Tour De France For Dummies

by Phil Liggett, James Raia, Sammarye Lewis

A plain-English guide to the world's most famous-and grueling-bicycle raceFeaturing eight-pages of full-color photos from recent Tour de France races, this easy-to-follow, entertaining guide demystifies the history, strategy, rules, techniques, equipment, and competitors in what is arguably the most grueling and intriguing multiday, multistage sporting event in the world. Cowritten by the most popular English-speaking cycling commentator on the planet, this book is great reading for both experienced and the new bicycle racing fans alike.

Genres: Nonfiction, Sports

292 pages, Paperback

First published May 27, 2005

Reviews

[Chris F]

Very very basic level introduction to the event and unfortunately because of when the book came out in the mid-noughties its chock full of positive references towards He Who Must Not Be Named. The lists of cycling websites are obviously hideously dated at this point too.

[Suzie]

Book about the Tour de France, the only sporting event I have ever bought PPV access to. (I went a bit mad, but seriously it's NOT THAT EXPENSIVE.) I wanted, I think, about twice as many deeply detailed descriptions of how things work, because that is the type of reader I am. The chapters are written so that you can read one at a time, as you feel the urge, but it ends up feeling like things get re-explained multiple times because of it. Also, because the book was written a few years ago, the tv coverage information is wrong, and they explain what text messages and internet search engines are as if you do not know already. All of that being said, I did learn more about the Tour, which was my goal.

[Phil George]

I finally managed to understand the team tactics of the Tour after reading the 2nd Lance Armstrong book and then this one. This book is pretty good and gives a lot of insight into the tactics and the history of the tour along with some interesting facts along the way. Overall, not a bad read if a little repetitive in places. And it's an American book so there is more information about Americans than there should be.

[Laura]

Reading this really helped me enjoy watching the race both live and on tv this summer. Now that Lance A. will be riding again next year, I recommend this as a good primer for those who want to learn the nuts and bolts of the race such as the significance of the polka dot, white, rainbow, and yellow jerseys.

[Becky]

This is a fantastic resource with answers to nearly all questions one might come up with while watching the race. Unfortunately it will probably need to be updated with an entire chapter devoted to doping.

[Cynthia]

usefull, interesting and easy to read (except for all the typos)

[Melissa Hiett]

Great info but notcurrent

I'd like to see a new more current edition. But there is a ton of great info in this book. I learned so much.

[William Thomas]

After reading I did not understand team scoring. Too much of ‘what fans wear’ fluff.