural Tuscany where a scrawny, mischievous boy painstakingly saves his money to buy a bicycle and before long, is racking up wins throughout the country.   At the age of 24, he stuns the world by winning the Tour de France and becomes an international sports icon.
But Mussolini's Fascists try to hijack his victory for propaganda purposes, derailing Bartali's career, and as the Nazis occupy Italy, Bartali undertakes secret and dangerous activities to help those being targeted.  He shelters a family of Jews in an apartment he financed with his cycling winnings and is able to smuggle counterfeit identity documents hidden in his bicycle past Fascist and Nazi checkpoints because the soldiers recognize him as a national hero in training.
Set in Italy and France against the turbulent backdrop of an unforgiving sport and threatening politics, Road to Valor is the breathtaking account of one man's unsung heroism and his resilience in the face of adversity.  Based on nearly ten years of research in Italy, France, and Israel, including interviews with Bartali's family, former teammates, a Holocaust survivor Bartali saved, and many others, Road to Valor is the first book ever written about Bartali in English and the only book written in any language to fully explore the scope of Bartali's wartime work.  An epic tale of courage, comeback, and redemption, it is the untold story of one of the greatest athletes of the twentieth century.

The Secret Race: Inside the Hidden World of the Tour de France: Doping, Cover-Ups, and Winning at All Costs by Tyler Hamilton & Daniel Coyle - The Secret Race is a definitive look at the world of professional cycling--and the doping issue surrounding this sport and its most iconic rider, Lance Armstrong--by former Olympic gold medalist Tyler Hamilton and New York Times bestselling author Daniel Coyle.
 Over the course of two years, Coyle conducted more than two hundred hours of interviews with Hamilton and spoke candidly with numerous teammates, rivals, and friends. The result is an explosive book that takes us, for the first time, deep inside a shadowy, fascinating, and surreal world of unscrupulous doctors, anything-goes team directors, and athletes so relentlessly driven to succeed that they would do anything--and take any risk, physical, mental, or moral--to gain the edge they need to win.
 Tyler Hamilton was once one of the world's best-liked and top-ranked cyclists--a fierce competitor renowned among his peers for his uncanny endurance and epic tolerance for pain. In the 2003 Tour de France, he finished fourth despite breaking his collarbone in the early stages--and grinding eleven of his teeth down to the nerves along the way. He started his career with the U.S. Postal Service team in the 1990s and quickly rose to become Lance Armstrong's most trusted lieutenant, and a member of his inner circle. For the first three of Armstrong's record seven Tour de France victories, Hamilton was by Armstrong's side, clearing his way. But just weeks after Hamilton reached his own personal pinnacle--winning the gold medal at the 2004 Olympics--his career came to a sudden, ignominious end: He was found guilty of doping and exiled from the sport.
 From the exhilaration of his early, naïve days in the peloton, Hamilton chronicles his ascent to the uppermost reaches of this unforgiving sport. In the mid-1990s, the advent of a powerful new blood-boosting drug called EPO reshaped the world of cycling, and a relentless, win-at-any-cost ethos took root. Its psychological toll would drive many of the sport's top performers to substance abuse, depression, even suicide. For the first time ever, Hamilton recounts his own battle with clinical depression, speaks frankly about the agonizing choices that go along with the decision to compete at a world-class level, and tells the story of his complicated relationship with Lance Armstrong.
 A journey into the heart of a never-before-seen world, The Secret Race is a riveting, courageous act of witness from a man who is as determined to reveal the hard truth about his sport as he once was to win the Tour de France.

Slaying the Badger: Greg Lemond, Bernard Hinnault, and the Greatest Tour de France by Richard Moore - Bernard Hinault is Le Blaireau, the Badger. Tough as old boots, he is the old warrior of the French peloton, as revered as he is feared for his ferocious attacks. He has won 5 Tours de France, marking his name into the history books as a member of cycling's most exclusive club. Yet as the 1986 Tour de France ascended into the mountains, a boyish and friendly young American named Greg LeMond threatened the Badger--and France's entire cycling heritage. Known as "L'Americain", LeMond rode strongly, unafraid. The stakes were high. Winning for Hinault meant capping his long cycling career by becoming the first man to win the Tour six times. For LeMond, it would bring America its first Tour de France victory. Why did their rivalry shock the world? LeMond and Hinault were on the same team. Cyclists love this famous story but they've never heard it told as in Slaying the Badger. Award-winning author Richard Moore has gathered the absolute best sources, interviewing LeMond and Hinault in their own homes, American Andy Hampsten, their teammates and team directors to tell the story. He tells the race through these interviews so that these narrative voices lend a fresh and fast-paced tone to cycling's favorite rivalry.

The Tour According to G: My Journey to the Yellow Jersey by Geraint Thomas - The inspirational inside story from the 2018 Tour de France and Sports Personality of the Year winner. For years Geraint Thomas appeared blessed with extraordinary talent but jinxed at the greatest bike race in the world: twice an Olympic gold medallist on the track, Commonwealth champion, yet at the Tour de France a victim of crashes, bad luck and his willingness to sacrifice himself for his team-mates. In the summer of 2018, that curse was blown away in spectacular fashion--from the cobbles of the north and the iconic mountain climbs of the Alps to the brutal slopes of the Pyrenees and, finally, the Champs-Elysees in Paris. With insight from the key characters around Geraint, this is the inside story of one of the most thrilling and heart-warming tales in sport.

Tour de France / Tour de Force: A Visual History of the World's Greatest Bicycle Race by James Startt - For three weeks each July, millions of fans from around the world descend upon the French countryside to cheer on the "forcats de la route," or slaves of the road--the riders competing in the Tour de France. The event has captivated people for nearly a century who gather to witness the strength of the human spirit in its struggle to endure and overcome incredible obstacles to rise to the ranks of heroism. Covering over 2000 miles in 21 days, the cyclists make a grand circuit of the country, crossing over both the Alps and the Pyrenees mountains before racing to the finish line along the Champs-Elysees in Paris. Now almost one hundred years old, the legendary bicycle race has a rich and colorful past. Tour de France/Tour de Force offers a one-of-a-kind look back at the Tours history and its heroes. Arranged chronologically and illustrated with hundreds of wonderfully evocative photographs dating back to the Tours beginning in 1903, it documents the great victories and the harrowing disasters, the glory and the agony of this amazing competition. From the astounding stories of early cyclists who looped around France on rudimentary two-wheelers to contemporary chapters emphasizing the tactics and winning moves employed in recent races, the drama of the Tour comes to life in these pages. Featuring race results from 1903 all the way through to 1999, plus an introduction by three-time Tour winner Greg Lemond, and special sections on the evolution of the Tour de France bike and the controversial issue of performance-enhancing drugs, Tour de France/Tour de Force is the consummate guide to this truly extraordinary event in the world of sport.

Tour Fever: The Armchair Cyclist's Guide to Le Tour de France by J. P. Partland - Even couch potatoes can become experts on the Tour de France with this comprehensive, user-friendly guide that includes the history, strategy, stages, scoring and stars of this annual highlight in the sporting calendar. Readers can learn about: team strategies, how the tour is scored,what the different coloured jerseys mean, the characteristics of a racer, how riders eat, drink and answer the call of nature without getting off their bikes, and how to follow the tour online, on TV, in the papers or in person.

Wheelmen: Lance Armstrong, The Tour de Frane, and the Greatest Sports Conspiracy Ever by Reed Albergotti & Vanessa O'Connell - The first in-depth look at Lance Armstrong's doping scandal, the phenomenal business success built on the back of fraud, and the greatest conspiracy in the history of sports. Lance Armstrong won a record-smashing seven Tours de France after staring down cancer, and in the process became an international symbol of resilience and courage. In a sport constantly dogged by blood-doping scandals, he seemed above the fray. Then, in January 2013, the legend imploded. He admitted doping during the Tours and, in an interview with Oprah, described his 'mythic, perfect story' as 'one big lie.' But his admission raised more questions than it answered--because he didn't say who had helped him dope or how he skillfully avoided getting caught. The Wall Street Journal reporters Reed Albergotti and Vanessa O'Connell broke the news at every turn. In Wheelmen they reveal the broader story of how Armstrong and his supporters used money, power, and cutting-edge science to conquer the world's most diffcult race. Wheelmen introduces U.S. Postal Service Team owner Thom Weisel, who in a brazen power play ousted USA Cycling's top leadership and gained control of the sport in the United States, ensuring Armstrong's dominance. Meanwhile, sponsors fought over contracts with Armstrong as the entire sport of cycling began to benefit from the 'Lance effect.' What had been a quirky, working-class hobby became the pastime of the Masters of the Universe set. Wheelmen offers a riveting look at what happens when enigmatic genius breaks loose from the strictures of morality. It reveals the competitiveness and ingenuity that sparked blood-doping as an accepted practice, and shows how the Americans methodically constructed an international operation of spies and revolutionary technology to reach the top. At last exposing the truth about Armstrong and American cycling, Wheelmen paints a living portrait of what is, without question, the greatest conspiracy in the history of sports.