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The End of the Road
- The Festina Affair and the Tour That Almost Wrecked Cycling
- Narrated by: Tim Gerard Reynolds
- Length: 12 hrs and 30 mins
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The End of the Road
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Summary
The Tour de France is always one of the most spectacular and dramatic events in sports. But the 1998 Tour provided drama like no other. As the opening stages in Ireland unfolded, the Festina team's soigneur, Willy Voet, was arrested at the French-Belgian border with a carload of drugs. Raid upon police raid followed, with arrest after arrest hammering the Tour. In protest, there were riders' strikes and go-slows, with several squads withdrawing en masse and one expelled. By the time the Tour reached Paris, just 96 of the 189 starters remained, and of those 189 starters, more than a quarter were later reported to have doped. The 1998 "Tour de Farce's" status as one of the most scandal-struck sporting events in history was confirmed.
Voet's arrest was just the beginning of cycling's biggest mass doping controversy - what became known as the Festina affair. It all but destroyed professional cycling as the credibility of the entire sport was called into question, and the cycling family began to split apart even as, ironically, the 1998 Tour was also one of the best races in years.
The End of the Road is the first book in English to provide in-depth analysis and a colorful evocation of the tumultuous events of the 1998 Tour. Alasdair Fotheringham uncovers how the world's biggest bike race sank into such scandal. He explores its long-term consequences and what, if any, lessons were learned.
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What listeners say about The End of the Road
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- David e.
- 16-11-20
Tidy book.
Dude that's reading it needs to stop trying so hard and just read rather than treating it as an audition for his next acting job. Bit frustrating. Awesome book mind.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mr G.
- 29-03-21
Good book. Didn't enjoy the narration
Good book on the 98 Tour saga. Didn't really enjoy the narrator trying his hand at all manner of different accents. Obviously there were a lot of people to portray so hard to get accents right so why bother with them at all. Good story tho. Enlightening. Hopefully it never happens again.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Dave Phillips
- 04-12-22
Fascinating
A well written and intriguing piece of history, somewhat spoiled by the ott drama and unnecessary accents of the reader.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Dr McKirdy
- 12-05-17
very interesting but very hard going
I've been a big cycling fan since 2011 and before that was interested and aware but wouldn't say I was a big fan, anyway. I had curious about the 1998 Tour and what triggered the Anti-Doping culture (only to be smashed by a certain Texan).
It was a good 'read' and did cover everything but found it jumping around a bit, I think this is because a lot of the people weren't people I knew.
It was interesting so don't let me put you off but be prepared for a heavy 'read'.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Jamie Gordon
- 23-08-20
Awful narration
Unfortunately the poor narration ruins what is actually a very interesting book. I would recommend buying a paper copy instead.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 20-07-21
Awfully narrated
Unfortunately I couldn’t listen to more than an hour of this, the narrators voice was beyond grating 😡☹️
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- craig
- 06-01-21
Hmmm...not sure
Did not enjoy the narration - terrible attempts at accents just put me off.
The story just doesn't seem consistent to me - the main theme being the story of drugs in cycling, dragging out every detail (TOO much trivial detail) and the perpetrators comments just quoted like that's an excuse; and then going off on a tangent to sing the praises of (the undoubtably likeable character) Marco Pantani, as big a drug cheat as anyone - weird!
I really didn't like how the story just used quotes from people who were embroiled in the whole thing, like that was the whole story...just didn't hang well together,
I wouldn't bother with this one.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Alan Buckley
- 30-09-19
Terrible
Barely acceptable book ruined by an utterly terrible reading. Reader makes it sound like a 1950s public service announcement. Couldn’t even finish it.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 24-06-20
A Good topic spoilt by the headmaster
Tim Reynolds narrates like he is the Headmaster chiding his assembly of kids! I'm sure with a better narrator this book would have achieved a 2star, unfortunately, it is long-winded, laborious, and difficult to absorb oneself. Waking up at 2am in the morning not being able to return to sleep, made this book useful returning me back to the land of nod in 10mins!
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- T
- 25-07-17
Bad bad bad!
Less the story of the Festina Affair and more 101 stories and anecdotes from the 1998 tour told in cringe worthy and annoying accents that do nothing to help follow the thread. Fair to say I heard this more than listened to it.
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3 people found this helpful