21 days in July

Blazing saddles: the cruel and unusual history of the Tour de France.

For 21 days in July, I'm obsessed with watching TV. Every night at seven, I've been glued to OLN to watch the tour. My favourtite rider this year (from day one) has been Andy Schlek - who as you might know has come in 2nd overall (next year will be your year Andy!)

So, I always have loads of questions about the tour as they grind theire way up the Alps and Pyreness, weave through tiny villages and towns, and time trial on the way to the final day on the streets of Paris. I've used google a fair amount to answer some of these questions but have also picked up Blazing saddles by Matt Rendell.
This book gives a year by year account of the Tour, from its inception in 1903 to 2007. Each year is given a short summary and the highlights of the race, a listing of the podium winners and where they were from, their overall time, the total distance of the race and the average speed. There are terrific black and white photos from even the earliest races.

So if you have questions about the odessy that is the Tour de France maybe a book like Blazing saddles will give you some of the answers.