frtour1-10, Exercise 2: Testing an anecdote

Model answer (check the details), using Lapize's "Vous êtes des assassins!" (1910):

Evidence that supports it: newspaper reports of the 1910 race, which describe Lapize's exhaustion on the Aubisque and report that he shouted at officials, and later retellings by writers who knew the participants.

Who told it and when: the story appears in the press of the time and in many later books, and the exact words differ between accounts (check). Later retellings, which fix the phrase, are much more numerous than the original reports.

What to want to see: the original newspaper report, preferably from a journalist who was present; independent accounts from other riders or officials; and information about the writer's reputation and sources.

Conclusion: the story is plausible and part of the legend, but the exact words and the circumstances should be treated as reported, not certain. The same method applies to Christophe's forge (Chapter 3).

Care: do not treat repetition as confirmation, since a story repeated in twenty books may come from one source.