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Vuelta Skelter

Riding the Remarkable 1941 Tour of Spain

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Vuelta Skelter

By: Tim Moore
Narrated by: Tim Moore
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

Tim Moore completes his epic (and ill-advised) trilogy of cycling's Grand Tours.

Julian Berrendero's victory in the 1941 Vuelta a Espana was an extraordinary exercise in sporting redemption: the Spanish cyclist had just spent 18 months in Franco's concentration camps, punishment for expressing Republican sympathies during the civil war. Seventy-nine years later, perennially over-ambitious cyclo-adventurer Tim Moore developed a fascination with Berrendero's story, and having borrowed an old road bike with the great man's name plastered all over it, set off to retrace the 4,409-km route of his 1941 triumph - in the midst of a global pandemic.

What follows is a tale of brutal heat and lonely roads, of glory, humiliation and then a bit more humiliation. Along the way, Tim recounts the civil war's still-vivid tragedies and finds the gregarious but impressively responsible locals torn between welcoming their nation's only foreign visitor and bundling him and his filthy bike into a vat of antiviral gel.

©2021 Tim Moore (P)2021 Penguin Audio Adventurers, Explorers & Survival Cycling Sports Emotionally Gripping Inspiring Funny

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All stars
Most relevant
Loved it. A great mix of history and the diary of a contemporary ride during the Covid crisis. The readers style is a little monotone, but stick with it, it reflects his dead pan humour. Overall 5 star!

Excellent!

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I’ve read a few of Tim Moore’s books but never heard any on audiobook… and I tend to shy away from books read by the author. But this book is fantastic. I was embarrassed to discover how little I knew of Franco’s Spain, or how it overshadows even the modern nation of today. The Vuelta was also one of the Grand Tours that I knew relatively little about. Moore does a great job of informing and educating. He is also superbly entertaining - his very personal narration brings you along on the journey and his Eyore-ish style of narration really gives an insight into what the trip was like for him. Not to mention the weirdness of a major cycle tour in the middle of a pandemic… Covid (or “Rona”) is the unseen but ever present character in this story.

A remarkable ride in every way

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Another Tim Moore classic. Hard rides and hard listening this time but told with great spirit and well worth it . Now we know this champions life

excellent

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It's a little less fun than previous Moore bike escapades...it's written at the height of lockdown and it feels like a lonelier read than others. However, this is more than made up for by the amazing interwoven stories of julian berrendero's cycling exploits and the terrifying brutality of the Spanish civil war. A beautiful book!

Another excellent Tim Moore adventure

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Wonderful multi faceted listen. Cycling, Spain, civil War retelling all interlaced with covid. Brilliant!

Really engaging listen and narration

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