<DIV><p>A man, a bike and the open road. What could be simpler? Certainly not the Tour de France, the annual travelling circus which for more than a century has been the ultimate test of sporting endurance. There’s been pain. There’s been joy. There’s been death. There’s been derring-do of mythic proportions. There’s been cheating. There’ve been drugs. There’ve always been drugs. This book features eyewitness accounts of cycling greats Fausto Coppi, Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Miguel Indurain and Lance Armstrong, along with details of the contest’s darker side – including the 1967 death of Tom Simpson and the stain of doping. Boasting contemporary, firsthand reports from leading cycling correspondents including J.B Wadley, David Saunders and Phil Liggett, this book captures the full drama of the tour.</p></DIV>