Three Weeks, Eight Seconds: The Epic Tour de France of 1989 - Softcover

Nige Tassell

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1909715530 ISBN 13: 9781909715530

Publisher: Arena Sport, 2017

Synopsis

The 1989 Tour de France is surely the greatest ever, a race that saw Greg LeMond overturn a 50-second deficit to Laurent Fignon on the final stage on the Champs Élysées to snatch the title by a mere eight seconds. After three weeks and more than 2,000 miles in the saddle, this remains the smallest margin of victory in the Tour's 100+ year history.

But as dramatic as that Sunday afternoon on the streets of Paris was, the race wasn't just about that one time-trial. During the previous fortnight, the leader's yellow jersey had swapped back and forth between LeMond and Fignon in a titanic struggle for supremacy, a battle with more twists and turns than the maziest Alpine mountain pass. At no point during the entire three weeks were the pair separated by more than 53 seconds. And all this despite LeMond's body still carrying more than 30 shotgun pellets after a shooting accident two years previously.

In Three Weeks, Eight Seconds, Nige Tassell brings one of cycling's most astonishing stories to life, examining that extraordinary race in all its multi-faceted glory, with fresh first-hand testimony from riders, team bosses, commentators, journalists and family members.

Among those offering exclusive new insight are Team LeMond, Pedro Delgado, Sean Kelly, Stephen Roche, Bjarne Riis, Andy Hampsten, Raúl Alcalá, Charly Mottet, Sean Yates and many more. Adrenaline and agony. Controversy and conflict. Torment and triumph. All human life is here.

About this title

About the Author

Nige Tassell has been a journalist for more than twenty years. He has written extensively about sport for a range of titles, including FourFourTwo, The Guardian, 220 Triathlon, The Word and BBC History. He was the editor and writer of World in Motion, chronicling the history of the England team at the World Cup, and is the author of The Bottom Corner: A Season with the Dreamers of Non-League Football published in 2016 by Yellow Jersey.

Edition details

• Publisher: Arena Sport
• Publication date: 2017
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1909715530
• ISBN 13: 9781909715530
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 352