The year 1910 marks the first time the Tour de France, only seven years young,will include a section through the high mountain passes of the Pyrenees. Theweather is awful. The routes are perilous. The rules are still a work inprogress. Nutrition? Safety? These racers didn't even have derailleurs. Theybarely had gears. In a genuinely superhuman feat of determination andendurance they rode through literal blood, sweat, mud, snow, starvation,tears, and utter despair to make the Tour de France what it is today: acontest of colossi, a clash of titans, a tour... of giants.