Even non-cycling fans recognize the Tour de France as the sport's biggest annual event. Naturally, the attention of the press and the viewer is focused at the front of the race, where attacks, group sprints and winners are born. In Lanterne Rouge: The Last Man in the Tour de France, Max Leonard directs overdue consideration to a different segment of the Tour, where he finds a less fairytale-like but very sincere story.
Ever since the Tour was founded in 1903, as a struggling newspaper's publicity stunt, someone necessarily has come in last place. The usage of lanterne rouge, or red lantern, is generally accepted as having come from the railroad, where a red lantern lit the last car, letting signalmen know the line behind was clear. Over the last century and more, the lanterne has been variously a joke, a dishonor, an achievement to be sought after and a source of controversy, conflict and myth.
The Tour has always had a high rate of attrition. Many men withdraw from the race over weeks of mountain passes, long days and severe weather. The lanterne may be the man who finishes last--but he finishes, a respectable feat.
Lanterne Rouge is an engaging, exhaustive survey of the last man in the Tour de France, a history, a collection of appealing anecdotes and a psychological consideration of winning and losing. An obvious choice for serious cycling fans, Leonard's study will also please general sports fans, history enthusiasts and those who root for the underdog. --Julia Jenkins, librarian and blogger at pagesofjulia