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Slaying the Badger: Greg LeMond, Bernard Hinault, and the Greatest Tour de France Kindle Edition

by Moore Richard (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,244 ratings
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Bernard Hinault is "Le Blaireau," the Badger. Tough as old boots, he is the old warrior of the French peloton, as revered as he is feared for his ferocious attacks. He has won 5 Tours de France, marking his name into the history books as a member of cycling's most exclusive club. Yet as the 1986 Tour de France ascends into the mountains, a boyish and friendly young American named Greg LeMond threatens the Badger--and France's entire cycling heritage. The stakes are high. Winning for Hinault means capping his long cycling career by becoming the first man to win the Tour six times. For LeMond, a win will bring America its first Tour de France victory. So why does their rivalry shock the world? LeMond and Hinault ride for the same team. Asked by a reporter why he attacked his own teammate, the Badger replies, "Because I felt like it." and "If he doesn't buckle, that means he's a champion and deserves to win the race. I did it for his own good." LeMond becomes paranoid, taking other riders' feed bags in the feed zone and blaming crashes on sabotage. Through it all, with the help of his American teammate Andy Hampsten, LeMond rides like a champion and becomes the first American to win the Tour de France. His win signals the passing of cycling's last hide-bound generation and the birth of a new breed of riders. In Slaying the Badger, award-winning author Richard Moore traces each story line to its source through innumerable interviews--not only with LeMond and Hinault in their own homes but also with teammates, rivals, race directors, journalists, sponsors, and promoters. Told from these many perspectives, the alliances, tirades, and broken promises divulged in Slaying the Badger build to the stunning climax of the 1986 Tour de France. Slaying the Badger is an incomparably detailed and highly revealing tale of cycling's most extraordinary rivalry.
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  1. Print length
    422 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    VeloPress Books
  5. Publication date
    June 11, 2012
  6. File size
    12857 KB
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"[Slaying the Badger is] a gripping narrative of this psychological and physical three-week war." -- Wall Street Journal

"Rich in drama and emotion. As racing books go, Moore's book just might be the greatest ever." -- Outside magazine

"From the opening pages, this is a book that grips. Combining great insight, interviews and anecdotes with wonderfully vivid writing, it is thoroughly researched and well written." -- Scotland on Sunday

"[Slaying the Badger offers] intriguing insight into one of professional cycling's greatest rivalries…Where Slaying the Badger succeeds is in making such a well-known story so readable." -- BikeRadar.com

"Richard Moore's excellent new book Slaying the Badger reexamines the mythology of this great race, attempting to shed new light on the motivations of these two great riders and what really happened on the roads of France in the summer of '86. What helps set Moore's book apart is the array of characters he brings to the story...A thrilling read." -- Red Kite Prayer

"[Moore assembles] a stellar cast of interviewees, about twenty in all…The stars are, inevitably, Hinault and LeMond themselves, both with their own memories of what did and did not happen. But they're almost outshone by three of the supporting cast…For those three interviews alone, Slaying the Badger is worth reading." -- Podium Café

"Both men invite Moore into their homes: a privilege that clearly took some badger-like tenacity to secure. But it was worth the effort as Moore gains fresh insight into the rivalry." -- East Anglian Daily Times

"Captivating... Slaying the Badger is a mixture of clear-eyed journalistic analysis and unashamed nostalgia." -- The Times Literary Supplement

"Masterly, relevant and intriguing." -- Washingmachinepost.net

"Moore entertainingly unravels the complexities of the relationships within the peloton." -- Guardian

From the Back Cover

Tour de France, 1986: The battle lines are drawn. America's hope, Greg LeMond, fights to dethrone "the Badger," French hero Bernard Hinault.

Former world champion LeMond is gunning for his first Tour victory. Hinault is clawing his way toward a record-breaking sixth.

LeMond, mercurial and raw, struggles for recognition. Hinault, fiercely combative and relentlessly aggressive, wants to go out on top.

On his side, LeMond has two team allies. But Hinault has five.

And there's one other problem: They're on the same team.

Their explosive rivalry burned the rule book, shredded friendships, shattered careers, and destroyed convention. It also led to the greatest Tour de France ever raced, an epic, chaotic, confounding, and ultimately exhilarating war of pure adrenaline, cold-blooded calculation, and extraordinary athleticism.

Heroism, treachery, spectacle, controversy, betrayal: In detail and emotion, Richard Moore brilliantly reconstructs the mind-boggling story of the 1986 Tour de France, the greatest race of them all.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B008CH784O
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ VeloPress Books (June 11, 2012)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ June 11, 2012
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 12857 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 422 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,244 ratings

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  1. Richard Moore

    Richard Moore

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  2. Richard Moore

    Richard Moore

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    Richard Moore (www.richardmoore.co) is a journalist and author. His first book, In Search of Robert Millar (HarperSport), won Best Biography at the 2008 British Sports Book Awards. His second book, Heroes, Villains & Velodromes (HarperSport), was long-listed for the 2008 William Hill Sports Book of the Year.

    He is also the author of Slaying the Badger: LeMond, Hinault and the Greatest Ever Tour de France (Yellow Jersey, May 2011), and Sky's the Limit: British Cycling's Quest to Conquer the Tour de France (HarperSport, June 2011).

    Slaying the Badger is published in the US by Velo Press on May 1, 2012.

    The Dirtiest Race in History: Ben Johnson, Carl Lewis and the Seoul Olympic 100m final is published by Wisden Sports Writing in the UK on June 7, 2012, and in the US by A&C Black on September 4, 2012.

    He writes on sport, specialising in cycling, and is a regular contributor to the Guardian, Sky Sports, the Scotsman and Procycling magazine.

    He is also a former racing cyclist who represented Scotland at the 1998 Commonwealth Games and Great Britain at the 1998 Tour de Langkawi.

    www.richardmoore.co

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Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
1,244 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Hank Rearden
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic! Bravo! Bravo!
Reviewed in the United States on June 7, 2012
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Greg LeMond and my brother inspired me to start riding and racing. Back in the day if we wanted detailed info about races we had to wait for the next issue of Velo News or Winning magazine. Then CBS or one of the networks started covering the Tour de France on Sundays. We loved the coverage even though it only scratched the surface of the drama that is professional bicycle racing.

This is a great book. A great read about really what was the pivotal point in pro cycling in the modern era. Hinault represented the "old guard" of cycling. A figure so prominent an dominating that he was in fact the "patron of the peleton". Riders were in awe of him and often outright feared him. Some loved him, some hated him. LeMond represented the American invasion into one of the holy of holy European sports. Even though Jock Boyer had been there for years he wasn't a talent like LeMond. I always admired LeMond because he respected the sport and the traditions of sport. The 1980's to me represents the end of the "honest" cycling era. Sure there were doping issues during the 60's 70's and 80's (Delgado in '88) etc... But EPO really changed the sport and has ruined cycling IMO. I digress.

If you are a fan of bicycle racing and especially a fan of the Hinault, Fignon, LeMond, Roche, Kelly era of the 1980's this is a must read book. Moore goes way out of his way to write a fair and balanced book on what was, is, to many of us one of the greatest and most dramatic Tour de France races ever. Because of technology, sophisticated doping, and the money now involved in cycling racing like this no longer happens today. Cycling has become a sport of specialists and is orchestrated to the minute detail. Love him or hate him Hinault raced like few have after him. Panache is the perfect word to describe his "style". While I land squarely on the side of LeMond and how he carried himself professionally during his career and after. The Badger certainly added spice and character to his era of domination.

Buy, borrow, or even steal this book. It is that good.
28 people found this helpful
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Jason V. Kilmer
4.0 out of 5 stars Insightful account of High Cycling Drama
Reviewed in the United States on July 21, 2017
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I am not a lifelong cycling fan, having grown to follow it closely only after my own running career ended with a surgery and I needed an alternative outlet for fitness training and competition. This book provided me just enough backstory on the old norms and quirks of cycling history to help me place 1986 Tour into context. I came into reading this book with no opinion about which athlete was greater or deserving of Tour victory in 1986.

The book satisfied my interest, entertained, informed, and was well-written. The author remained impartial and let the colorful characters of the era tell their story. The book was less a history of what happened and more like laying out the evidence for the reader to be judge and jury as to whether Hinault was in the wrong.

Best book on cycling I've read yet, and if you follow the Tour each year, you'll enjoy this book. I learned things about the sport that I never knew, and in still deciding if those insider details make me like the pro sport more or less. That's what makes the book entertaining: it forces you to decide in your own mind whether Each character is villain or hero, in the context of their times.
4 people found this helpful
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Brian W.
5.0 out of 5 stars Very enjoyable.
Reviewed in the United States on January 26, 2015
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Author does a great job through interviews with the main players to give the reader a good picture of what went on behind the scenes of the 1986 TDF. Both Lemond and Hinault were both in difficult positions. Hinault the defending champion on his way out of a sport he had dominated since 1978. Lemond his up and coming replacement sworn to the code of ethics to not attack his team mate Hinault after he took the Yellow jersey. Had Greg been more aggressive and took the jersey first they may not have ended up in the predicament in the first place. What did Greg think. That Hinault was just going to giver him the jersey?. A good argument can be made that Lemonds win in 86 would not have meant as much if Hinault just sat up. Especially since Fignon was no longer in the race to challenge. With Fignon out of the race the dynamics had changed. By Hinault making it more difficult for Lemond to win it adds to the victory in the end. As his director pointed out. To be worthy of the win Greg needed to attack the best rider. In this case it was his team mate who just so happened to have promised to help him win. Had Fignon been healthy and still in the race I think Hinault would have rode differently. Possibly been more visibly in support of Greg. With Fignon out there really wasn't any other rider capable of challenging for the yellow jersey except Hinault. Overall a good read.
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AV bike-biker
5.0 out of 5 stars The author includes enough about all to give a wonderfully inclusive view of the threads here
Reviewed in the United States on June 1, 2015
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You've heard the stories, you've read the cycle mag versions - this is more, and identifies more nuances. One is still left wondering how much of the issues Greg faced were the result of naivety to the European system versus European antagonism to the American upstart. I'm sure it included both - as well as the simple fact that things are always different behind the facade of any enterprise. The author includes enough about all to give a wonderfully inclusive view of the threads here. You are still left wondering about Hinault - many articles identify him at one extreme or another - but one can still distill here the many facets of a great competitor: the drive, desire and dedication necessary to reach the heights he did - as well as the single-mindedness that can be seen as selfishness. But was it selfishness or the drive of a never-say-die competitor? Are those one and the same? Despite the agreement to assist - was Hinault a champion simply not willing to "give" the promised aid, but rather waiting for the new champ to take that yellow jersey from Hinault's cold, dead hands? This book is about real life and most times there is no simple "resolution" of good versus bad. A great read of two remarkable riders.
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Top reviews from other countries

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SimonJ
5.0 out of 5 stars Classic
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 19, 2023
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Great account. Very amusing as well. Loved it from start to finish. Only thing is all the dropping scandal with Armstrong happened afterwards (LeMond took a lot of flak for being a sceptic and even had to apologize but was ultimately vindicated when it turned out Armstrong and his team were dopers). LeMond was probably one of the greatest ever cyclists as he was clean. Not sure about the Bager but he never tested positive either.
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Sergio Vilariño
5.0 out of 5 stars Tremendo
Reviewed in Spain on June 25, 2019
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Espectacular. Te engancha desde el primer momento. Recomendable complementarlo con el documental homónimo.
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Phillip Patten
5.0 out of 5 stars I watched this develop on TV
Reviewed in Australia on September 2, 2020
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I remember this race (was the first Tour I ever watched - hooked on it ever since. Depending on how you look at things determines your opinion. For me it was the Team Manager really at fault in not being able to effectively manage the top 2 Alphas!!
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Andre
5.0 out of 5 stars O Tour mais psicológico de todos
Reviewed in Brazil on October 7, 2015
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Muito bem escrito. História empolgante sobre um Tour psicológico q envolveu dois grandes do esporte! Os detalhes envolvem o leitor do começo ao fim do livro. Excelente!
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Darren Adam
5.0 out of 5 stars loved it!
Reviewed in Canada on February 22, 2015
Verified Purchase
As a relatively new cycling enthusiast, I felt compelled to gain a better understanding of the history of the sport. And what better place to start than Hinault/Lemond and the 1986 Tour De France! Richard Moore does an outstanding job of taking us into the heads and hearts of these two greats of the sport. Terrific read!
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