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Tour de France, Updated with a New Preface: A Cultural History
In this highly original history of the world's most famous bicycle race, Christopher S. Thompson, mining previously neglected sources and writing with infectious enthusiasm for his subject, tells the compelling story of the Tour de France from its creation in 1903 to the present. Weaving the words of racers, politicians, Tour organizers, and a host of other commentators together with a wide-ranging analysis of the culture surrounding the event―including posters, songs, novels, films, and media coverage―Thompson links the history of the Tour to key moments and themes in French history. Examining the enduring popularity of Tour racers, Thompson explores how their public images have changed over the past century. A new preface explores the long-standing problem of doping in light of recent scandals.
431 pages, Paperback
First published July 17, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
June 5, 2009
This is more academic than I think many people would expect or enjoy, but I really found it fascinating. The author traces the social and cultural themes of the Tour de France throughout its history, demonstrating a sophisticated analysis of the Tour as a symbol of French identity.
January 12, 2015
Excellent cultural history of my favorite sports event!
September 8, 2026
On the cover of "The Tour de France: A Cultural History" are two fans pouring beer on the head of a struggling, powerful lone cyclist powering through a stage. Christopher Thompson aims to give us a cultural history of the Tour, from inception into the contemporary era. One could say he does so; we're given a background on cycling prior to the Tour, the reasons why it began, some of the key figures involved, and moving through the years and seeing different faces. All throughout, Thompson seeks to speak about what the Tour means to the French. Unfortunately, his speaking on this topic is rather narrow and dispassionate. He favors an almost philosophical Marxist position, as opposed to historical Marxism, where battles between labor and the capitalists take center stage. Much of the early chapters reflect this focus.
Thompson treats the disputes over riders and who they are as the chief cultural question. He does mention other treatments and covers them enough, such as the heroic ideal of the cyclist as a beacon of progress and a way to perfect the French population, but always with contempt. Chapters on how the French hope that cycling can reinvigorate the youth from being "soft" and "weak" are treated with obvious scorn (if academic detachment is still present). Instead, the dispute over the image of labor is given pride of place. Even the accounts of how the Tour changed after World War I & II is filtered through the lens of labor.
Thompson abandons this style of history, however, in the final chapter. Instead of hearing how work and labor images change in the post-World War II world, we're given a drive by version of doping in the Tour De France; an abrupt change considering how long Thompson was willing to linger over certain periods of time. One gets the impression that this text was beginning to bore Thompson. Thompson clearly wants to believe that the disputes over labor and the image of the worker drove the Tour forward. The scale and desire to dope, however, paints the cyclist in a much different life. As much as Thompson casually disparages the heroic ideal of the cyclist, what replaces it is even worse: a cold, calculating athlete willing to do anything to win. Unwilling to fully adopt the Marxist position, Thompson is stuck in neo-liberal paralysis where he condemns the sport for failing to live up an ideal all the while disparaging and critiquing any ideal they could live up to. That issue runs throughout the text and is an unavoidable black mark.
Thompson treats the disputes over riders and who they are as the chief cultural question. He does mention other treatments and covers them enough, such as the heroic ideal of the cyclist as a beacon of progress and a way to perfect the French population, but always with contempt. Chapters on how the French hope that cycling can reinvigorate the youth from being "soft" and "weak" are treated with obvious scorn (if academic detachment is still present). Instead, the dispute over the image of labor is given pride of place. Even the accounts of how the Tour changed after World War I & II is filtered through the lens of labor.
Thompson abandons this style of history, however, in the final chapter. Instead of hearing how work and labor images change in the post-World War II world, we're given a drive by version of doping in the Tour De France; an abrupt change considering how long Thompson was willing to linger over certain periods of time. One gets the impression that this text was beginning to bore Thompson. Thompson clearly wants to believe that the disputes over labor and the image of the worker drove the Tour forward. The scale and desire to dope, however, paints the cyclist in a much different life. As much as Thompson casually disparages the heroic ideal of the cyclist, what replaces it is even worse: a cold, calculating athlete willing to do anything to win. Unwilling to fully adopt the Marxist position, Thompson is stuck in neo-liberal paralysis where he condemns the sport for failing to live up an ideal all the while disparaging and critiquing any ideal they could live up to. That issue runs throughout the text and is an unavoidable black mark.
August 4, 2020
As a cyclist and one who considers the Tour de France a yearly event that I look forward to with keen anticipation and genuine excitement. Seeing the cover with one of the many historic photos (there are many!) of a dirty, sweaty exhausted cyclist doused with water by fans (probably locals) to encourage his climb gave enthusiasm for what may lie between the covers. The title is "The Tour de France" what is not to like!! Man what a shock when I opened the book at home and saw on the inner-title page .. (remember not on the book cover!!) ....."A Cultural History", and noticed the author is an university academic.Some warning signs? The few photos are great all what you would expect in a history of the Tour! Maybe I was prejudging!
Lets be fair here....this is a well written book BUT not about the subject as advertised. This is as dry as toast and in all fairness the author warns us that is a doctoral dissertation/thesis and man oh man it reads like one . A wonderful exploration in the broadest sense of French society , mainly between the wars, with the common thread of the Tour de France but it is just barely there!! The gritty insights and magical history of the annual event is 100% totally absent and only hinted at periodically.
To make things worse on the cover there is quote that again for the thousand times warns me NEVER consider anything of the promos appended to a cover.....as there are rarely accurate and for the most part could be talking about any book . Tony Judt (whoever he is!!) says : "The best history of the tour..that we have or will have" What the hell is that about?? Another social historian talking through his hat with probably little or no idea what the Tour actually means??
....please any cycling enthusiast please just pass this by in a sprint!!!
Lets be fair here....this is a well written book BUT not about the subject as advertised. This is as dry as toast and in all fairness the author warns us that is a doctoral dissertation/thesis and man oh man it reads like one . A wonderful exploration in the broadest sense of French society , mainly between the wars, with the common thread of the Tour de France but it is just barely there!! The gritty insights and magical history of the annual event is 100% totally absent and only hinted at periodically.
To make things worse on the cover there is quote that again for the thousand times warns me NEVER consider anything of the promos appended to a cover.....as there are rarely accurate and for the most part could be talking about any book . Tony Judt (whoever he is!!) says : "The best history of the tour..that we have or will have" What the hell is that about?? Another social historian talking through his hat with probably little or no idea what the Tour actually means??
....please any cycling enthusiast please just pass this by in a sprint!!!
August 5, 2021
I've read a few books about the Tour de France. Most of them are histories providing a race-by-race look at the Tour over time. Some provide more in-depth analysis of one particular race. They quickly become repetitive and uninteresting.
Not this one.
Thompson provides a terrific cultural history of the Tour. I had never really known the role the Tour plays in French culture and history. Yes, I (kind of) knew how Degranges came to start the Tour to support his newspaper. I didn't know it wasn't he who came up with the idea nor that he was in a legal battle with another sports newspaper at the time. Nor did I know the broader cultural context that arose the in the decades following the French loss of the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871). Clearly, my grasp of European history is weak.
I also found the role the Tour played in the modernization and industrialization of France, at least as far as workers' rights and labor conflict goes, fascinating. That and the way the Tour was used to unite a fractious nation with many independence movements afoot. And the way the Tour was used to reinforce gender roles at a time of women's emancipation efforts. And how the Tour brought drug use in sports into the spotlight (and KEPT it there).
In sum, I learned a lot from this work, much of it fascinating. He never gets bogged down in personalities, manages to avoid describing individual Tours as standalone races, and shines a light on the many ways the Tour became an integral part of French (and eventually, world) culture.
If you are interested in the Tour de France beyond its annual race statistics, this is a book you will want to read.
Not this one.
Thompson provides a terrific cultural history of the Tour. I had never really known the role the Tour plays in French culture and history. Yes, I (kind of) knew how Degranges came to start the Tour to support his newspaper. I didn't know it wasn't he who came up with the idea nor that he was in a legal battle with another sports newspaper at the time. Nor did I know the broader cultural context that arose the in the decades following the French loss of the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871). Clearly, my grasp of European history is weak.
I also found the role the Tour played in the modernization and industrialization of France, at least as far as workers' rights and labor conflict goes, fascinating. That and the way the Tour was used to unite a fractious nation with many independence movements afoot. And the way the Tour was used to reinforce gender roles at a time of women's emancipation efforts. And how the Tour brought drug use in sports into the spotlight (and KEPT it there).
In sum, I learned a lot from this work, much of it fascinating. He never gets bogged down in personalities, manages to avoid describing individual Tours as standalone races, and shines a light on the many ways the Tour became an integral part of French (and eventually, world) culture.
If you are interested in the Tour de France beyond its annual race statistics, this is a book you will want to read.
December 27, 2020
Full of the interesting history of the TdF, France and the bicycle. Lots on the politics (social, gender, class, doping and financial), but a bit too much detail at times. I got bored and skipped ahead more than once. Maybe because I am not a historian but I am glad I read it.
December 10, 2009
Informative, but not very enjoyable to read. You really need to be a fan of cycling to get through this.
March 22, 2011
I would've appreciated an analysis of how domestiques fit into the labor/class arguments of this book.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews