Our favorite books to read during the Tour de France

The Tour de France has been around for over a century, with the first edition taking place in July 1903. The race has been run nearly every year since, pausing only for the two world wars.

The Tour was created by an enterprising French journalist who wanted to sell more newspapers. Henri Desgrange surely had no idea his little bicycle race would evolve into the world's largest annual sporting event, today watched by millions along the roadside and hundreds of millions more on TV.

With all the history come many excellent books to sink into. Here are our favorites - some new, some old, all worth reading.