The Tour de France has been around for over a century, with the first edition taking place in July 1903. The race has been run nearly every year since, pausing only for the two world wars.
The Tour was created by an enterprising French journalist who wanted to sell more newspapers. Henri Desgrange surely had no idea his little bicycle race would evolve into the world's largest annual sporting event, today watched by millions along the roadside and hundreds of millions more on TV.
With all the history come many excellent books to sink into. Here are our favorites — some new, some old, all worth reading.
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"The First Tour de France" by Peter Cossins
An exquisite history of the first Tour de France.
"Having portrayed the race's itinerary 'from Paris to the blue waters of the Mediterranean, from Marseille to Bordeaux via pink-tinted and dreaming towns sleeping in the sun ... ' Desgrange revealed his two greatest hopes for the race: no less than the revitalization of French manhood and vitality, and the introduction of high-level sport to French provinces hitherto almost totally ignored by it."
Read more at Nation Books and buy it on Amazon.
"Road to Valor" by Aili and Andres McConnon
Elie Wiesel praised this detailed history for offering "a moving example of moral courage."
"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."
Read more at roadtovalorbook and buy it Amazon.
"A Dog in a Hat" by Joe Parkin
American Joe Parkin pursued a dream to race in Europe. This is his "brutally frank memoir."
"I saw my first pro kermis race during my first week in Belgium, and it felt like trying to escape a hall of mirrors but not being able to read the exit signs. Everything was larger than life and more grotesque than I had imagined. But kermis racing was not all about the drugs. If the grand tours are like classical music, kermis racing is punk rock, Belgian-style."
Read more at VeloPress and buy it on Amazon.
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