The First Tour de France: Sixty Cyclists and Nineteen Days of Daring on the Road to Paris
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.71 (637 Votes) |
| Asin | : | B071J97BV7 |
| Format Type | : | |
| Number of Pages | : | 465 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2013-04-02 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
But in 1903, cyclists weren't enthusiastic about what was pitched to them as a heroic race through roads more suited to hooves than wheels, with bikes weighing up to 44 pounds, on a single fixed gear, for three full weeks. The first Tour De France was a far cry from the polished international sporting event we see on television today. Through these characters' backstories, Cossins paints a nuanced portrait of France in the early 1900s. Assembling enough riders for the race meant bribing unemployed laborers from the suburbs of Paris,