The Last Man in the Tour de France

Lanterne Rouge

Froome, Wiggins, Merckx, LeMond - we know the winners but what about the men who finish last?

Excellent ... compulsive reading...redresses the balance with considerable literary style and panache.

Don't be surprised if you fall in love with Max Leonard's book. A glorious celebration of coming last.

Thoughtful, properly researched and consistently entertaining

[A] lively account of largely forgotten men... It’s not easy to come up with an original angle on Le Tour, but with this rear view Leonard has managed the feat in style

Brilliant... The stories of the lanternes rouges that Leonard picks out have real value, because the race's rear view can tell you much more than the angle we're all familiar with

Makes for oddly inspiring reading. There is an art to losing

An elegant book... Surprising and illuminating

This is a valuable book with some great stories. Deeply-researched and well-written, it’s an enjoyable read that shouldn’t be rushed

Fascinating… Without losers, there are no winners

In this lively, rear-view account of largely unsung heroes, and a few villains, Leonard has managed the difficult feat of coming up with an original angle on Le Tour

Leonard extracts the dignity that sometimes exists in sporting failure; this is not the world of Armstrong, Keane or Pietersen and all the more appealing because of that

Celebratory and hilarious in equal measures, The Last Man revels in the travails of the underdog

This book does a great job of revealing some of the less well known stories from le Tour: well written, entertaining, and informative

This book is an entertaining account taking in everyone from stage winners and former yellow jerseys who couldn’t hang on, to a breakaway leader who stopped for a bottle of wine and then took a wrong turn, to a doper whose drug cocktail backfired

We know the winners of the Tour de France, but Lanterne Rouge tells the forgotten, often inspirational and occasionally absurd stories of the last-placed rider

Max Leonard’s previous books include Lanterne Rouge: the Last Man in the Tour de France and Bunker Research. He has also written about cycling, travel and adventure for Esquire, Monocle, Rouleur, Strava, Rapha and others.

lanterne rouge (French | noun): The competitor who finishes last in the Tour de France 
 
 Froome, Wiggins, Merckx – we know the winners of the Tour de France, but what about the men who finish last? 
 
Lanterne Rouge tells the forgotten, often inspirational and occasionally absurd stories of the last-placed rider. We learn of stage winners and former yellow jerseys who tasted life at the other end of the bunch; the breakaway leader who stopped for a bottle of wine and then took a wrong turn; the doper whose drug cocktail accidently slowed him down and the rider who was recognised as the most combative despite finishing at the back. 
 
 Flipping the Tour de France on its head and examines what these stories tell us about ourselves, the 99% who don’t win the trophy, Lantern Rouge forces us to re-examine the meaning of success, failure and the very nature of sport. 
 
‘A lively account of largely forgotten men... It’s not easy to come up with an original angle on Le Tour, but with this rear view Leonard has managed the feat in style’ Independent on Sunday

Max Leonard

Road Cycling’s Obsession with the Mountains

Why do road cyclists go to the mountains? Many books tell you where the mountains are, or how long and how high. None of them ask ‘Why?’ 
 
After all, cycling up a mountain is hard – so hard that, to many non-cyclists, it can seem absurd. But, for some, climbing a mountain gracefully (and beating your competitors up the slope) represents the pinnacle of cycling achievement. The mountains are where legends are forged and cycling’s greats make their names. 
 
Why are Europe’s mountain ranges professional cycling’s Wembley Stadium or its Colosseum? Why do amateurs also make a pilgrimage to these high, remote roads and what do we see and feel when we do? 
Why are the roads there in the first place? 
 
Higher Calling explores the central place of mountains in the folklore of road cycling. Blending adventure and travel writing with the rich narrative of pro racing, Max Leonard takes the reader from the battles that created the Alpine roads to the shepherds tending their flocks on the peaks, and to a Grand Tour climax on the ‘highest road in Europe’. And he tells stories of courage and sacrifice, war and love, obsession and elephants along the way.

Max Leonard

Books by Max Leonard

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