Le Tour A History of the Tour de France, released today, undertakes the daunting task of chronicling the race for its 100th running, and the author draws from many sources - war, religion, nationalism, regionalism, language and one man's relentless drive to sell newspapers - to weave a great narrative of the great race.

Even compared to this year's Tour, which has just gotten underway in quite fantastic fashion, the Tours of old are hardly conceivable - stages that started at 11 in the evening or even at 2 o'clock in the morning, and ran, seemingly, forever.... The first Tour in 1903 was six stages, comprising 2428 kilometers, a staggering distance even if the riders rested for several days between, but put in perspective, the winning time on the first stage of the first Tour was just under 28 hours.

And it would not have come to be were it not for the Tour's mastermind, Henri Desgrange. Originally a publicity stunt, he adapted the race year to year, sometimes during it, to correct some perceived deficiency or personal dislike, but always with the long view of the race bolstering his paper, the Auto, which was, of course, printed on yellow paper. Almost as fascinating as anything else about this tale were his machinations.

Indeed, over the early decades of the le grande boucle, Desgrange's decisions and even his newspaper editorials literally shaped the sport into what it is today. An example is the term "domestique," originally printed in 1911 by the disgruntled editor as an insult to rider Maurice Brocco. Even what became modern scoring and the exact purpose of the yellow jersey or maillot jaune were either recrimination or stunt.

Whether or not a well-laid plan, which is doubtful, there is no doubt Desgrange would roll in his grave at France's continued inability to dominate the race but for brief periods (which he tried mightily to remedy, leading to even more de rigueur of today's sporting rules), and the completeness of modern team commercialization, called sponsorship today, which he loathed, particularly in the early days when Alcyon's riders ruled the road. Of course the riders bore the brunt of this evolution, and not just through sheer distance (the longest Tour was 5745 km, though by the mid-1930's the race had become much "kinder").

Some years, the riders rode under the threat of time trials (which they hated) if the race speed fell below a certain mark in a day. They were penalized for using a teammate's bicycle without the proper clearance, not taking care of their issued jerseys or for not making their own repairs (as Christophe at the famous forge of Ste-Marie de Campan). They suffered from too much wine, and from sabotage - dismantled wheels and nails deliberately strewn in the road.

And though Tyler Hamilton is not the only Tour rider to carry on with broken bones, Le Tour reveals that he is one of a very select few in Tour history. So in spite of the awe-inspiring work we love in modern cyclists, the phrase "convicts of the road," coined also in the early days, truly does describe those pioneer riders. But Le Tour is not only about the early days; it examines the Tours by decade, through 2002; each edition's monuments and tragedies, sometimes briefly and sometimes in detail, but always chronicling the great riders, their fates and feats, and relentless change.

However, the tale of a race that is one hundred years old cannot be told without a historical perspective of the tumultous decades through which it has run. So Wheatcroft adds ample amounts of European history - we learn about the wars which suspended it and their influence upon its resumption, political pressures, sports nationalism, murder and even the events of early 2003 which have hung uneasily over the approach of this year's edition. So the history buff will find much to interest him as well, and cleverly, just as the Grand Tour has rest days, so does Wheatcroft, by way of interjected chapters discussing the regions of France.

Le Tour is the essential Tour afficianado's book - the mountains, the routes, the personalities, the nicknames - it's all here. Wheatcroft also includes photos, Tour Facts for each year's race, a glossary of cycling terms (called Some Tour Words) and a short section entitled Some Tour Books. In its greatest sense, the cycling fan can see the development of nearly every element of modern cycling through this history of the Grand Boucle. A lengthy read at over three hundred pages, it is nonetheless a tremendous resource to learn about the legends of cycling, and in many ways, about the races we watch every day.

Le Tour A History of the Tour de France
Geoffrey Wheatcroft
ISBN: 0-7432-3110-4
Simon & Schuster UK
http://www.simonsays.com/