From the Library: The Great Bike Race

Lucien Van Impe won nine Tour de France stages, won the Mountain Classification six times, finished 5th on GC once, 4th twice, 3rd three times, 2nd once, and won in 1976.

First published in 1977, The Great Bike Race recounts the 1976 Tour de France, as told by British journalist Geoffrey NIcholson who followed the race as part of the international press corps. The writing has a decidedly British flavor providing an exotic twist that a race of the Tour's stature deserves. Interspersed with the play-by-play of each stage, are incidents along the road, interesting perspectives on both the main players and lesser figures, personal observations, and the inevitable what if's; the 1976 Tour may be remembered as much for the racers who were not entered as it is for those who were, though that certainly does not make the story any less compelling. If interest in the Tour began with Greg Lemond, maybe Bernard HInault (or even more recent years), the Great Bike Race provides a historical and competitive perspective of the race during those couple gap years between the reigns of Merckx and Hinault.

Nicholson, Geoffrey  The Great Bike Race: The Classic, Acclaimed Book that Introduced the World to the Tour de France  Oxford: Casemate, 2016