Cafe Bookshelf
Mythologies: Assassins of the Aubisque!
The 1910 Tour has given rise to no end of nonsense, not least the claim that Octave Lapize called the race organisers assassins as he crossed the Col d’Aubisuqe an hour behind schedule + 15 minutes behind a nobody.
When Josephine Baker Sprinkled Her Stardust on the Tour de France
From 1933 to 1938 the American star of the Jazz Age played a role in the Tour’s grand départ and in doing so helped reshape the Tour for a new audience.
The First Hours - The Hour Record Before Henri Desgrange
A brief history of the Hour record before it was reinvented by Henri Desgrange
Magic Spanner, by Carlton Kirby
Carlton Kirby’s Magic Spanner – The World of Cycling According to Carlton Kirby, Eurosport’s Legendary Tour de France Commentator written by Carlton Kirby and published by Bloomsbury book
Le Fric, by Alex Duff
A (financial) history of the Tour de France with an emphasis on the attempts to form a breakaway league a decade ago
War on Wheels, by Justin McCurry
An introduction to keirin racing and its place in Japanese culture
Where There’s a Will, by Emily Chappell
Emily Chappell’s account of some of her ultra-cycling experiences and her friendship with Mike Hall.
Sprinting Through No Man’s Land, by Adin Dobkin
The story of the 1919 Tour de France, the first held after the end of the First World War
God is Dead, by Andy McGrath
A biography of Frank Vandenbroucke, winner of Liège-Bastogne-Liège in 1999
Dirty Feet, by Les Woodland
A brief history of the Tour de France from the veteran cycling historian Les Woodland