-- Reviews by the Famous and well Known
Reporting the Tour de France each July has been a way of life for me since 1973. It is, without doubt, the most fascinating sporting event of any year and, as you will discover in the excellent little book, it is an occasion which has developed a long history.
I am surprised it has taken so long before someone has produced a Quiz Book on La Grande Boucle, but now you have the chance to test your knowledge of the greatest bicycle race on earth. John White has spent many long hours researching this book, discovering little known facts and, in a fun way, now brings a transparency to the event many will never has seen before.
Over the thirty-three years I have been covering the race for both newspapers and television, there have been many changes. Henri Desgrange, the founder of the race when it was first held in 1903, could never have foreseen how popular the event would become in 2005.
Even in 1904 he was considering cancelling it because of bribery and sabotage, but it survived and now a cast of 4000, move with the race every day.
Well done, John, and you might like to know that Paul Sherwen and I will, in 2005, have covered 60 Tours between us. Now where exactly is that question in the book!
Phil Liggett MBE, Sports Journalist and Tour de France Commentator - (Written the Foreword)
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A Scary thought that Phil Liggett and I have covered 60 Tours between us (33 for him and 27 for me)!
The things that I love about commentating at the Tour is the little anecdotes and pieces of history that we have to dig up every year- that's what a lot of people tell me they find so fascinating.
Now that this quiz book has come out Phil & I will really have to be on our toes as a lot more people will have access to the quirky little stories and facts about the “greatest bike race in the World.” Since I first rode the Tour in 1978 I have seen the race develop so much recently under the guidance of Jean Marie Leblanc who has been responsible for growing the race into what it is today but retaining it’s much of it’s folklore.
I hope you enjoy the book as much as I did and find a few interesting questions to catch out you friends. You might just get a chance to find out how far afield the race is followed- even in Africa they know the “The Tour de France”. By the way, which King of the mountains winner by the way was born in Africa?
Answer- Richard Virenque was born in Casablanca!!
Paul Sherwen, Former Professional Racing Cyclist - (Written the Foreword)
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John's Book is a wonderful idea and packed full of interesting facts and trivia about the greatest cycle race in the world. I can recommend it to all fans of the Tour de France.
Hennie Kuiper, Tour de France Runner-Up (1977 & 1980)
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This quiz book is full of meaty tidbits sure to please every diehard Tour de France fan.
Chris Carmichael (Personal Coach to Lance Armstrong, 7 times winner of the Tour de France)
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At last a Quiz Book about the Tour de France. This Book has it all and covers the Tour from 1903 to Lance's 6th consecutive win in 2004. A must for all cycling fans.
Scott Hawthorn, Tour de Gastown (Chairman)
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Every time you open this book, you’ll gain an incredible amount of knowledge about the sport of cycling.
Alex Stieda, 2005 Tour de France Experience
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I thought I knew everything about the Tour de France - but then I read this quiz book and realised there is so much more to learn.
Graham Watson, Tour de France Photographer
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This is a fantastic book that covers everything there is to know about Le Tour. My wife and I spent hour after hour testing each other and our friends with the questions.
Cor Vos, Tour de France Photographer
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As the charitable arm of CTC – the UK’s national cyclists’ organisation the CTC Charitable Trust carries out invaluable work to make cycling safe, welcoming and enjoyable for all. In particular it is concerned with training young cyclists to use the roads for school and sport, and with improving conditions for all cyclists. The trust is delighted with the support of the Tour de France Quiz book, cyclists can enjoy their sport off the bike and make a contribution to its future at the same time. Thank you.
Kevin Mayne, CTC - The UK's National Cyclists' Organisation (Director)
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This Book is a super reference type quiz book about Le Tour. I was impressed with just how much John was able to include - the winners, runners-up, stages, jerseys, history and there is even a section about Spanish Riders. I really enjoyed testing my own knowledge of a race I won and participated in many times. I hope you enjoy this Book as much as I did.
Pedro Delgado, 1988 Winner of the Tour de France
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-- Newspaper and Website Reviews
For trivia lovers!
www.rohdesign.com
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John White has clearly been thorough with his new book. It holds questions for both newcomers to the Tour de France circus and lifetime keen admirers, since the days of Fausto Coppi and Gino Bartali. The Tour de France Quiz Book contains 1250 questions and answers, it also covers all aspects of the greatest bike race in the world. The book is divided in sections, making it easy to choose your favorite topic or topics you would like to investigate further. The Quiz really puts you to the test, which requires you to dig to the bottom of your Tour knowledge to make it through. Example: “In which year did Bjarne Riis make his debut in the Tour de France?” Or, “Which team won the Team Trial in 2000?” Yes, maybe you know these, but what about, “Which British rider won the mountains competition in 1984?” Or, “for how many days did Laurent Jalabert wear the yellow jersey?”
The Tour de France Quiz book, to test yours and others knowledge of the Tour. A perfect tool for a Tour de France evening with you friends. A great way to collect knowledge of the biggest bike race in the world and get a hold of many funny anecdotes.
Also includes prefaces from legendary commentators, Phil Liggett, Paul Sherwen and Dave Duffield.
www.cyclingworld.dk
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THE TOUR DE FRANCE QUIZ BOOK
£8.99
Reviewed by CTC Director Kevin Mayne
Tour de France for train spotters? Or a perfect companion to fill in the time during an eight hour mountain stage on satellite TV? This summer we will all be able to play a form of cycling bingo as we try and spot how many times Messrs Liggett and Duffield test us with questions from the “The Tour de France Quiz book”. Each set of ten questions has a theme, with at least one each for the major stars of recent years and a fiendish collection of “expert” tests at the back. I am an addict of the TV coverage and will happily browse L’Equipe from cover to cover when I am in France, but who won the combativity award in 1985 certainly escapes me, perhaps I will be better off trying to remember the last Dutchman to win?*
There is no doubt that John White is a kindred spirit with the armchair viewer of the world’s greatest cycle race and this is a thoroughly enjoyable challenge for the fan, it would make a great gift. Supplementing the 126 pages of themed questions are appendices of favourite quotes from CTC President Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen, including the ones they would rather forget. The book is supported by Phil and £1 from each copy sold is to go to his nominated charity – the CTC Charitable Trust.
* Answers: Maarten Ducrot and Joop Zoetemelk respectively.
Info: 168pp, paperback, published by Apex Publishing Ltd, ISBN 1904444350, http://www.apexpublishing.co.uk Available from CTC Shop, 0870 873 0069, http://www.ctcshop.com
Cycle Magazine
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Review: The Tour de France Quiz Book (John DT White)
Title: The Tour de France Quiz Book
Author: John DT White
Publisher: Apex Publishing Ltd
ISBN: 1-904444-35-0
Sooner or later, every true cycling lover will end up in a heated debate about forgotten moments in even more forgotten tours. A calm conversation on who won the Tour de France in 1972, or who took the Green Jersey in 1997, could easily turn into a, at least temporarily, damaged friendship.
Is there nothing that could avoid these small dramas? Well, there is now! John DT White has dedicated many of his hours to compiling an amount of questions, high enough to keep you and your friends busy for many long nights.
'The Tour de France Quiz Book' has been read and praised by former cyclists like 1988 Tour winner Pedro Delgado, as well as 1977 and 1980 runner-up Hennie Kuiper. As if this is not enough, forewords were added by Tour reporters Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen, who together are responsible for covering 60 editions of the French race.
If you take a quick look at the last page of questions, you will notice that there are no less than 1250 questions to crush your brains over. The questions are conveniently devided into categories, which makes it a lot easier to test your, or someone else's knowledge on a specific topic.
The book does not focus on a certain cycling nation, or a certain rider: As a reader, unless you are from an absolutely undiscovered cycling nation such as Lesotho or the Solomon Islands, you will always be able to find some interesting questions on riders from your home country.
Possibly the best part of this book is that it also contains a section with all 1250 answers, because you will soon notice that nobody is able to answer all questions correctly, without quickly checking the answer to see whether you were really right.
Do you think you can? then 'The Tour de France Quiz Book' is a must have to test your knowledge, and to survive those 49 weeks of the year in which you count down the days left till the next Tour.
More information about this book can be found at Apex Publishing Ltd.
www.cyclingpost.com
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The Tour de France Quiz Book by John DT White (Apex)
$TBC £8.99 Think you know everything about the Tour de France, eh? Time to prove it, then, with The Tour de France Quiz Book. With a foreword by Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen, the subsequent chapters about the race’s riders, jerseys, teams from 1903 to Armstrong’s record sixth win last year total 1,250 questions – tough enough to test the most knowledgeable Tour enthusiast. Available from all good book shops.
ProCycling Magazine
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NEW! THE TOUR DE FRANCE QUIZ BOOK By John DT White
Impress and delight your friends with this fun and fascinating compilation of Tour trivia. Sorted by topic, questions cover cycling celebrities, Tour firsts, stage results, Liggetisms and Sherwenisms, sponsorships, rider nationalities, and event chronology. There is no other Tour de France book like it. Complete with "experts only" questions and stunning photo spreads.
Velogear.com - Fall 2005 Catalogue
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Recently had the “Tour de France Quiz Book” by John DT White pop in through my mailslot. A compact piece at 168 pages, it is the perfect reading companion for a warm July afternoon while waiting for the peloton to reel in that doomed breakaway. With more than 1200 questions - and answers - the book compiles more than enough knowledge to challenge even the most sage cycling enthusiast. The questions are grouped by nationality, discipline, eras, winners, runners-up, riders, teams and vary from the fairly easy to the fiendishly difficult (and despite his short Tour history, even Ivan Basso gets mentioned in there). The only downside of the book is the lack of a table of contents for the different quiz sections, which makes it less useful as a reference book than it could have been (as it is, it remains a gold mine, but takes a bit of work to use for this purpose). As a quiz book on the Tour, though, it is outstanding - and if you wish to stump your cycling friends, this book is probably worth getting. Those long mass-sprint stages while we wait for Basso to demolish them in the mountains need not be boring any more…
www.ivanbasso.net
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Tour De France Quiz Book £8.99
The essential tour facts in this fun quiz book.
A great way to test your own or other peoples knowledge of the greatest cycle race on earth with 1250 graded questions. Test your knowledge of riders nationalities courses teams managers stages time trials points years records victories and losses throughout more the 100 years of history. Compiled by John DT White with a foreword by Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen.
www.evanscycles.com
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NEW! THE TOUR DE FRANCE QUIZ BOOK By John DT White
Impress and delight your friends with this fun and fascinating compilation of Tour trivia. Sorted by topic, questions cover cycling celebrities, Tour firsts, stage results, Liggetisms and Sherwenisms, sponsorships, rider nationalities, and event chronology. There is no other Tour de France book like it. Complete with "experts only" questions and stunning photo spreads.
Velogear.com - Holiday 2005 Catalogue
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THE TOUR DE FRANCE QUIZ BOOK
East Anglian Daily Times
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THE TOUR DE FRANCE QUIZ BOOK
Lancashire Telegraph
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THE TOUR DE FRANCE QUIZ BOOK
Romford Recorder
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THE TOUR DE FRANCE QUIZ BOOK
Banbridge Leader
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THE TOUR DE FRANCE QUIZ BOOK
Buckingham and Winslow Advertiser
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THE TOUR DE FRANCE QUIZ BOOK
Selby Times
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THE TOUR DE FRANCE QUIZ BOOK
The Evening Leader
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THE TOUR DE FRANCE QUIZ BOOK
Pocklington Post
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THE TOUR DE FRANCE QUIZ BOOK
Halesowen News
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What fun! Test your knowledge of the Tour from the first "Giants of the Road" riding their single-speed bikes to present racers on their technical two-wheeled marvels. John White's book very nicely covers the well-known as well as the arcane and obscure facts of the Tour de France. Like any sport, the more one knows about the Tour, the more enjoyable it is to watch. This is a great way to increase that enjoyment.
www.torelli.com
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This book is a delightful enterprise, and a rich resource for anyone who loves the drama and spectacle of the world's greatest sports event.
www.companyofcyclists.com
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Not every cyclist can win the Tour but everyone can test themselves against this huge selection of questions about the great race.
www.philoconnor.com
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What a great idea this Book is and I know it will prove to be a very useful travel companion on the long coach journeys whilst following the Tour de France. I can't wait to test those people following Le Tour with me. Best of Luck with the Book John.
www.sportingtours.co.uk
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As someone who loves the history of the Tour, this quiz book was long overdue. I greatly enjoyed it!
www.members.tripod.com/~Todd_Carrier/phil.htm
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A superb idea from John! Enough to whet anyones appetite for Le Tour and bring "The Greatest Race On Earth" a wider accessibility to the general public. Something for everyone in a fun format... GREAT!
www.davelloydcoaching.com
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-- Radio and TV
Title: The Tour De France Quiz Book
Compiled by: John DT White
Forward by: Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen
Review copy given by: Apex Publishing Ltd
Published by: Apex Publishing Ltd
ISBN: 1-904444-35-0
Retail price in UK: £8.99
The Tour De France Quiz Book is the most comprehensive quiz book on the subject, packed full of facts, photos, and questions to test even the most knowledgeable fan.
I am no good at cycling but I did find this book extremely interesting, it is far from dull. Will leave you thinking, ‘I never knew that’.
The Tour De France Quiz Book wins 8 pizza slices.
* Reviewed by Beks Louise
Radio Therapy: Internet Radio for the Disabled
During the 2005 'Tour de France' - the book was discussed on 'Eurosport' and a few questions were read out.
Eurosport
Radio 123 (Netherlands) reviewed 'The Tour de France Quiz Book' compiled by John DT White.
Radio 123 (Netherlands)
The quiz book is about who’s done what on two wheels in the World’s greatest bike race. So, if you want to confound your friends in the club or the pub, here’s one for you: Q: who was it who rode a tricycle to Paris to see Brian Robinson and Tony Hoare finish the Tour de France in 1955?” A: Me, David Duffield! Enjoy the book!
David Duffield, Eurosport (Commentator)