The 2007 Tour de France started triumphantly in London but ended with yet another drugs furore, leading to four riders (including two race favourites) being excluded, a morass of accusation and suspicion, and the intrusion of lawyers more interested in legal wrangling than sport. It was nearly a disaster. Graeme Fife examines the complex interplay of officialdom at loggerheads, a few riders in denial, and most riders advancing goodwill and intent against doping in what might seem, at first, to be an unholy mess at the heart of what remains one of the greatest and most awe-inspiring free sporting spectacles on earth. In this updated edition of the highly acclaimed Tour de France , Fife sets this year’s scandal in the context of the event’s remarkable history, which began in July 1903. Combining meticulous research with a pacey narrative style, Fife penetrates the mystique of the race and paints a colourful picture of the men whose exploits have given the Tour an enduring universal appeal. With tales of great solo rides, amazing fortitude, terrible misfortune and triumph, it is the definitive account of this extraordinary competition and has been named one of the top-five sports books of the year by both The Independent and The Times .