[CR]Sweat of the Gods

I received my copy of Benjo Maso's "The Sweat of the Gods" Friday. I ordered it from Prendas Ciclismo in the UK and received it in 7 days.

The book is soft cover, 15 cm x 21 cm (6" x 8-1/2"), 165 pages, and translated into English by Michiel Horn. Benjo Maso is a Dutch sociologist.

Scanning the pages, he's included the first race in Paris in 1868, through 140 years to the Tour de France performances of Lance Armstrong. Here and there I see mention of Indurain, Anquetil, Lemond & Boyer, Coppi & Bartali, the brothers Pélissier, Desgrange, l'Auto, l'Equip, Van Hauwaert, Gimondi, television broadcasts of the early 1950s, Zoetemelk, Van Impe... lots of material to cover.

Looks like he is dealing with the complex relationship among the organizers, the sponsors, and the riders. Their interests are not always the same, so there are three lines to follow.

I'm looking forward to digging-in in a few nights. I'll write an update in a couple of weeks.

If you want your own copy, I highly recommend Prendas Ciclismo:

http://www.prendas.co.uk

Aldo Ross
Middletown, Ohio