How did you get your job commentating the Tour de France? Because you sat next to the organiser.

That's a story in itself.

There we go.

I remember saying to Trish a few years in, I was only about 20, 21, I got married.

I wasn't even married when I said to her.

She said, you know, I think when I grow up, I'm going to be the most experienced pensioner in the world.

Because I know something about everything to do with my own battleground, which is cycling and journalism.

have asked

well i guess one thing i wanted to ask you are particularly good obviously the race you know the race incredibly well but one thing i always love listening to you is your knowledge of where the riders are going through the scenery any of the the landmarks that come past is there anything and i know that the tour organizers so help out a little bit with that but your knowledge of france would be would be immense by now anything coming up that you're particularly excited about we should keep an eye out for

Well, just at the moment, we have been racing to one of the most beautiful parts of France.

It's not just about the Alps and the Pyrenees and the five mountain chains, which have a connection with France.

We are in the Ariège, coming away from the Pyrenees.

We're now in the Carrez.

This is a sensationally beautiful area on the banks of the river Dildon.

And many English people buy second homes here, of course.

And I reckon, yeah, the sexist will be the man tomorrow.

There are hundreds of press photographers.

And so we just, I sat down on the box one day and all of a sudden I'm told I'm speaking directly to the studio in London, Channel 4, and we're covering the race from start to finish.

It happened.

There's me, no director, nobody else, just me and the television.

I'm comparatively inexperienced, certainly calling a live race forever and ever.

And then the guy says, don't worry.

He said, I'll tell you what the pictures are when they come up because you won't see them straight away because they're in London, but you are live, so be careful.

Mm.

Um, you're the voice I grew up with, and for a lot of people, you're the people, you're the person that they first fell in love with, with cycling.

It's true.

Um, of course, I didn't set out to become a legend, as they keep telling me I am, bec- uh, I was a, I was a cyclist.

I wasn't as good as you were.

Um, I turned down my pro contract in Belgium, and I had the chance of becoming a journalist.

I took the job, and while I was being a journalist, uh, in Fleet Street, train- being trained, I, uh, was invited to become the organizer of the Tour of Britain milk race, which was a huge race at the time.

Biggest amateur race in the world, in fact.

Mm.