I recommend the book Slaying the Badger: Greg LeMond, Bernard Hinault and the Greatest Tour de France as your gift to dear old Dad.
Slaying by Richard Moore follows the careers of Bernard Hinault and Greg LeMond as they rose from obscurity to super stardom, with a climactic head-to-head during the 1986 Tour de France.
Frenchman Hinault, known as Le Blaireau — “The Badger” — was a tenacious cyclist who clawed his way to stage race wins through anger and spit. His first win of the major stage race, the 1977 Dauphine, happened after he literally flew over the side of a cliff during a challenging mountain stage. His bike was lost, but Hinault survived by landing in a tree. After climbing away from certain death, he grabbed a spare bike and continued to a stage win and eventual overall win. When striking workers blocked the road during the 1984 Paris-Nice, Hinault famously jumped from his bike and began brawling with the dockworkers.
LeMond, in the meantime, fished, hunted and hiked in the Sierra Nevada mountains, and took up cycling for sport as a way to condition himself for skiing. He signed up to La Vie Claire to support Hinault, but before long it became apparent L’Américain was a strong, competitive cyclist in his own right.
It’s a good book. It’s too late to order it online for Father’s Day, but you can find it at your Local Bike Shops that carry Velonews.
Great gift idea. Too bad I already bought my hubby his gift.
When I worked for a French company where being an American kept me out of the inner circle, I hung two prints: one of Lemond with Hinault and Fignon, whom he served to their advantage, and second of him emerging victorious at the TdF.
When my French co-workers pulled their bullsh*t, I looked at the pictures. It helped.