If you complete a bike race, overcoming mountain ranges and merciless weather conditions while enduring physical and psychological agony, in the slowest time, should you be branded the loser? This title flips the Tour de France on its head and tells the forgotten, often inspirational and occasionally absurd stories of the last-placed rider.

lanterne rouge (French

noun): The competitor who finishes last in the Tour de France

Froome, Wiggins, Merckx – we know the winners of the Tour de France, but what about the men who finish last?

Lanterne Rouge tells the forgotten, often inspirational and occasionally absurd stories of the last-placed rider. We learn of stage winners and former yellow jerseys who tasted life at the other end of the bunch; the breakaway leader who stopped for a bottle of wine and then took a wrong turn; the doper whose drug cocktail accidently slowed him down and the rider who was recognised as the most combative despite finishing at the back.

Flipping the Tour de France on its head and examines what these stories tell us about ourselves, the 99% who don’t win the trophy, Lantern Rouge forces us to re-examine the meaning of success, failure and the very nature of sport.

‘A lively account of largely forgotten men... It’s not easy to come up with an original angle on Le Tour, but with this rear view Leonard has managed the feat in style’ Independent on Sunday