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When the apoplexy I suffered reading the introduction subsided, I read about the social program of the race's organizer, Henri Desgrange. This enterprising journalist, publisher, and race promoter founded the Tour and presented it as the solution to France's perceived problems of declining birthrate and softening masculinity. The Tour, he said, would showcase virile men performing great feats. Men properly admired by virtuous and beautiful women. What he got was mechanics and shopkeepers willing to suffer and risk injury for the chance of making a year's salary in three grueling weeks. Thompson carefully chronicles the salaries made by pipe fitters, carpenters, and factory workers to show why these men would be motivated to ride. Surely money motivated many riders, but most men who race, or compete in any sport, will strive to win whether the prize is grand or trivial. We do not hear from racers who simply want to be known as better, faster, stronger than—everyone, someone, anyone. Mastery as motivation certainly says something about a culture.

After reading this book I thought it perfectly appropriate that Americans have come to dominate professional cycling in the new millennium. This race may circle France, but from the first Tour in 1903, it has followed a very American sporting model—the promoter, not tradition, sets the rules and changes them to increase competitiveness and attract more sponsor money. Desgrange went against the racing model of what are now called the Classic races and changed the route of the Tour every year. Why? More potential sponsors, more press coverage. The race circles the country each year but passes through different places, giving thousands of towns, cities, and hamlets the opportunity to be part of the event. In addition to changing the route, Desgrange changed the scoring of the race from time to points and then back again to make it more competitive.

He also spurned technical innovation. Although gear changing was a French invention, the derailleur was not allowed in the Tour until 1937, nearly half a century after it was invented. Riders were limited to two gears, one on each side of the wheel, and they had to remove the wheel to change gears. Desgrange kept new technology out of the Tour to show that his racers were tough and self-reliant.

Desgrange also invented the Caravan Publicitaire, a parade of vehicles that moved with the Tour promoting sponsors' products. He imposed fines on Tour riders for foul language; for fighting with officials, each other, and even spectators; for being shabbily dressed on or off the bike; and even for public urination. In other words, the fines punished coarse behavior as much as or more than competitive infractions.

Thompson shows the reader an innovation in sport. The Tour de France, unlike the tradition-bound sports we associate with Europe, changes rules in the commercially influenced American model. Soccer (football) plays two sponsor-unfriendly, 45-minute halves. In a normal European motor race, the leader at the end of lap one is the winner of the race. But from 1903 onward, the Tour has changed rules, routes, and regulations to keep it the biggest, richest most coveted event in professional cycling. It has also served as a capitalist beacon, lighting the path which the NFL, NBA, NHL, and NASCAR would eventually follow.

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August (Web-only) 2006, Vol. 50