Twelve years after Tim Moore struggled along the original route of the modern Tour de France, he decides to take on an even more daunting challenge from an era of true, flawless cycling heroes - and discovers the Giro d'Italia 1914, perhaps the most brutal bike race in history. Nonstop stages of 400 kilometers through devastating nighttime storms; relentless acts of sabotage; red wine and raw eggs as rations: Of the 81 racers who rolled out from Milan, only eight made it back. In pursuit of maximum authenticity, the adventurer from England vows to ride the exact route they took, use the same equipment they used, and wear exactly what they wore. So he acquires the wrecked skeleton of a 1914 racing bike, without gears but with rims.