Horseman passing over the statue of Shiv Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj (special arrangement) NEW DELHI: Cycling does not wait for applause. Blitzing past villages, highways and curious faces, there is little time left to settle in. Last week, during the Pune Grand Tour (PGT), India’s first UCI 2.2 road race, the Indian public got its first glimpse of professional cyclists tearing through roads, villages and highways. It is never considered a spectator sport. Unlike other outdoor sports such as cricket or football, the spectator does not have 90 minutes or five days on the ground to settle into a rhythm. Blink and the race is over.
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Commenting on the sport while watching all the riders and explaining the geography to the viewers is an equally challenging task.“I don’t want to say it on my own, but I think it’s one of the hardest sports to commentate on,” Ned Boulting, one of the most respected voices in global cycling commentary, told TimesofIndia.com on the sidelines of the Pune Grand Tour (PGT), India’s first UCI 2.2 road race.Graham Jones, Boulting’s co-commentator and five-time Tour de France rider, finds himself walking a tightrope between decoding the intricacies of cycling and providing entertainment.“It was a bit of a challenge for us, but we enjoyed it quite a bit,” Jones said. “There’s a lot of people who don’t know cycling, so we can’t get too deep into the technology and what’s going on.“We don’t have to go too easy because there are a lot of people who think about cycling, I know, I don’t want to hear all about it.
Ned Boulting and Graham Jones (special arrangement)
Commenting on cycling isn’t just about provoking attacks or declaring winners. It has more: a complex web of tactics, geography, human fatigue and split-second decisions. And you can’t avoid engaging with the audience.“I think the information is the hardest part because again, if you compare it to most sports that are in stadiums, you only have 20 players or something like that. Here you have something like 170,” Boulting said.“It’s almost impossible to identify them because when you see a header, you don’t see a number. So you have to know what their kit looks like first of all. And there are 28 different teams.”“Some I’d never heard of, I’ll be completely honest, before this race started because they’re amateur clubs from Amsterdam. So I have to learn very quickly what these new kids are like.”Even then, knowing the team is not enough.“There can be any number of six different drivers in this team. So you have to learn very quickly who has long hair, who has tattoos, who is a bit taller,” he added. Unlike football, where commentators often arrive with pre-written stories, cycling offers no such luxury.“There is no script because you have to react live,” Boulting said. “Once you see me in the studio, right up until the last minute, everything… none of it is scripted. It’s all just off the top of my head.”
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However, cycling offers something that most sports cannot.“Because it’s on open roads, it shows the countryside,” Jones explained. “Some of the drone footage we’ve seen over the last few days has been fantastic.“If it’s a football tournament or a tennis tournament, it’s in a stadium. You’re not really showcasing the countryside,” Jones explained, adding that this visual narrative is often central to why governments and sponsors support such events.“It’s to promote and show the rest of the world how beautiful this area is,” Jones said, pointing out how events like the Tour de France have perfected this mix of sport and scenery, with castles, chateaux and communities dressing the fields just visible from helicopters.This understanding, Jones believes, is essential.“You have to understand the local culture and geography. I think cycling is 50 percent,” he added with a smile. “The rest is promoting the city and the area and what the future holds.”READ ALSO: World Cup in India? The UCI is considering upgrading the status of the Pune Grand Tour next yearCycling may not be as instantly recognizable as cricket or football in India, but behind the microphone it is just as relentless, unforgiving and, when done right, beautifully rewarding as it is on the roads.
