Lanterne Rouge

The Last Man in the Tour de France

By: Max Leonard

Narrated by: Andrew Fallaize

A lively and entertaining history of the riders who have come in last place during the grueling 3,000-mile Tour de France...

Froome, Wiggins, Merckx - 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. 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 accidentally slowed him down, and the rider who was recognized as the most combative despite finishing at the back.

Max Leonard flips the Tour de France on its head and examines what these stories tell us about ourselves, the 99 percent who don’t win the trophy, and forces us to re-examine the meaning of success, failure, and the very nature of sport.

©2019 Max Leonard (P)2019 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

A great cycling History Lesson

As an avid cyclist and one who loves to watch bicycle races, especially the tour, this book was absolutely wonderful. Mr. Leonard did an excellent job of giving the reader the imagery of what the tour is like for non-cyclists and for cyclists. The extensive amount of research he gathered to assemble the book is astounding and a tremendously thorough job he did. I learned things about the tour I never knew. He brings to light in this book things that should never be and things that need to be in the sport of cycling.

I have never thought that there is shame or disgrace in finishing last in the world's greatest cycling event. It is a testament to the willpower of the individual and will-power to not quit, to get to the finish at all costs. These riders who finish last should be given more air time during the tours broadcast and they should be honored for at least finishing.

I also thank Mr. Leonard for NOT leaving out the names of some pro level riders who fell from grace such as Lance Armstrong. When the whole of the cycling world has stricken his name from their history, the fact still remains that he won those races. The bike didn't cross the line by itself and the race is still the toughest event in the world. Cyclists like Armstrong, despite their dubious behavior in the tour and other races, still completed the races in the shortest time, they won. The author was honorable enough to recognize this and still say their names. I applaud you.

A word about the narration. Mr. Fallaize's delivery of the manuscript was pleasant to listen to, clear and the recordings were top notch. I must, however, make the observation that the narrator likely lacked any or very little knowledge of the cycling world. This became obviously clear when he mentioned the names of some cyclists, cycling sponsors, bicycles and other cycling related things, where he got the pronunciation completely wrong. Having listened to many different broadcasts of the tour and other races over the years and heard these names said over and over, hearing these name in cycling shops, at cycling events, the mispronunciations had me rewinding several times after hearing them and saying to myself "Who?" or "What?". A minor infraction, but this is something that should have been caught by someone.

Overall, great book and if you are a mad cyclist like myself, you should listen to this.

Lots of interesting history and stories

Well told. Each Lanterne Rouge is a starting point for an interesting tale. Fun to read while watching one of the Grand Tours.