The ghostly newsreel footage of Simpson zig-zaging close to the summit of the Ventoux on that fateful July day in 1967 haunt many a cyclist and the memorial has become as much a place of worship as the grave of Jim Morrison in Paris. Simpson's story has a great allure, plucky but flawed Brit battling against the odds in an ultimately tragic endeavor.

Fotheringham's book does much to capture the essence of the man but finally it seems too distant. Although well researched, and who better to do the job, there are ultimately not enough revelations to satisfy. Short of pulling a smoking gun out of the archives of the Avignon prefecture the book isn't going to have the shocking general impact of Sophie Anquetil's recently published biography of her father Jacques (Pour l'amour de Jacques, ISBN:2246669618), a rival of Simpson's.

A couple of points which Fotheringham seemed to miss. He discusses (and rejects) the possibility that transporting Simpson in the helicopter killed him as he was lifted high into the air. The incident occured at around 2000 meters, not a great height and it is doubtful if the helicoper gained much more height transporting Simpson. It is standard practise for mountain rescues to keep close to the ground and lose height and the newsreel seems to show the helicopter doing exactly this. It also appears in one of the photos in the book that Simpson's right thigh is coated in Iodine possibly after an injection of what... adrenalin? It would have been a scoop if Fotheringham had uncovered the medical report detailing the treatment.

As a Simpson fan I gave the book 4/5 but someone not familiar with the story may find the book less satisfying. Ultimately it seems that Simpson will remain the ghost on the grainy newsreel.


Tom Simpson   September 25, 2003
 1 out of 1 found this review helpful

Very very good if a little sad. After reading it you get that feeling I must go to the Ventoux.


Adequate   June 20, 2003
 2 out of 4 found this review helpful

I'd have to disagree with the cover blurb 'the best cycling biography ever written'. Sub-titled 'In search of Tom Simpson' it does a good job of bringing Tom Simpson to life and revealing the world of 'driven' sportsmen. However, it could probably lose about 30-40 pages of filler and could do with a better editor. Also it's use of repetition e.g. the Festina scandal of 1988, is really annoying. Overall, I enjoyed it but feel it could have been better.