Ned Boulting has watched a lot of bicycle racing. He has to, after all, since he’s the voice of the Tour de France, among other races, for ITV4 on British television. It stands to reason, then, that Boulting should have lots to say about the stories, results, polemics, and minutiae that defined the past year of racing. That is perhaps why he found himself as the editor of The Road Book, cycling’s comprehensive almanac.
Boulting joins host Dan Cavallari on the Slow Guy on the Fast Ride podcast to give perspective on why the Road Book offers a unique historical perspective for the casual fan, data enthusiast, and even the journalism crowd. Boulting also gives his impression as to why it took this long for cycling to get its own yearly almanac — and who precipitated the drive to provide almanacs for years past, before the Road Book’s inaugural release in 2018. (Hint: he’s won a bunch of Tours de France and his name rhymes with, um, Chris Froome.)
Editing such a monumental tome meant choosing the best writers to take on the challenge. Boulting gives key insight into how he helped choose the writers that appear in The Road Book, as well as what the editing process looked like for the included stories.
Outside of his work on The Road Book, Boulting has other irons in the fire. One such iron is his one-man show, Tour de Ned. An homage to the Tour de France that just passed, Boulting takes his show to the masses with a recap of the Tour that was, and what made it special.
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