Etape: The untold stories of the Tour de France’s defining stages

In ETAPE | critically acclaimed author Richard Moore will take readers on a virtual Tour de France | with each chapter focusing on a single rider in a single stage that came to define the Tour’s history.In Étape | critically acclaimed author Richard Moore tells the stories behind some of the defining stages in the Tour de France’s history through the eyes of the protagonists: the heroes and villains | stars and journeymen.Featuring exclusive new interviews with Mark Cavendish | Lance Armstrong | Eddy Merckx | Bernard Hinault | Greg LeMond | David Millar | Chris Boardman and many other Tour riders past and present | Étape spans six decades in conveying the mystery | beauty and madness of the world’s greatest bike race.The book includes Boardman’s famous debut in 1994 | Cavendish’s best and worst stages | an emotionally charged win for Armstrong in Limoges in 1995 and his dramatic | drug-fuelled victory eight years later at Luz Ardiden | as well as iconic stages featuring giants of the sport: Merckx’s toughest Tour | Hinault’s journey through hell | LeMond’s return from near-death | and the tragic Marco Pantani’s domination of the most controversial race in Tour history | among others.From the Alps to the Pyrenees | the sun-soaked plains of the midi to the rain-lashed cobbles of the north | Étape takes the reader on a virtual Tour. Along the way | in shedding new light on familiar events | unravelling mysteries and exploring untold stories | it confirms the Tour de France as unrivalled in its creation of myths and legends | and as a stage for courage | scandal | skill | and drama.