Riding High: Shadow Cycling the Tour de France (Mainstream Sport)

About this book

The Tour de France is a world-renowned almost mythical sporting competition. The demands on the riders are so great that the achievements and rivalries of those involved have passed into sporting legend. Recently however the event has been tarnished by the institutionalised doping of some riders and teams. As a result the authenticity of these very achievements and rivalries has been called into doubt. To find out whether an increasingly sceptical public could once again laud the exploits of the past century with conviction club cyclist Paul Howard set out to complete the Tour on level terms with todays riders. But instead of teammates mechanics and possibly the contents of the local pharmacy as support he had a handful of friends his dad and a sense of humour to see him through. With only three weeks to complete over 2 000 miles was it possible to put a human face on a super-human undertaking?