Yep … we’re lost. Kelly is old-school, in the best possible sense. He trusts instinct and he’s usually right. It’s been like that his whole career: he can read a race like no other, and he’s still doing it as a commentator. He leaves the flannel to me… and occasionally mops up the mess. It works well.
The camera-bike genius of Patrice Diallo. The ground camera operators have a difficult task: the route is strictly defined and there is real a tension in finding the shots without interfering with the race. While Patrice Diallo doesn’t operate the camera he makes sure the cameramen he pilots get the very best out of every moment. Merci maestro.
This is not a bike rack … Pascal Lino mildly troubled by ‘fans’ in 1997. These days a digital delay is built into TV transmissions, so far fewer bums make it to air; the director has about seven seconds to play with so he can select a less ‘cheeky’ shot. It also means riders’ blushes are saved during ‘comfort breaks’. Fan exuberance makes for an amazing atmosphere, provided everyone behaves. © Getty Images
Devilish hijinks. Didi Senft has been dressing as the mountain devil on Grand Tours since 1993. He disappeared from our screens a few years back after he signed a sponsorship deal and was cut from TV broadcasts by race organisers, but he’s been back on air after removing the unofficial logos. He must hold some kind of selfie record as he is mobbed by fans wherever he goes. © Getty Images
This is the Kirby CODEC. My notes on every stage of a tour in a single page. Each ‘cell’ details the stage number and type: red for climbs, green for sprints and orange for time-trials. Then the course profile, which shows the categories of the climbs, dots for sprints as well as the distance of the day in kilometres and the destination. Added to this are the jerseys, combativity award winners, leading team and temperature. The breakaway is noted as well as the top 10 with a dotted line marking the top 5.
On-the-bike refuelling. Early riders got very little support on the road. They had to ride carrying spare equipment, often slept in churches and grabbed whatever they could from markets and cafés … sometimes without paying! It’s said bars regarded it as an honour. Jules Merviel won stage 7 of the 1930 Tour de France, 222km (138miles) from Bordeaux to Hendaye. He’s not celebrating here – the race was still on! © Off side/L’Equipe
Rock and roll. I watched every stage of the 1978 Tour de France from the factory canteen in La Haye du Puits, where I had a summer job driving a forklift. Bernard Hinault took the first of his five Tour de France titles. He looked like a rock star and was as hard as they come. The Sex Pistols released Never Mind the Bollocks, and suddenly I had a soundtrack and a sporting hero to carry me through my teens. Magic. © Getty Images
The Rule of Three! 2018 saw Geraint Thomas add his Tour de France title to Chris Froome’s Giro, and this was followed by Simon Yates winning La Vuelta. For the first time ever we saw all three Grand Tours won by three different riders from the same nation in a single season. © Getty Images
What a relief! Working in the commentary booth can be cramped, hot and stuff y so you need to keep hydrated. And that has to go somewhere. When the advert breaks come you have three minutes to pay a call or maybe swap a few thoughts with a colleague. Sometimes you can do both… but only if the plastic pissoir has been stationed close to the commentary position.
You are what you wear. I’ve always been passionate about cycling and one of my first bikes was a Carlton Corsa, obviously, in ‘Polychromatic Mauve’, which I used to ride wearing a duffel coat as I delivered newspapers around the Derbyshire borders. These days I ride more sophisticated machinery and my favourite brand is Colnago. My attire is different, too…
So kind of Sir Brad to bring his mad uncle along to the velodrome … The first time I worked wiThBrad I was in full fl ow at Lee Valley. He smacked me on the backside and said ‘Alright Kirbs!’ He then plopped the headset on and away he went, natural as you like.
Writing partners in crime. For the last two years Robbie Broughton and I have been working on this book. Robbie loved my company so much he moved to Mallorca, but I tracked him down. He lives at the foot of the amazing Sa Batalla climb, and we often ride upto the café at the top where a poster of Sean Kelly stares at us while we eat almond cake.
Nope … sorry … definitely not swapping! Whenever I call a race, one thing remains the same: my deep love for the world of cycling in all its racing forms. At the track, up a mountain or on a city criterium it doesn’t matter … it’s just the most wonderful form of sporting endeavour. I feel privileged to be involved.
BLOOMSBURY SPORT
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This electronic edition first published in Great Britain, 2019
Copyright © Carlton Kirby and Robbie Broughton, 2019
Images © Carlton Kirby unless otherwise noted
Carlton Kirby
