Books : Blazing Saddles: The Cruel & Unusual History of the Tour de France
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Binding: Paperback
EAN: 9781847243829
ISBN: 1847243827
Label: Quercus
Manufacturer: Quercus
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 303
Publication Date: 2008-01
Publisher: Quercus
Sales Rank: 1257567
Studio: Quercus
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Editorial Review:
Product Description:
Few sporting contests have roused such blind passions and filthy suspicions as the Tour de France. From Lance Armstrong's incredible comeback from cancer, to Tom Simpson's death on the slopes of Mont Ventoux, the Tour has been the stage for some of sport's most monumental triumphs and the scene of some of its darkest hours. Since Maurice Garin's inaugural victory in 1903, hundreds of thousands of kilometres have been covered in pursuit of the yellow jersey - cycling's holy grail - and few have been without incident or drama. "Blazing Saddles" is a no-holds-barred look at the wheeling and dealing, the rivalries and controversies that have given the century-old race its unique colour. Matt Rendell's vivid and entertaining narrative chronologically combines the Tour's golden legends with tales from its dark side, capturing the capture the indomitable, inimitable spirit of the world's greatest race.
Average Rating: 
Rating:  -
Buddhist-like, this book takes the middle path - it is neither a dry encyclopedia nor an engrossing "best of" Tour de France book. Yet for its attempt to be comprehensive, it yaws more toward the latter than the former.
The book manages to hit the highlights of EVERY TdF in an entertaining fashion; and while it is apparent that some TdFs deserve little-to-no mention while books should be (and have been) written about several others...well, Blazing Saddles shows that sometimes the middle ground is a fertile place.
Rating:  -
This book is packed with information and great photos. However, the writing is so poor that it was hard to follow at times.
Rating:  -
The Tour De France is the most prestigious race in cycling, but it didn't become that way overnight. "Blazing Saddles: The Cruel and Unusual History of the Tour De France" chronicles the races one hundred and five year history, full of memory quotes and events throughout the history of the race. With each year covered with statistics covering the length of the course, the top three finishers and their times, it lends a bit of history to each of the races. For any fan of the race, "Blazing Saddles" is a 'must have' reference that is as entertaining as it is informative.
Rating:  -
"Hell, there are no rules here. We are trying to accomplish something."
Thomas Alva Edison
Leafing through the entertaining pages of "Blazing Saddles: The Cruel and Unusual History of the Tour de France" one is struck by the tone of the book, released just in time for this year's Tour. Instead of the usual paeans of praise to the great athletes of cycling history, author Matt Rendell has instead emphasized that the glorious Tour de France, one of the world's great sporting events, is "[a] fine spectacle of life-threatening exertion, bare-faced cheating, roadside sabotage, ludicrous clothing, extreme intimate discomfort and grown men at the absolute end of their tethers..."
At the pinnacle of the gang of eccentrics who populate this volume must stand the founder of the Tour, Henri Desgrange. Clearly a man who loved to give orders, M. Desgrange had a vision of the Tour as the ultimate test of strength and courage and dogged manliness. He once said that the ideal Tour winner would be the sole survivor. To realize this goal, the early Tours were insanely difficult. With staggering stage lengths over terrible roads and often started in the middle of the night, the Tour de France attracted some Very Tough Competitors, men not mollycoddled by technology. Desgrange objected to freewheels ("Are our races seriously threatened with decadence by the freewheel? Will the Tour de France be undermined by this infernal invention?") and although eventually ... Read More
Rating: -
Highly recommend for Tour de France and cycling buffs! Now i know much more of the details of how the race began and how it evolved and the some what odd history of the greatest cycling race!
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