101 Damnations

Overview

Join Ned Boulting as he reports on his 12th Tour de France, an event in which blokes do amazing things on bikes, and, we're oft told, the biggest annual sporting event in the world. 101 Damnations is a chance to relive the 2014 race, stage for stage, fall after fall, tantrum by tantrum; just the good bits, mind, without all the aerial shots of castles. Or sunflowers. (Though it does wax lyrical about some stunning Alpine scenery. . . and, with the race starting in Yorkshire, even some stunning scenery not far from Bradford). From Leeds to Paris (how often do you say that?), Ned details the minutiae of his encounters with the likes of Vincenzo Nibali, David Millar, Chris Froome, Chris Boardman (or "Broadman" as some would have it), Marcel Kittel, Mrs. Cavendish (Mark's wife), Peter Sagan, and the rest. Their endeavors, achievements, humor, and occasional rancor, sit alongside his own decade-long quest for the ideal end-of-race T-shirt. Ned weaves together the interesting, amusing, and unheralded threads of the race itself, and reflects on his own perennial struggle to get round, get on, and get by. 101 Damnations encapsulates all that is incredible—and incredibly ordinary—about the greatest race on earth.

Author Biography

Ned Boulting started his broadcasting career at Sky in 1997, working as a reporter alongside Jeff Stelling on the now legendary show Soccer Saturday. In 2006 he was given the Royal Television Society's Sports Reporter of the Year Award. In addition to his work as a soccer reporter for ITV, he has now presented seven Tours of Britain, the Vuelta España, the Tour of California, as well as the Tour Series and the inaugural Women's Tour. He has contributed features and live reports on 12 Tours de France. He is the author of How I Won the Yellow Jumper and On the Road Bike.