Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
 Coffee table rather than useful reference August 12, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Best things about this book are the page size (large), the typographic layout (stylish yet well-ordered) and that it is printed in full colour throughout, unlike cycling books by cash-strapped smaller publishers.
As mentioned, the text layout is well structured, with each climb having an introductory side-column of information listing the perceived relative difficulty, length, average gradients, etc, in addition to the main text that deals with the description and Tour history aspects.
However it was a fatal mistake by the publisher and/or author to not include proper maps and gradient profiles. There's a kind of whispy-looking doodle of a map for each climb, placed in the margins of the pages, but the twistiness of a route is less important to riders hauling their weight uphill than knowing more precisely how steep it is going to be at various points and where the changes of gradient pitch will occur. By omitting the potentially useful diagrams that are promised in the sales blurb (see the Product Description) the book has been relegated to the level of a mere coffee table book, rather than the useful reference tool that it could have been. It should have been both really.
I'll skip the copy-editing deficiencies, except to say that these are embarrassing evidence of insufficient time being allowed for proof-reading and corrections.
A lesser complaint is the quality of some of the photographs, which sometimes look over-exposed. In some cases the images look like they have been scanned from low budget prints. I know it can be difficult to photograph a scene in harsh bright summer sunlight on these mountains, where there are extremes of light and shade, but I wish a bit of time was spent doing some digital correction work to hide the technical defects. Generally, I think the layout of the photos nicely integrates them with the text, although the chapter opener spreads are a little bit bland compared to the other pages. Perhaps the openers could have been made more useful by also including, as another reviewer suggests, some kind of regional map marking the relative locations of the climbs included in the chapter.
There are a number of similar books to this one published in France. Most don't have such beautiful typography as Tour Climbs, but they all have more useful diagrammatic information. Of them, the book 'Grands cols - les montagnes du tour de France a velo' (by Nicolas Moreau-Delaquis) is the one closest in form to Sidwells' book, yet it also manages to include full page colour maps and gradient cross-sections as part of the package.
So, in other words, despite Tour Climbs' good points, the ultimate guide in English has yet to be produced. Hopefully, if Collins ever correct the text for a future edition they will also give us some locational maps and include an appendix section of gradient profiles - then we can all award it the 5 star reviews that a book like this ought to have.
 A big disappointment July 29, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Being a cycle racing fan, I was really looking forward to a 'complete guide' to all of the climbs used in the tdf. Sadly this book does not deliver on this claim. The previous reviews have mentioned the many pitfalls of the book - poor grammar and spelling (spelling Millar with an e is unforgiveable), useless maps, uninspiring photos and limited information.
Perhaps the author bit off more than he could chew with this one. I was hoping for more information: climb profiles, fastest ascent by a tour rider, lists of tour riders gaining points on the climbs in each tour (for the anorak in me) to name but a few.
Oh, and there's no mention of climbing the Col d'Aubisque from Laruns (note spelling - it's not Larruns).
 Christmas sorted! July 23, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is the ideal present for all those armchair cyclists out there. Its a been a brilliant reference book during the TDF, detailing all the climbs the TDF has ever been over. As well as all the facts and figures about the individual climbs it provides details of the historic battles that have taken place on the slopes. Despite the errors highlighted by previous reviewers it wins the polka dot jersey for me. It`s a brilliant coffee table book to dip in and out of and use as a reference guide and to while away those long winter nights when the sunshine of the TDF seems so far away. This is the ideal Christmas present for any cycling fanatic.
Stumbling in the foothills June 26, 2008
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
The previous four reviwers have picked up about 20 major deficiencies and it's hard to contest any of them. Many sentences have to be re-read to extract the meaning intended - can the editor be blamed for all this? The squiggle "maps", the lack of profile and any aids to locate the climbs really mitigate against the usefulness of such a book. Average and maximum gradient do not characterise a climb. The Tour system of categories could have easily been provided. The photos are mostly good but the summits of climbs don't feature. Signs, buildings, plaques reveal much and is what you want to see when you get to the top. For the record the highest road in Europe (page 230) is "a road in Spain's Sierra Nevada", more specifically Pico Valeta. Height of at least 3402m (Michelin map of Spain) makes the book in error by 1000ft. Finally the sleave suggests that the book will help you to climb the roads yourself and fit them into itineraries. I feel this is outside the scope of a coffee table book, but any case there is not much help offered. Weather trends, best maps, support, the bike itself, feeding stations, escape routes are more useful than dangerous romantic notions.
The climb star ratings (where given) and index are both well done and useful.
No profiles, v.poor maps, v. poor tour history June 17, 2008
13 out of 14 found this review helpful
Hmmmmm!!! Yes this book does list all of the Tour climbs and gives some nice anecdotes on each ones history and some nice pictures but it should have been so, so much more.
The "maps" advertised on the back of the book are no more than simple diagrams, the history of the climb is almost non-existent and worst of all there are no climb profiles!!
Bring out a book with decent maps, profiles, a list of stages/tours they featured in, their category and who won on them (mountain top finishes) and perhaps then you'd have a book work shelling 25 out for - disappointing....
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