Tour de France : the history, the legend, the riders ([Rev.] ed)

In this updated edition of the highly acclaimed "Tour de France", Graeme Fife sets the 2012 race in the context of the event's remarkable history, stretching back to July 1903.

Combining meticulous research with a pacy narrative style, he penetrates the mystique of the race and paints a colourful picture of the men whose exploits have given the Tour an enduring universal appeal.

Moreover, the book now celebrates a truly historic event: the 99th edition of the race was won, for the first time, by a Briton.

Bradley Wiggins pedalled into the record books, in company with his teammates Christopher Froome, who came second, and Mark Cavendish, the current world road race champion, whose 23 stage wins make him the Tour's most prolific sprinter.

Laced with tales of great solo rides, amazing fortitude, terrible misfortune and triumph, "Tour de France" is the definitive account of this extraordinary competition.

Named one of the top-five sports books of the year by both "The Independent" and "The Times", it is the essential guide to the Tour.