Blazing Saddles: The Cruel & Unusual History of the Tour de France

For more than a century, the Tour de France has captured the world’s imagination as the ultimate test of man’s strength and willpower. Blazing Saddles is a riotous tale of the inspiring and sometimes astonishing history of cycling’s most famous race and its whimsical mishaps and astounding feats.

Award-winning sports writer Matt Rendell plunges into “La Grande Boucle,” describing everything from the clothing of the first Tour winner (white blazer, black trousers, wool socks) to the earliest method of cheating (riding the train). Blazing Saddles recounts the famous rivalries and riders that contested the Tour, setting the score straight with complete records of every podium finisher. Rendell’s vivid storytelling is complemented with more than one hundred classic black and white photographs, portraying cycling’s heroes and martyrs from Jacques Anquetil to Lance Armstrong.

Fans young and old will marvel at this delightful compilation of cycling’s greatest capers and most amazing superstars.