Author: Graham Healy Publisher: Breakaway Books ISBN: Category : Sports & Recreation Languages : en Pages : 127
Book Description
A generation of young athletes decimated in the carnage of war. The Shattered Peloton is a mind-boggling account of young athletes in their prime destroyed in the hell of war. A mesmerizing view of cycling in its golden age, and the darkness that followed. On June 28, 1914, one hundred and forty-five riders lined up in a suburb of Paris at 3 a.m. to start the first stage of the Tour de France. The race, which had been founded just a decade earlier, had grown to become the biggest bicycle race in the world. The riders did not know it at the time, but as they raced, an event was taking place on the opposite side of Europe which would change all of their lives forever: Gavrilo Princip assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, triggering World War I. While racing went on in France, a diplomatic crisis had started that would try but fail to avert war. Shortly after the finish of the race, France mobilized its troops and went to war with Germany. The organizer of the Tour de France, Henri Desgrange, despite being fifty years old, enrolled in the army shortly afterwards and encouraged the cyclists to do the same. The war would see over 16 million soldiers and civilians die. Many of the riders from that Tour de France did not return, and three previous winners of the race would be among those killed in action. The Shattered Peloton tells the story of the 1914 Tour and what happened to the top cyclists of the day during the course of the war. A brilliant, disturbing, important book for anyone with an interest in cycling or military history.
Author: Bill McGann Publisher: Dog Ear Publishing ISBN: 1598586084 Category : Bicycle racing Languages : en Pages : 406
Book Description
What they are saying about The Story of the Tour de France: After forty years of study on the subject, I can with some confidence say Bill and Carol McGann's The Story of the Tour de France is the finest such work ever produced in the English language, and perhaps in any. Most of my preferred references are in French, one runs to over 800 pages, yet the McGanns' opus revealed information new to me in almost every paragraph. Their research has been not only impeccable, but insightful. -Owen Mulholland, author of Uphill Battle and Cycling's Golden Age The Story of the Tour de France: How a Newspaper Promotion Became the Greatest Sporting Event in the World by Bill and Carol McGann is a must read. -Road Bike Action Magazine For any historian of the sport the McGanns'Tour de France history is essential reading. Details of the stages and the riders are not glossed over. For those who are new to the sport, the McGanns bring the glory days of the sport alive with the intrigue that still exists today. Epic stages that might have faded into oblivion are eloquently recounted so that future generation of cyclists will know the rich history of our beautiful sport. -Neil Browne, editor, Road Magazine Besides towering over all bicycle races, the Tour de France endures for its unique Gaulic character, like Victor Hugo's Les Miserables. The McGanns' passionate and insightful writing evokes the raucous cast of riders, promoters, and journalists thrusting through highs and lows worthy of opera. This volume stands out as a must-read book for anyone seeking to appreciate cycling's race of races. -Peter Joffre Nye, author of The Six-Day Bicycle Races: America's Jazz Age Sport and Hearts of Lions Volume 1 of The Story of the Tour de France concluded with Jacques Anquetil's record setting fifth Tour win. Volume 2 opens with the greatest Italian racer of the modern age, Felice Gimondi and his effortless victory at the young age of 22. Despite his extraordinary talent, he never won the Tour again. Starting in 1969, Eddy Merckx began his run of 5 victories. Bernard Hinault, who also managed to win 5, followed him. Unable to fulfill his destiny as a likely 5-time winner because of a hunting accident, LeMond won the Tour 3 times. LeMond's era was followed by the remarkable Spaniard Miguel Indurain, the first man to win the Tour 5 times in a row. The late 1990s were a time of extreme crisis for the Tour as the culture of doping within the professional cycling community erupted into the scandal of 1998. The Story of the Tour de France deals with this episode at length. Emerging from a near-fatal bout of cancer, Lance Armstrong went on to do what no other rider in the Tour's long history had ever been able to accomplish, win the Tour 7 times. Following Armstrong's retirement, the Tour was again seized by scandal, this time Floyd Landis' disqualification for drugs after winning the 2006 Tour. The book concludes with the story of the 2007 Tour, followed by a quest for the greatest ever Tour de France rider and an epilogue that explains the reasons for the extraordinary success of the Tour. Bill and Carol McGann have had their lives inextricably tied up with bicycles about as long as they can remember. Their first date was a bike ride. Bill, formerly a Category 1 racer, has been a contributor to several cycling magazines and is widely acknowledged as an expert on road bikes and cycling history. Since his father gave him a small 1-speed English lightweight bicycle when he was 5 years old, Bill has been in love with everything about bikes. Carol, a former college biology instructor is also an accomplished rider, having cycle-toured extensively. Together they started Torelli Imports in 1981, a firm specializing in high-performance cycle equipment.
Author: Nicolas Roche Publisher: Random House ISBN: 1446463621 Category : Biography & Autobiography Languages : en Pages : 514
Book Description
Nicolas Roche has a famous surname to all fans of cycling. The son of legendary Irish and World Champion Stephen Roche, Nicolas had to fight to make it as a professional and even harder to make his mark as his own man in this toughest of competitive sports. His rise up the ranks has been meteoric, with top 15 finishes in both the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España, but his attitude to his chosen profession has remained undimmed. Honest, eloquent and passionate about the cycling world, Nicolas gained acclaim and a devoted fan following for his Tour diaries serialised in the Irish Independent. Now a major contender for a podium finish in a grand tour, in the award-winning Inside the Peloton Nicolas tells in full the story of life as a professional cyclist and of the remarkable events that have brought him this far. From furious spats with teammates and exhilarating races against the world's best, this is a gripping cycling adventure and tale of a fiercely competitive sportsman.
Author: Alasdair Fotheringham Publisher: Random House ISBN: 1473528739 Category : Biography & Autobiography Languages : en Pages : 350
Book Description
Miguel Indurain is Spain’s greatest cyclist of all time and one of the best Tour racers in history. He is the only bike rider to have won five successive Tours de France, as well as holding the title for the youngest ever race leader in the Tour of Spain. This is his story. As the all-conquering hero of the 90s, Indurain steadfastly refused to be overwhelmed by fame; remaining humble, shy and true to his country roots. Along with his superhuman calmness, iron will-power and superb bike handling skills, he was often described as a machine. Yet 1996 saw Indurain, the Tour’s greatest ever champion, spectacularly plummet, bringing his career and supremacy to an abrupt end. In Indurain, Alasdair Fotheringham gets to the heart of this enigmatic character, reliving his historic accomplishments in vibrant colour, and exploring how this shaped the direction taken by generations of Spanish racers - raising Spanish sport to a whole new level.
Author: Graeme Fife Publisher: Random House ISBN: 1780572182 Category : Biography & Autobiography Languages : en Pages : 213
Book Description
Racing cyclists all ride the same frail machine and all are equal before the demands of the road. But what is it that makes a winner? What special attributes do winners need to give them that extra edge? To find out, Fife analyses and illustrates the moral strength, intelligence, racing nous, cunning, tactical acumen and superior mental resilience of the champion racing cyclist. Drawing on exclusive interviews and personal acquaintance with some of the best riders to have raced on the continent, as well as mechanics and team-support crew, Inside the Peloton is a vivid portrait of the complex character of cycle racing. It is an unparalleled, in-depth study of ambition, the rage to win, the capacity to recover from defeat, the harrowing misery of lost morale and the hard initiation faced by every newcomer - however talented - to the unforgiving demands of professional competition. Provocative and rich in insight, this book is a very personal account by Fife. Read it to discover: What made Merckx, apparently invincible, so prey to doubt? --What rendered the massively talented Poulidor so beatable? --Why did Sean Yates, with a cardiovascular and lung capacity equal to that of Merckx, ride so contentedly as a domestique?
Author: Rosalie Maggio Publisher: McFarland ISBN: 1476675503 Category : Biography & Autobiography Languages : en Pages : 311
Book Description
Marie Marvingt (1875-1963) set the world's first women's aviation records, won the only gold medal for outstanding performance in all sports, invented the airplane ambulance, was the first female bomber pilot in history, fought in World War I disguised as a man, took part in the Resistance of World War II, was the first to survive crossing the English Channel in a balloon, worked all her life as a journalist, spent years in North Africa and invented metal skis. Her life story was so unusually rich in exploits and accomplishments that some dismissed it as a hoax. This biography explores the life of "the most incredible woman since Joan of Arc" and investigates the reasons she has been forgotten. Known as the "fiancee of danger," she was the model for the silent film series The Perils of Pauline.
Author: Ellis Bacon Publisher: Random House ISBN: 1448191637 Category : Sports & Recreation Languages : en Pages : 166
Book Description
Professional cycling is a rich, dynamic and often controversial sport that lends itself to great writing. Some of the most famous and illustrious races were founded by newspapermen and The Cycling Anthology continues this tradition by bringing together the best in the business. Volume Five is an eclectic mix of stories old and new: As World War One is commemorated acros the globe, Brendan Gallagher looks at cycling's war heroes and the role the bicycle played in WWI. Jeremy Whittle goes in search of panache - why you don't always have to be a winner to be a winner in the public's eyes. Francois Thomazeau examines how the Tour de France became the international event it is today. The 2014 Tour de France is relived in the form of poetry, by Ellis Bacon. Lionel Birnie tells the story behind the Linda McCartney cycling team, the great British team that could have been. Joey McLoughlin was a shining star of the British cycling scene in the 1980s and '90s - Andy McGrath finds out what happened to him. Edward Pickering returns to one of cycling's great Pyrenean climbs - Superbagneres. As Matt Beaudin finds out, the Tour de France is a treat for the senses - albeit a loud one. Matt McGeehan sends a postcard from the 2014 World Track Championships in Colombia. And Daniel Friebe introduces us to Jean Francois Naquet-Radiguet: Tour de France pioneer.
Author: Rupert Guinness Publisher: National Library of Australia ISBN: 0642279225 Category : Sports & Recreation Languages : en Pages : 220
Book Description
In 'Power of the Pedal', read about cycling in Australia from the penny farthing to 21st-century commuters and Olympic stars. Bicycles changed our lives! They meant a new and faster way to get around and gave rise to ways of exploring, socialising and competing. In the nineteenth century cycling encouraged 'overlanders', adventurers who explored new routes through rugged terrain; cycling clubs that gave women a new kind of freedom to mix socially with men: and novel kinds of racing. In this book, cycling journalist Rupert Guinness reveals 200 years of the bike in Australian everyday life and the world of competition.
Author: Andrew M. Homan Publisher: U of Nebraska Press ISBN: 0803290551 Category : Biography & Autobiography Languages : en Pages : 290
Book Description
At a time when cycling in the United States rivaled baseball as the nation's most popular professional sport, along came Reggie McNamara, a farmer's son from Australia. Within a month of his arrival in the United States in 1913, he had earned the moniker "Iron Man" for his high tolerance of pain and his remarkable ability to recover from seemingly catastrophic injury. The nickname proved justified. Not only was he tough, he was also one of the best and highest-paid athletes in the world. During his thirty-year career, McNamara won seventeen punishing six-day races along with an inestimable number of shorter distance races, including high-profile events on three different continents, peaking in 1926-27 at the age of thirty-nine. The fans, media, and his fellow professionals all idolized him as an example of the true grit needed to succeed in this grueling and dangerous sport. Late in his career, however, hard drinking and injuries took their toll, and McNamara became estranged from his wife and children. He fought back just as he always had on the race course, conquering his addiction to alcohol and becoming one of the earliest success stories of Alcoholics Anonymous. In this humorous and exciting biography of the original Iron Man, Andrew M. Homan pulls McNamara back into the spotlight, depicting a flawed but beloved man whose success in those unrelenting six-day races came at a price.
Author: Tom Isitt Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson ISBN: 1409171167 Category : Sports & Recreation Languages : en Pages : 284
Book Description
'An evocatively thoughtful wider history of the race, the war and the peace' GUARDIAN 'Occasionally funny and regularly poignant, brilliantly focused in its research . . . His drive, wit and curiosity inform Zone Rouge . . . gently profound and genuinely moving' HERALD The Circuit des Champs de Bataille (the Tour of the Battlefields) was held in 1919, less than six months after the end of the First World War. It covered 2,000 kilometres and was raced in appalling conditions across the battlefields of the Western Front, otherwise known as the Zone Rouge. The race was so tough that only 21 riders finished, and it was never staged again. With one of the most demanding routes ever to feature in a bicycle race, and plagued by appalling weather conditions, the Circuit des Champs de Bataille was beyond gruelling, but today its extraordinary story is largely forgotten. Many of the riders came to the event straight from the army and had to ride 18-hour stages through sleet and snow across the battlefields on which they had fought, and lost friends and family, only a few months before. But in addition to the hellish conditions there were moments of high comedy, even farce. The rediscovered story of the Circuit des Champs de Bataille is an epic tale of human endurance, suffering and triumph over extreme adversity.
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Author: Graham Healy
Author: Bill McGann
Author: Nicolas Roche
Author: Alasdair Fotheringham
Author: Graeme Fife
Author: Rosalie Maggio
Author: Ellis Bacon
Author: Rupert Guinness
Author: Andrew M. Homan
Author: Tom Isitt