Take journey through The Tour de France – from chequered beginnings to glory days of rivalries and derring-do, and on to the brave new post-Armstrong world. Along the way, meet the larger-than-life personalities that have characterised the race throughout its history, along with their greatest and lowest moments. Peopled by cheats and charmers, through mudslides and melees, requiring equal measures of strength and sneakiness, the Tour de France is the greatest show on two wheels – and has been for over a century.

Complete with a handy guide to cycling slang so you don't crash-out halfway through your Tour-watching, this is a must-read for any seasoned rouleur or wet-behind-the-ears neo-pro. Covering legendary battles in the mountains to sabotage in the peloton, heart-warming cooperation between rivals to drug-addled accidental deaths, no side of this storied race goes unexplored.

Paul Hansford has been a sports journalist for over 20 years. He is a contributor to most of the major sports magazines in Europe and is the former editor and regular contributor to FourFourTwo Magazine, the largest soccer magazine in Australia.