Tour Fever - The Armchair Cyclist's Guide to the Tour De France (Paperback, Perigee trade pbk. ed)

This is an accessible and enjoyable guide to one of the world's greatest sporting phenomena. Even couch potatoes can become experts on the Tour de France with this comprehensive, userfriendly guide that includes the history, strategy, stages, scoring and stars of this annual sporting event that attracts thousands of spectators and huge TV audiences. With this guide readers can learn: the varied stages from snaky time trials to killer mountain stages; team strategies - and the role each team member plays; how the Tour is scored; what the yellow, green, white and polka-dot jerseys represent; the meanings of pelon, tifosi, 'mountain goats', 'hot spots' and flame rouge; the characteristics of a race, whether a patron or domestique, and the real reasons racers shave their legs; how riders eat, drink, change clothes and even answer the call of nature without ever getting off their bikes; and how to follow the Tour online, on TV, in the papers and in person.