NONFICTION: Following the greatest Tour ever

In 1985, Greg LeMond was a 23-year-old kid with the chance to become the first American to win the Tour de France. Only his teammate, Bernard Hinault, stood in his way. The seasoned Frenchman, who had already won four Tours, convinced the naive LeMond (who now lives in Medina) to work for him with the promise that he would return the favor to help LeMond win the following year. British author Richard Moore recounts the drama of the 1985 and 1986 Tours with all of their intrigue, betrayal and triumph in "Slaying the Badger: Greg LeMond, Bernard Hinault and the Greatest Tour de France" (Velo Press, 284 pages, $18.95).

Moore has fertile territory for his claim that the '86 edition was the greatest Tour. On the eve of the race, French President François Mitterand telephoned Hinault and encouraged the national hero to make the country proud with what would have been an unprecedented sixth Tour victory. LeMond, an American racing on a French team in France during the country's showcase event against a national icon, found himself competing in hostile territory for what he thought was rightly his. Hinault shocked him, thrilled his countrymen and divided his team's loyalties by attacking unexpectedly and wearing the leader's jersey for five days. Betrayed and bewildered, LeMond fought his way back in the Alps to snatch victory from his teammate and become the first American to win the fabled race.

Moore is remarkably equitable in his treatment of the two champions. "Slaying the Badger" enhances LeMond's legacy without diminishing Hinault's. He adds depth to the story with reminiscences from the two protagonists and insights from former teammates and from Cyrille Guimard and Paul Köchli, the coaches who shaped the two riders. The multiple perspectives add dimension and context that enrich a story already familiar to cycling fans. Even Kathy LeMond, Greg's wife, who was there, says she learned details from Moore's account.

That's an added bonus in the American edition of a book originally published last year in the United Kingdom: an afterword that gives reactions like Kathy's to the book and defends the "greatest Tour" claim.

At times, Moore tests the reader's patience when he veers from the narrative to describe himself at work. Descriptions of LeMond's assistant picking up Moore at the airport and Köchli as an old man clearing his throat stall the narrative. They are not nearly as fascinating as what Köchli's lieutenant said on the road up the Col du Tourmalet when LeMond resisted attacking Hinault and clinching the '85 Tour.

But the interruptions are not enough to derail the story, which is the best to date of the greatest Tour de France.

John Rosengren is a writer in Minneapolis.