The Great Bike Race

225 Pages·2016·11.447 MB·English

by  Geoffrey Nicholson

THE GREAT BIKE RACE
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It’s all about the ride.
THE GREAT BIKE RACE
THE CLASSIC, ACCLAIMED BOOK
THAT INTRODUCED THE WORLD
TO THE TOUR DE FRANCE
by
Geoffrey Nicholson
Introduction by
William Fotheringham
velodrome
Praise for The Great Bike Race
It impresses me that an Englishman, even one THE OBSERVER has
called ‘our resident cyclopath’ has succeeded in a venture akin to ex-
plaining Five-Day Test cricket to a visitor from Peking … His de-
scription of the 1976 Tour is based on an honest eye and the careful
assembly of pointilliste incident. It is interleaved with encyclopaedic
historic flashbacks and is, as the French say of a decisive win, impecca-
bly ‘lucide’. They ought to give him a special lap of honour.
Observer
If there were a maillot jaune for sportswriters, Mr Nicholson should
be wearing it.
Economist
… conveys the agony of the mountains, the exhilaration of the sprints
and the dull ache of the treadmill, as well as the tactics and mathemat-
ics involved in team racing …
Times Literary Supplement
The smell of rural France pervades this lovingly written study.
Scottish Daily Record
A delightful and perceptive book … his greatest success is in his won-
derfully vivid ability to describe the passing scene, whether witnessed
from the grandstand of a stadium, from a café terrace in a small moun-
tain hamlet, or from the bedrooms of the participants and the armies
of their assistants … Mr Nicholson is very good indeed.
The Sunday Times
The quality of his writing transformed the character of sports journalism.
Guardian
One of the first English language accounts of a Tour de France in
a book, and Nicholson is exploring virgin territory in his coverage
of the 1976 Tour de France. When you read about the Tour’s iconic
places, they are often riffs on Nicholson’s original descriptions. A real
historical artefact.
Cycling Weekly
This is a gripping tale even for someone who doesn’t know a bidon
from a peloton.
Essex Weekly News
A thorough analysis of the Tour’s background and history.
Sunday Telegraph
It is the best effort by a British sports writer for a long time. In THE
GREAT BIKE RACE our erstwhile Guardian peddler has chronicled
the sweat and spirit, drugs and dregs, intrigue and incest, clutter and
clatter and wheel-whizz of the moveable feast that entrances all France
for a very merry month in midsummer. Like the Tour itself, Nichol-
son’s book is very special.
Guardian
An outstandingly attractive and exciting book, a coolly written and
wry cliff-hanger. It is a virtuoso performance.
Economist
He is defiantly prosaic. His book is admirably lively.
New Statesman
For those who love a good read, from a pocket-size book, Mr Nichol-
son’s effort is well worth while. The writing is impeccable, the allu-
sions apt and inspiring and the whole a notable contribution towards
present-day understanding of cycling.
Motor Cycle and Cycle Trader
He writes sports like Fielding wrote novels, good-naturedly, with a
talent for revealing emblematic physical detail. Nicholson’s Tour has
plot, characters, complications, the narrative grip of a ‘Tom Jones’.
Time Out
A Velodrome Book
First published in 1977
This new edition first published in Great Britain in 2016 by
Velodrome Publishing
A Division of Casemate Publishers
10 Hythe Bridge Street
Oxford OX1 2EW, UK
and
1950 Lawrence Road, Havertown, PA 19083 USA
www.velodromepublishing.com
© Geoffrey Nicholson 1977
Introduction © William Fotheringham 2016
The author asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by
any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or by any informa-
tion storage and retrieval system, without permission from the publisher in writing.
Images courtesy Offside/ L’Équipe
Maps by David Gibbons
The publishers would like to graciously thank Mavis Nicholson, and the Nicholson family, for
their splendid support and assistance in the creation of this new edition.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978-1-911162-02-5
Printed in the Czech Republic by FINIDR s.r.o...
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This edition is dedicated to Geoff's three sons:
Steve, Lewis, Harry,
and to his five grandchildren:
Ben, Tess, Maud, Owen and Iris.

Contents
Introduction 10
by William Fotheringham
La Grande Boucle 17
Le Vélo de mon Oncle 24
1 The giants are in the Vendée 29
2 A drama in three acts 42
3 A certain panic 55
4 ‘The Tour is finished’ 61
5 Freddy-la-dynamite! 69
6 Arrival of the Cannibal 85
7 Now it’s a Spaniard 92
8 Illicit substances 105
9 Roads of the Cross 118
10 Travelling salesmen 131
11 A sort of little god 138
12 A diamond frame with titanium lugs 155
13 Thévenet will not climb the Puy-de-Dôme 161
14 J’adore Poulidor 175
15 La boucle est bouclée 182
Stage By Stage Winners 1976 189
1977: Prodigy's Arrival, Prodigal's Return 195
Figures of the Past 204
Index 213