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Cycling champion turned respected commentator dies at 62

sherwen

Former British road race champion turned respected cycling commentator Paul Sherwen has died at the age of 62.

Born in Widnes, Sherwen made his name during the 1980s, competing in seven editions of the Tour de France and twice becoming British national champion.

In recent years, he was a well-known voice on TV and worked alongside Phil Liggett for Channel 4’s coverage of the Tour for several years before moving to NBC Sports in America.

The 2018 Tour, won by Welshman Geraint Thomas, was the 33rd Sherwen had commentated on.

His co-commentator Liggett, who said the cause was heart failure, told the Wall Street Journal he had lost his “right hand man, my wing man, my teammate”.

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Sherwen (right) with co-commentator Phil Liggett


He said of Sherwen’s time as a racer: “He could keep morale up when the going got really tough. When a teammate fell off, or got bad morale, management used to put him in a [hotel] room with that rider, to talk that rider back into the Tour de France. He had the same skill in TV. He brought people into the television.”

British Cycling said it was “truly saddened” by the news.

“A former national champion and a great voice of our sport, our thoughts are with his family and friends at this time.”


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