{"product_id":"9781568589848","title":"The First Tour de France","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe first Tour de France was a far cry from the polished international sporting event we see on television today. Organized by the financially free falling L'Auto magazine, the desperate editors thought that organizing a grand cycling tour was the only thing that could save their publication. But in 1903, cyclists weren't enthusiastic about what was pitched to them as a heroic race through roads more suited to hooves than wheels, with bikes weighing up to forty-four pounds, on a single fixed gear, for three full weeks. Assembling enough riders for the race meant bribing unemployed laborers from the suburbs of Paris, including a butcher, a blacksmith, a chimney sweep, and a wrestler. Through these characters' backstories, Cossins paints a nuanced portraitof France in the early 1900's. The race itself is packed with mishaps and adventure--in part due to the fact that water was scarce at the time, so the men drank wine and beer throughout, often keeling over from their bicycles in a drunken stupor. There was no indication that a ramshackle cycling pack would draw crowds to throng France's rutted roads and cheer the first Tour heroes. But they did, and cycling would never be the same again.--Provided by publisher.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PublicAffairs,U.S.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52385435124023,"sku":"00000_00000_00000_00000","price":216.72,"currency_code":"MYR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0962\/3548\/7543\/files\/9781568589848-1.jpg?v=1783221302","url":"https:\/\/kinokuniya.com.my\/products\/9781568589848","provider":"Books Kinokuniya Malaysia","version":"1.0","type":"link"}