23 Days in July – John Wilcockson

Non-Fiction
$13.16 from Amazon.com

Buy it if: You want to understand what makes le Tour de France such a big deal. And how can a 2,100-mile bike race be won by only 8 seconds?

Don’t buy it if: You: ‘Big deal, they ride around France in Lycra for a few weeks... I want to see Manny Ramirez bang out some homers!’

How do you race a bicycle for 21 days and win by only a few minutes? What’s up with the funny looking bikes and phallic helmets? Where do the riders sleep? What’s the difference between the green, yellow, white and polka dot jerseys?

These are all questions that anyone new to the Tour de France probably has. Despite being the most watched sporting event in the world (It’s true. The only thing that even comes close is World Cup soccer, and that only happens every four years.) the inner workings, details, traditions and rules of the race are still largely mysterious to most Americans. Even with Lance Armstrong’s domination and cycling’s recent surge in popularity, the pro peloton (This means the racing pack. Much of cycling is still described in its ‘native’ French.) remains shrouded in mystery for many sports fans.

23 Days in July is the perfect accompaniment to le Tour. It’s framed around Lance Armstrong’s record-setting (and arguably most dominant) sixth win in 2004, but also includes other notable characters in the 23 day drama. Olympian Tyler Hamilton (and caught doper), former winner (and caught doper) Jan Ullrich and even Pennsylvania Dutch Mennonite-turned-pro cyclist (and alleged doper!) Floyd Landis are among the other pieces in this nearly month long athletic chess match, and the author places each into the context of the race perfectly, allowing the readers to understand the dynamics of stage racing and the tactics that go into winning a race like this. For anyone who ever wondered why you would actually want to give away the leadership of the race or what EPO actually does, 23 Days in July has your answer!

Wilcockson – who’s been a cyclo-journalist for over 40 years – is well-suited to providing insight into the personalities and situations that form the context for this book. Cycling is, if nothing else, exceptionally traditional. The author’s ability to deftly demonstrate how past situations have helped shape modern races is impressive and his pedigree gives the writing real depth and helps set the stage for the overt story of the 2004 Tour.

The book itself is also laid out fantastically. Every day of the race is given its own chapter, concluding with the ‘current’ standings of race leaders and favorites. This is a great help to the new reader and places the individual stages into the context of the whole tour and allows those who’ve never seen a single stage to still feel the excitement and drama inherent to cycling’s biggest race. An appendix with frequently asked questions and a glossary of cycling terms is also a nice touch…