John Wilcockson Knihy

Taking place over twenty-three days in July and across more than 2,100 miles of smooth blacktop, rough cobblestones, and punishing mountain terrain, the Tour de France is the most grueling sports event in the world. And in 2004, five-time champion Lance Armstrong set out to achieve what no other cyclist in the 100-year history of the race had ever win a sixth Tour de France.Armstrong had four serious challengers who wanted nothing more than to deny the man the French call Le Boss from achieving his goal. The major threat among them was the only other former Tour de France champion in last year's race, Germany's Jan Ullrich- The Kaiser . But when the race was over, Lance Armstrong once again wore the yellow jersey of victory.

A day-by-day account of the historic 2004 Tour de France goes inside Lance Armstrong's successful bid for a sixth consecutive crown in the grueling race

Die Tour de France ist das weltweit wichtigste, jährlich stattfindende Sportereignis. Rund um den Globus wird das Rennen verfolgt, die Zuschauerzahlen können mit denen der olympischen Sommerspiele und der Fußball-Weltmeisterschaften mithalten. Wer darf eigentlich bei der Tour mitfahren? Wie wird der Gesamtsieger ermittelt? Welche Wertungen gibt es? Warum verändert sich jedes Jahr die Streckenführung? Und warum bekommt die Tour ihr Dopingproblem einfach nicht in den Griff? Radsportfans und allgemein Sportinteressierte finden hier die Antwort auf alle ihre Fragen – kompetent, kompakt und anschaulich.

A riveting day-by-day account of the 2004 Tour de France "filled with expert detail and rich with history, as Wilcockson knows the Tour as well as any journalist alive." -"ESPN.com"

A cancer survivor who went on to win the Tour de France an unprecedented seven times, Lance Armstrong is an inspiration to millions. Yet few know the complete story of this brash, smart, and fiercely competitive Texan who battled to the top of his sport, overcame the most rampant case of testicular cancer doctors had seen, and then conquered cycling's Holy Grail time after time. Here, sportswriter John Wilcockson draws on dozens of interviews with those who know him best to trace Armstrong's remarkable yet controversial journey in vivid detail.--From publisher description.

Marco Pantani won the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia in the same year, 1998, a feat previously achieved only by giants of the sport like Eddy Merckx, Fausto Coppi, and Miguel Indurain. The master cyclist was also a victim of the drug culture of pro cycling, eventually sinking into a deep depression and dying alone in a hotel room on Valentine's Day 2004. This book chronicles the highs and lows of Pantani's life and cycling career through the words of leading American and European sportswriters, and it includes candid color shots of Pantani in action by renowned sports photographer Graham Watson.