Amsterdam, August 1928. The crowd goes wild as the world's star athletes take off from the starting line for the crowning event of the Olympic Games: the marathon. Few so much as notice the short, slight Algerian runner-a factory worker by day-who wears the French jersey. But that was before a strong wind, cramps, and 42.195 kilometers of ruthless competition combined to produce an astonishing upset...
At the turn of the 20th century, society is in tumult. Anarchist groups have turned from political terrorism to nonviolent revolution, seeking to escape the world's injustice by returning to nature. Against this backdrop of upheaval, Fortuné Henry travels alone to a remote clearing on the edge of the vast Ardennes Forest, there to found his own colony: L'Essai. Many will join him. Some will leave. Others will stay. In colors by turns muted and vibrant, but always sensitively attuned to the setting and character, Nicolas Debon breathes life into the true story of a short-lived utopia.
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. The weather is awful. The routes are perilous. The rules are still a work in progress. Nutrition? Safety? These racers didn't even have derailleurs. They barely had gears. In a genuinely superhuman feat of determination and endurance they rode through literal blood, sweat, mud, snow, starvation, tears, and utter despair to make the Tour de France what it is today: a contest of colossi, a clash of titans, a tour... of giants.
