The KBOO July Bike Show is dedicated to one of the most important and loved sporting events- the Tour de France. Since it was established in 1903, a result of a circulation battle between two rival sports newspapers, it has held a special place in French life and culture, and in lands beyond. Taking place every year since (except during the world wars) this year the Tourstarts on Saturday July 2nd and after riding 3,519 kilometers (2,181.78 miles) cyclists will cross the finish line in Paris, on the Avenue des Champs-Élysées, on Sunday July 24th.
In the first half of the show we will talk with American cyclist Davis Phiney who rode in that monument to human endurance and madness. In the second half our guest will be Associate Professor Christopher S. Thompson, author of The Tour de France: A Cultural History.
Davis Phinney is a former professional bicycle racer who in the 1980s and 90s won, among many races, two Tour de France stages, a United States National Road Race Championship, and a 1984 Olympic Bronze Medal in the Men's 100 km Team Time Trial. Since retiring from racing he has been a journalist and cycling commentator. He also devotes much of his time to the Davis Phinney Foundation, set to research Parkinson, a disease that Davis was diagnosed as having at age 40. His son Taylor is also a champion cyclist.
Christopher S. Thompson is Associate Professor of History at Ball State University. specializing in French history and society. His book The Tour de France: A Cultural History, published by University of California Press, focuses on the race- its colorful cast of riders, its history and its significance-and sets it in the context of French history and society. Currently he is writing the book The Reckoning: Battling over the Legacies of Empire in Contemporary France.