David Duffield – The Greatest Cycling Commentator of All Time

Summer just wouldn’t be the same without the three week insight into Le Grande Boucle that David Duffield provides us with. Every day he can be heard on the television for up to 7 hours a day commentating for Eurosport on the Tour de France without a break. Very often he is assisted by either his nemesis Russell Williams or his hero Sean Kelly but he will always have more to say than his co-commentator and very often he says it at the wrong time. How many times have we shouted at the screen when David is hunting out obscure facts from the 1950s:

“Dave , the break! “
“Dave , look , Pantani has blown!”
“Dave,  fer chrisakes tell us what is going on.”

Only for David to tell us that “Aah , something is going on here….” which we guessed might have been the case already.

For those of you who have never come across David before, this might sound off-putting, but have you ever considered how difficult it is to commentate non stop for 7 hours whilst sitting in a windy gantry at the top of an Alpine mountain, trying to find the apple that was going to sustain you throughout the rest of the day which has just dropped on the floor and rolled under the desk of your German colleagues? No, I bet you hadn’t but these are the sort of things that David has to get through every time there is cycling on the television.

We are very lucky to have someone of David’s calibre entering into our homes bringing us the latest news from the peloton. Sure he gets it wrong from time to time but you get used to it and you admire the way he gets himself out a pickle in the same way Will Hay would always come out on top against  heavily stacked odds. We need characters like David; motor racing has Murray, boxing had Harry , cricket had Johnners, football has Motty and thankfully cycling has Duffers.

With this in mind we would like to dedicate a small part of our Agreeable World to David Duffield.

“Hats off to you David!” or “Chapeaux” as you frequently say.

If you have got any more info on David we would love to add it to our list. Likewise, we would like you to send us any Duffield speak that you hear on Eurosport.

Has listeing to David or watching the Tour de France in general got you thinking about taking up cycling? You can check out some great entry level beginners bikes here if you fancy giving it a go yourself.

Alternatively, Check out the whole collection of Duffield pages here and enjoy one of the all time great commentators.