Tour Climbs
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Product Description
Product Description
The first book to cover in detail every major climb ever used in the Tour de France, including detail on the actual route (with maps and profile), length, height, list of winners and route descriptions of how to emulate the King of the Mountains and get from the bottom to the top.
Every year the Tour de France is said to only really start when it reaches the first mountain stages: the drama of the race only really begins as the climbers take over in the Pyrenees, Vosges or Alps. The Tour is also the most famous classic in cycling and draws huge audiences to the TV and internet coverage (the official web site holds the world record for number of hits excluding search engines).
But the route of the Tour is not just for professionals. A growing number of people now take their bikes and actually do a stage of the Tour (the Etap - for amateurs, which this year attracted 8,000 people to climb one of the hardest mountain stages in the Tour) or spend a week doing some of the more notorious climbs (Ventoux - where Tommy Simpson died in the 50s).
This book is for everyone who watches the Tour and has even the slightest of an inkling that they'd like to do at least one of the climbs. Packed with information on each climb, this is the ultimate guide to the Tour climbs, which will remain important for many years to come (the Tour only uses a set number of climbs, which they return to every couple of years).
Contents - Eastern Pyrenees, Central Pyrenees, Western Pyrenees, Vosges & Jura, Massif & Cevennes, Northern Alps, Central Alps and Southern Alps
About the Author
Chris Sidwells is a bestselling author, journalist, photographer and broadcaster; a writer of books, magazine and newspaper features on every aspect of cycling and fitness.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The previous four reviwers have picked up about 20 major deficiencies and it's hard to contest any of them. Many sentences have to be re-read to extract the meaning intended - can the editor be blamed for all this? The squiggle "maps", the lack of profile and any aids to locate the climbs really mitigate against the usefulness of such a book. Average and maximum gradient do not characterise a climb. The Tour system of categories could have easily been provided. The photos are mostly good but the summits of climbs don't feature. Signs, buildings, plaques reveal much and is what you want to see when you get to the top. For the record the highest road in Europe (page 230) is "a road in Spain's Sierra Nevada", more specifically Pico Valeta. Height of at least 3402m (Michelin map of Spain) makes the book in error by 1000ft. Finally the sleave suggests that the book will help you to climb the roads yourself and fit them into itineraries. I feel this is outside the scope of a coffee table book, but any case there is not much help offered. Weather trends, best maps, support, the bike itself, feeding stations, escape routes are more useful than dangerous romantic notions.
The climb star ratings (where given) and index are both well done and useful.
The climb star ratings (where given) and index are both well done and useful.
29 of 30 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Hmmmmm!!! Yes this book does list all of the Tour climbs and gives some nice anecdotes on each ones history and some nice pictures but it should have been so, so much more.
The "maps" advertised on the back of the book are no more than simple diagrams, the history of the climb is almost non-existent and worst of all there are no climb profiles!!
Bring out a book with decent maps, profiles, a list of stages/tours they featured in, their category and who won on them (mountain top finishes) and perhaps then you'd have a book work shelling £25 out for - disappointing....
The "maps" advertised on the back of the book are no more than simple diagrams, the history of the climb is almost non-existent and worst of all there are no climb profiles!!
Bring out a book with decent maps, profiles, a list of stages/tours they featured in, their category and who won on them (mountain top finishes) and perhaps then you'd have a book work shelling £25 out for - disappointing....
23 of 24 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Best things about this book are the page size (large), the typographic layout (stylish yet well-ordered) and that it is printed in full colour throughout, unlike cycling books by cash-strapped smaller publishers.
As mentioned, the text layout is well structured, with each climb having an introductory side-column of information listing the perceived relative difficulty, length, average gradients, etc, in addition to the main text that deals with the description and Tour history aspects.
However it was a fatal mistake by the publisher and/or author to not include proper maps and gradient profiles. There's a kind of whispy-looking doodle of a map for each climb, placed in the margins of the pages, but the twistiness of a route is less important to riders hauling their weight uphill than knowing more precisely how steep it is going to be at various points and where the changes of gradient pitch will occur. By omitting the potentially useful diagrams that are promised in the sales blurb (see the Product Description) the book has been relegated to the level of a mere coffee table book, rather than the useful reference tool that it could have been. It should have been both really.
I'll skip the copy-editing deficiencies, except to say that these are embarrassing evidence of insufficient time being allowed for proof-reading and corrections.
A lesser complaint is the quality of some of the photographs, which sometimes look over-exposed. In some cases the images look like they have been scanned from low budget prints. I know it can be difficult to photograph a scene in harsh bright summer sunlight on these mountains, where there are extremes of light and shade, but I wish a bit of time was spent doing some digital correction work to hide the technical defects. Generally, I think the layout of the photos nicely integrates them with the text, although the chapter opener spreads are a little bit bland compared to the other pages. Perhaps the openers could have been made more useful by also including, as another reviewer suggests, some kind of regional map marking the relative locations of the climbs included in the chapter.
There are a number of similar books to this one published in France. Most don't have such beautiful typography as Tour Climbs, but they all have more useful diagrammatic information. Of them, the book 'Grands cols - les montagnes du tour de France à velo' (by Nicolas Moreau-Delaquis) is the one closest in form to Sidwells' book, yet it also manages to include full page colour maps and gradient cross-sections as part of the package.
So, in other words, despite Tour Climbs' good points, the ultimate guide in English has yet to be produced. Hopefully, if Collins ever correct the text for a future edition they will also give us some locational maps and include an appendix section of gradient profiles - then we can all award it the 5 star reviews that a book like this ought to have.
As mentioned, the text layout is well structured, with each climb having an introductory side-column of information listing the perceived relative difficulty, length, average gradients, etc, in addition to the main text that deals with the description and Tour history aspects.
However it was a fatal mistake by the publisher and/or author to not include proper maps and gradient profiles. There's a kind of whispy-looking doodle of a map for each climb, placed in the margins of the pages, but the twistiness of a route is less important to riders hauling their weight uphill than knowing more precisely how steep it is going to be at various points and where the changes of gradient pitch will occur. By omitting the potentially useful diagrams that are promised in the sales blurb (see the Product Description) the book has been relegated to the level of a mere coffee table book, rather than the useful reference tool that it could have been. It should have been both really.
I'll skip the copy-editing deficiencies, except to say that these are embarrassing evidence of insufficient time being allowed for proof-reading and corrections.
A lesser complaint is the quality of some of the photographs, which sometimes look over-exposed. In some cases the images look like they have been scanned from low budget prints. I know it can be difficult to photograph a scene in harsh bright summer sunlight on these mountains, where there are extremes of light and shade, but I wish a bit of time was spent doing some digital correction work to hide the technical defects. Generally, I think the layout of the photos nicely integrates them with the text, although the chapter opener spreads are a little bit bland compared to the other pages. Perhaps the openers could have been made more useful by also including, as another reviewer suggests, some kind of regional map marking the relative locations of the climbs included in the chapter.
There are a number of similar books to this one published in France. Most don't have such beautiful typography as Tour Climbs, but they all have more useful diagrammatic information. Of them, the book 'Grands cols - les montagnes du tour de France à velo' (by Nicolas Moreau-Delaquis) is the one closest in form to Sidwells' book, yet it also manages to include full page colour maps and gradient cross-sections as part of the package.
So, in other words, despite Tour Climbs' good points, the ultimate guide in English has yet to be produced. Hopefully, if Collins ever correct the text for a future edition they will also give us some locational maps and include an appendix section of gradient profiles - then we can all award it the 5 star reviews that a book like this ought to have.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
cycle widow
Excellent book for all Tour fanatics. Watch the climbs on TV whilst following all the details in the book. Read more
Published 4 months ago by incapacitated wife
where is the real information?
Sorry to say, this book is frustrating and disappointing, so much unfulfilled potential. The lack of any maps or profiles seems a big omission to any book claiming to be a guide. Read more
Published 5 months ago by alex g
Stunning pictures of high quality and very good value at £11
Having recently bought this for a friend, I felt the urge to write a short review in order to praise the book and its author. Read more
Published 6 months ago by angus
Lacks detail
This book is thorough in listing all climbs but lacks real detail on gradients etc. As someone planning to tackle many of the climbs, I need more data.
Published 16 months ago by cylist
Could not be more underwhelmed! Waste of Money.
Whilst many other reviewers have (imho) hit the nail on the head as to the failings of this book, I believe they have been over generous in their comments. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Dave
coffee table magic
Excellent reference and insite into the tours hardest challenges as well as a holiday guide buy it
Published 19 months ago by jonny19
Poor
Nice size and colourful but Overall very disapointing. As many of the other reviews have said, the lack of proper maps or more inportantly gradient profiles of the climbs leaves... Read more
Published 21 months ago by smurfster
Big fish in a small pond
There aren't too many books like this around, so in spite of the average reviews I bought it anyway. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Jack Russell
Very disappointing.
A great idea for a book. But in reality, a sad let-down. There are no maps: no general map showing where the climbs are and no road maps for the individual climbs. Read more
Published 21 months ago by StevenU
A waste of their paper, your time and your money
This is a real let down. It's poorly researched, badly written and of very little use to anyone. AVOID!
Published 22 months ago by I hate to kick a man when he's down but...
Listmania!
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