It is one of sport's toughest ordeals and the ultimate test for professional cyclists. The Tour de France sees riders pitted against all kinds of terrain and weather, in unrelenting competition with their rivals for three weeks. This entertaining and highly acclaimed book gives a compelling insight into the mystique of the race and the unique fascination it has always exercised on devoted bike fans and occasional enthusiasts alike.Graeme Fife's Tour de France tells tales of great solo rides, amazing fortitude, terrible misfortune and triumph over the odds from the race's remarkable history, which began in July 1903. Within a few years, the Tour was taking the riders across the mountains of the Alps and Pyrenees and they had to carry out their own repairs, find their own food and drink, and ride without support - a far cry from today's sophisticated organisation. Combining meticulous research with a pacey narrative style, Fife paints a colourful and memorable picture of the men whose exploits have given the Tour an enduring universal appeal. Named as one of the top five sports books of the year by both The Independent and The Times, Tour de France has been fully revised to include all the drama of the 2004 race.