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The Tour Is Won on the Alpe: Alpe d'Huez and the Classic Battles of the Tour de France is a new book by cycling historian Jean-Paul Vespini. Each chapter covers one Alpe d'Huez stage, starting with Fausto Coppi’s victory in 1952. Vespini tells the story of the celebrated climb that so often determines the winner cycling’s biggest prize.

Cycling’s most famous names all appear in the book: Coppi, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Pedro Delgado, Miguel Indurain, Marco Pantani, Greg LeMond and Lance Armstrong. The book is now available in bookstores, bike shops, and online.

Author Jean-Paul Vespini has worked as a journalist for thirty years. He is a regular contributor to the cycling magazines Le Cycle and Cyclisme International. His books include a best-selling biography of controversial French cyclist Richard Virenque, and several cycling reference titles. He has covered the Tour de France since 1990. Translator David V. Herlihy is the author of Bicycle: The History (Yale University Press), and a former contributor to Bicycle Guide.