Cover art for 1923
Published
Bloomsbury, October 2024
ISBN
9781399401586
Format
Softcover, 288 pages
Dimensions
19.8cm × 12.9cm

1923 The Mystery of Lot 212 and a Tour de France Obsession

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WINNER OF THE SPORTS BOOK AWARDS 2024 CYCLING BOOK OF THE YEAR

A WATERSTONES BEST BOOK OF 2023: SPORT

NOMINATED FOR THE WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023

'An absorbing mix of historical sleuthing and travel writing'

The Telegraph

'[a] fascinating and often touching book... Wonderful'

The Times

In the autumn of 2020 Ned Boulting (ITV head cycling commentator and Tour de France obsessive) bought a length of Pathe news film from a London auction house. All he knew was it was film from the Tour de France, a long time ago. Once restored it became clear it was a short sequence of shots from stage 4 of the 1923 Tour de France. No longer than 2.5 minutes long, it featured half a dozen sequences, including a lone rider crossing a bridge.

Ned set about learning everything he could about the sequence - studying each frame, face and building - until he had squeezed the meaning from it. It sets him off in fascinating directions, encompassing travelogue, history, mystery story - to explain, to go deeper into this moment in time, captured on his little film.

Join him as he explores the history of cycling and France just five years after WWI.

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