Twenty-One Nights In July: a personal history of the Tour de France / Ianto Ware
ISBN: 9780980740509
Twenty-one classic stages from the history of the Tour de France.
Twenty-one simple truths gleaned from the greatest bicycle race in the world.
From Fausto Coppi's victory on Alpe d'Huez, to Jacques Anquetil and Raymond Poulidor's epic battle on the Puy de Dôme, from René Vietto's shameless weeping, to Greg LeMond soiling himself in his struggle with Bernard Hinault.
From the Italian whose victory prevented a revolution, to the British champion whose dying words were 'put me back on my bike', and the convicted doper who declared 'I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles'.
Part love letter to the humble bicycle, part history of the Tour de France, Twenty-One Nights in July reveals how cycling transcended mere sport to become a philosophy for the modern age.
Ianto Ware started cycling because he couldn’t afford a car and started watching the Tour de France because it was the only thing on Australian television at 2AM. After a youth spent playing in terrible bands and writing fanzines, he now works in cultural and urban policy. He grew up in Adelaide and lives in Sydney.
“There is a book that Sir David Brailsford has been passing around his Team Sky colleagues this winter, urging them to read. Twenty One Nights in July by Ianto Ware might best be described as a love letter to the Tour de France.
“It made me think, ‘Blimey, this is why I got into cycling, why I fell in love with it in the first place,’” Brailsford explained.”
