The Journal

The Legend That Is The Climb That Is The Plank – Ned Boulting

This is an excerpt from 101 Damnations by Ned Boulting.   La Planche des Belles Filles! The (Wooden) Board of the Beautiful Girls! Bonkers. This is not a place name....

Never Strays Far Competition Giveaway

  CLOSES 11th OCTOBER MIDNIGHT Missing Le Tour already? The Road Book and CHPT3 are here to the rescue and teamed up to offer 4 exclusive prizes to 4 lucky...

Joining the Dots – Ned Boulting

Dear Internet,   I fear controversy, as I fear the dogs which routinely run towards me, smelling my panic (and possibly my mouldering trainers) when I am out running. Therefore...

Hoping In Kent – Ned Boulting

An unusual rest day at the Tour. No clamorous press conferences, nor heat-stuffed launderettes. No wan baguettes by the side of the road, nor six hour drives. Just a day,...

Golf Attack- with Ned Boulting, David Millar and Pete Kennaugh

The Knights Of The Yellow Jumper – Ned Boulting

It might have something to do with the fact that I am staying in a moated castle, but I think I’ve finally understood the true nature of the Tour de...

Before The Flag Drops – Ned Boulting

      Awake at 4.30.   The last time this happened on the eve of a Tour was in 2003. My very first. That night we’d been housed near...

Protected: ‘In Winner’s Words’- Chris Froome

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

Latin Grammar: The Future and The Past – Ned Boulting

  Things can change quickly in sport, and indeed in life. If there is one thing that 2020 has taught us all, it is that everything we imagined was immutable,...

Lockdown Losers and Stay Home Heroes – Ned Boulting

      The effect of lockdown on our lives appears, at least in part, to have messed with the natural order of things; and for the professional peloton, it...

THE ROAD BOOK #25: The Dauphiné – “Mountain Squash”

  Ned’s back in London. David’s still stuck in Spain. From tomorrow their voices will meet in France, as they resume commentary roles for the Dauphiné. This pod contains proper...

THE ROAD BOOK #24: 2020 Milano Sanremo Report

  Ned Boulting is in Sanremo. He takes us inside the pre-race buzz and transfers us to the finish line frenzy – he is our guide, and you’d have to...