Sex, Lies and Handlebar Tape

Author:

By Paul Howard

Format:

Hardback

Availability:

In print, usually dispatched within 3-4 days.

Price:

£17.99 £15.29 (Save 15%)

Tagged with:

Cycling, Biography, Jacques Anquetil, Tour de France

Member Reviews

• Login or join us to post the first review!
• Reviewed by Liam Doyle in our weblog.

You Can

• Send to a friend
• Contact us about this item

Further Details

• Published: 3rd Apr 2008
• ISBN: 1845963016
• Pages: 336
• Size: 241mm x 162mm

From the Publisher:

"Sex, Lies and Handlebar Tape" is an astonishing biography of French cycling star Jacques Anquetil that pieces together, for the first time since his death in 1987, the story of his extraordinary life.

On its own, Anquetil's list of 'firsts' makes him worthy of a place in the cycling pantheon: he was the first man to win the Tour de France five times; the first to win all three grand tours (the Tour de France, Vuelta a Espana and Giro d'Italia); and the first to win both the Tour and Vuelta in the same year.

As well as dealing with Anquetil's considerable achievements as a cyclist, this book also explores his complex, unconventional and shocking private life. Among the many revelations, we learn how he seduced his doctor's wife; how he acted as stepfather to her children before asking his stepdaughter to bear him a child; how, after his blood-daughter was born, he maintained a menage a trois with his wife and stepdaughter for several years in the same house until the 'family' eventually fell apart; and how, in a bid to inspire jealousy in his two former lovers and encourage their return, he seduced his stepson's ex-wife and had a child with her.

Containing exclusive contributions from Anquetil's family, friends, teammates and rivals, "Sex, Lies and Handlebar Tape" unveils the real truth about one of cycling's great legends.