Book description
In 1987, a British-based team competed in the Tour de France for the
first time in almost two decades. The ANC-Halfords squad were
decimated by the punishing pace, the manager walked out during one of
the Alpine stages, five of the nine riders and some of the staff never
made it to Paris, and most of the personnel went unpaid. ANC were the
definitive innocents abroad and it became one of the great sporting
misadventures of all time.
If that wasn't bad enough for ANC, a tabloid journalist travelled
with them for the full three weeks. Jeff Connor's account of the Tour,
Wide-Eyed and Legless, became a classic and was later voted
number one in Cycle Sport's list of the best cycling books of
all time.
Now, 25 years on, Connor revisits the scene of the crime, tracks
down the participants and discovers exactly how their fortunes were
changed, some irrevocably, by the '87 Tour. Field of Fire tells
a moving tale of sporting disillusionment, heartbreak, anger - and humour.
Jeff Connor's other books include
Wide-Eyed and Legless
, and the definitive story of the Busby Babes,
The Lost Babes
. He lives in Lancashire.
