Tour de France 100: The Definitive History of the World's Greatest Race

On the world stage, the Tour de France, the FIFA World Cup, and the Olympics represent the triumvirate of major sporting events. While for many Americans the race seems to live and die upon the name Lance Armstrong, authors Cossins (former editor, Procycling magazine), freelance journalists Isabel Best and Chris Sidwells (Bicycle Repair Manual), and Clare Griffith show that it's bigger than Armstrong, doping, or scandal. The text, beautifully enhanced by a treasure trove of photos (evolving from black-and-white to color and GPS-detailed overviews) and visuals (including a route map, stats, and aerial views) culled from various sources, chronicles the year-by-year, stage-by-stage, drama-to-drama evolution of the race and its rules, as well as the riders, the rivalries, and the lengths explored to win (from the assault of riders in the countryside and shortcuts by alternative transport to technological advancements and performance-enhancing drugs) and reveals an event surely deserving of the title "the people's race."