Slaying the badger

Greg LeMond, 'L'Americain': fresh-faced, prodigious newcomer. This is supposed to be his year. Bernard Hinault, 'The Badger': aggressive, headstrong, five-time winner of the Tour. He has pledged his unwavering support to his team mate, LeMond. The team is everything in cycling, so the world watches, stunned, as LeMond and Hinault's explosive rivalry plays out over three high-octane weeks. "Slaying the Badger" relives the adrenaline and agony as LeMond battles to become the first American to win the Tour, with the Badger relentlessly on the attack. This title includes brand new material for the paperback.

Greg LeMond , a fresh-faced and mercurial youngster, dubbed 'L'Américain', was a naïve Tour newbie. Frenchman Bernard 'The Badger' Hinault was five times winner and as tough as old boots.

Though polar opposites, they were both fiercely competitive, both equally brilliant. So why was the world shocked that they were at each other's throats? They were meant to be team-mates.

Their explosive rivalry broke every rule in the book. No one wins the Tour single-handed; out there your team counts for everything. After his previous year's win Hinault had pledged his absolute support for LeMond, but as 1986 the Tour circled France, his constant attacks on his team-mate seemed like cold-blooded sabotage.

Why was Hinault putting LeMond in jeopardy? Would he crack under the pressure? Something sinister was going on, but no one knew quite what.

Slaying the Badger relives the adrenaline, the agony, the camaraderie, the betrayals, and the pure exhilaration of that epic year, as the biggest conundrum of Tour history is finally laid bare.