by Adrian Bell (Foreword), PhilLiggett (Foreword), RichardAllchin (Foreword)
Golden Stages celebrates the centenary of the Tour de France. Sixteen leading cycling writers have explored what it is that makes the Tour such a majestic and moving event. They have each selected and told the story of a particular Stage. Together, their accounts (one or more from each decade) add up to a history of the Tour, and they show how much has changed in the 100 years - the bicycles, the roads, tactics and organisation. But they also show what has not changed - the extravagant scale of the race; the mystique of the maillot jaune; and the courage of all who compete. Those things have remained the same - and they are vividly portrayed in this unique book. Here you will read about how Greg LeMond beat Fignon in the last 250 metres of the 1989 race, and how a puncture nearly cost him his third Tour victory; the stage that marked the turning point in the great career of Eddy Merckx; the Forclaz col where even the world's greatest climber, the Eagle of Toledo, could not drop Master Jacques; the legendary Rene Vietto's 'sacrifice' which made him one of the most popular men never to win a Tour; the slowest, and some say the hardest-ever stage in Tour history; the day the Colombians came to Alpe d'Huez; Lance Armstrong's return to the top after defeating cancer in the Prologue of 1999; the day on Les Arcs when Indurain's fabulous reign came to an end; and the famous break through the Alps by the 'Devil' himself, Claudio Chiappucci, that emulated the great Fausto Coppi, 40 years earlier. And much, much more. Contributors: Alex Bannister; Adrian Bell; Keith Bingham; John Deering; David Harmon; Luke Evans; Graeme Fife; Marguerite Lazell; John Pierce; Matt Rendell; Chris Sidwells; Rik Vanwalleghem; John Wilcockson; Les Woodland; Charlie Woods; Richard Yates.
Format: Paperback
Pages: 178
Publisher: Mousehold Press
Published: 19 Jun 2003
ISBN 10: 1874739285
ISBN 13: 9781874739289