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Pain and Privilege: Inside Le Tour
A profound insight into the stories behind the image of the Tour de France, showcasing the sacrifice, despair, strategy and chaos of those four weeks in July to reveal a fascinating new perspective on the greatest race on earth.
Every year, the Tour de France puts on one of the great viewing spectacles of the year, showcasing extraordinary human endurance, sporting achievement, and one of the most beautiful countries on the planet. But underneath the facade, it’s a different story – a story of suffering, sacrifice and pain. This is that story.
Pain and Privilege doesn’t glorify the world’s greatest annual sporting event. Instead it gets under the skin of cycling’s cruel super race and describes what the race that unites people from all over the globe is really like, from the laughs to the tears, from the politics to the personal, from inspirational triumph to desperate failure. In 21 chapters, one for each stage of the Tour, Sophie Smith peels back the layers, taking us behind the scenes of the race and the characters who compete in it. The chapters draw on observations as well as first-hand accounts from current-day champions and modern legends of the sport, to their ‘domestique’ teammates, who make the same sacrifices for no international recognition or lucrative contract deal. Team staff, sports scientists, psychologists, agents, media and dignitaries all contribute to draw a more complex and confronting portrait of the world’s grandest sporting spectacle.
With contributions from Tadej Pogacar, Caleb Ewan, Cadel Evans, Chris Froome, Richie Porte, Geraint Thomas, Robbie McEwan, Primoz Roglic, Mark Cavendish, Sam Bennett, Ben O'Connor, Michal Morkov, David Brailsford, Matt White, Allan Peiper, Patrick LeFevere and Cherie Pridham.
Every year, the Tour de France puts on one of the great viewing spectacles of the year, showcasing extraordinary human endurance, sporting achievement, and one of the most beautiful countries on the planet. But underneath the facade, it’s a different story – a story of suffering, sacrifice and pain. This is that story.
Pain and Privilege doesn’t glorify the world’s greatest annual sporting event. Instead it gets under the skin of cycling’s cruel super race and describes what the race that unites people from all over the globe is really like, from the laughs to the tears, from the politics to the personal, from inspirational triumph to desperate failure. In 21 chapters, one for each stage of the Tour, Sophie Smith peels back the layers, taking us behind the scenes of the race and the characters who compete in it. The chapters draw on observations as well as first-hand accounts from current-day champions and modern legends of the sport, to their ‘domestique’ teammates, who make the same sacrifices for no international recognition or lucrative contract deal. Team staff, sports scientists, psychologists, agents, media and dignitaries all contribute to draw a more complex and confronting portrait of the world’s grandest sporting spectacle.
With contributions from Tadej Pogacar, Caleb Ewan, Cadel Evans, Chris Froome, Richie Porte, Geraint Thomas, Robbie McEwan, Primoz Roglic, Mark Cavendish, Sam Bennett, Ben O'Connor, Michal Morkov, David Brailsford, Matt White, Allan Peiper, Patrick LeFevere and Cherie Pridham.
- GenresNonfictionCycling
255 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2022
6 people are currently reading
36 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 22, 2022
Terrific insights and explanation of Le Tour and it’s riders and background stories - great read
October 16, 2022
A good book that I’d highly recommend to anyone that’s just getting into following professional men’s cycling at the top tier.
This is an easy read that gives a good insight into the goings on in and around the Tour de France, with specifics provided by those involved in the sport. This book is probably of particular interest to those readers from Australia as a decent % of the riders / sports directors interviewed are Australian.
If you’ve been following professional men’s cycling for awhile and read up on the topic a lot then this book is probably too basic for you. I count myself in this category, and found this book rather simplistic, however what made it interesting for me (and kept me reading) was the insights provided directly by the riders / sports directors.
The 4 starts is given from the POV of this being an intro book to the sport. I’d give it 3 stars for people that know about the sport already.
This is an easy read that gives a good insight into the goings on in and around the Tour de France, with specifics provided by those involved in the sport. This book is probably of particular interest to those readers from Australia as a decent % of the riders / sports directors interviewed are Australian.
If you’ve been following professional men’s cycling for awhile and read up on the topic a lot then this book is probably too basic for you. I count myself in this category, and found this book rather simplistic, however what made it interesting for me (and kept me reading) was the insights provided directly by the riders / sports directors.
The 4 starts is given from the POV of this being an intro book to the sport. I’d give it 3 stars for people that know about the sport already.
August 2, 2022
On kindle
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 6, 2022
A compelling listen, even for someone outside of the interest sphere of this sport
March 25, 2025
A book I would recommend somone who askes, 'what is the tour?'
July 4, 2025
Unputdownable.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews