Riding in the Zone Rouge cover art

Riding in the Zone Rouge

The Tour of the Battlefields 1919 – Cycling's Toughest-Ever Stage Race

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Riding in the Zone Rouge

By: Tom Isitt
Narrated by: Roger Davis
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Summary

 'An evocatively thoughtful wider history of the race, the war and the peace' GUARDIAN

'Occasionally funny and regularly poignant, brilliantly focused in its research . . . His drive, wit and curiosity inform Zone Rouge . . . gently profound and genuinely moving' HERALD

The Circuit des Champs de Bataille (the Tour of the Battlefields) was held in 1919, less than six months after the end of the First World War. It covered 2,000 kilometres and was raced in appalling conditions across the battlefields of the Western Front, otherwise known as the Zone Rouge. The race was so tough that only 21 riders finished, and it was never staged again.

With one of the most demanding routes ever to feature in a bicycle race, and plagued by appalling weather conditions, the Circuit des Champs de Bataille was beyond gruelling, but today its extraordinary story is largely forgotten. Many of the riders came to the event straight from the army and had to ride 18-hour stages through sleet and snow across the battlefields on which they had fought, and lost friends and family, only a few months before. But in addition to the hellish conditions there were moments of high comedy, even farce.

The rediscovered story of the Circuit des Champs de Bataille is an epic tale of human endurance, suffering and triumph over extreme adversity.©2019 Tom Isitt Cycling Military Sports History War Sports
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Critic reviews

'Isitt's subject is "cycling's toughest ever stage race", the little known 1919 Circuit des Champs de Bataille, which traversed the battlefields of Ypres, the Somme and the rest of the Western Front less than six months after the Armistice was signed. Isitt combines the story of the gruelling tour itself with an account of his own cycling trip along the same route nearly a century later to flesh out an evocatively thoughtful wider history of the race, the war and the peace' (Nicholas Wroe)
'Isitt has written his first book and it is worthy and sometimes daft, occasionally funny and regularly poignant, brilliantly focused in its research . . . His drive, wit and curiosity inform Zone Rouge . . . gently profound and genuinely moving when considering the battles, the fallen and the graves that lie over acres of the Zone Rouge and beyond . . . There is the fun and obsession of cycling at the heart of this book. But there is a recognition, too, that its excesses are largely innocuous and can be life-enhancing. Malevolent madness, on the contrary, is the preserve of wider mankind and continues to colour the world with Zones Rouges' (Hugh MacDonald)
'I loved the book, devouring it in a few nights' reading. As with so much to do with the war, the same page can often be funny and poignant. Tom has a good line in amusing stories and his tales of insufficient kit, hideous weather and a malfunctioning bike computer sat-nav raised plenty of chuckles from me . . . He has also cleverly included well researched information on the war's battles, key events and individual's stories. It all blends together perfectly, offering enough "nodding along" moments for current cyclists plus providing plenty of extraordinary information on early cycling, the race and the Western Front. Neither cycling fan or war nerd (and I count myself as falling into both camps) will be disappointed . . . Highly recommended' (Jeremy Banning)
'I was intrigued to read about a new book telling the story of an utterly extraordinary - mad, even - endurance event that I was totally unfamiliar with, which was held in north-eastern France, Luxembourg and Belgium in April and May 1919 . . . fascinating . . . By rescuing this most deranged endurance event of all from oblivion, this book provides a welcome monument to their hardness' (David Owen)
'As a way of remembering the war, the Tour of the Battlefields was perhaps too soon, and too brutal. The folly of it, though, is what attracts us to it today. Through research, imagination and recreation, Tom Isitt brings its story to life and allows us to once more marvel at men who raced their bikes along the Western Front' (Feargal McKay)
All stars
Most relevant
An entertaining book, funny in places, informative, if you like cycling and interested in first world war, you may like to give it a try.

A good listen

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The historical part of the book is fascinating and extraordinary. It brings a brutal and unique event to life vividly with well researched background to the race and astonishing descriptions of the conditions and landscapes the riders valiantly cycled through.
The elements recounting Mr Isitt’s retracing of the route doesn’t have quite the same magic sadly. After a while his constant highlighting of all the difficulties he encountered and the endless “looking at everything so negatively” became a tad wearying... Particularly when one had just read how the original riders had toiled through such extraordinary circumstances.
Mr Isitt doesn’t appear to be a “count your blessings and not your grievances” kind of fellow...

The Historical Parts Justify The Purchase

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...if you are into cycling and WW1 - I am. Found it interesting and informative.

Great listen

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This is a book in 2 parts, one is the recounting (dramatised) of the 1919 race, the other the modern day author's ride on roughly the same route.
The latter is mostly him just moaning about how tough riding is and how shit roads in Europe are which honestly, is pathetic.
The former is actually pretty interesting even for someone like me, who has no interest in war.

6/10

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