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Laurence Meets the King
Hello boys and girls, especially Marco.
I had a close encounter of the Duffers kind
earlier this year and it was a dream come true (which shows I should stop
eating cheese late at night).
The place... Luxembourg... After a busy day
watching the Prologue for the Tour, saw the riders practicing on the
circuit in the morning, all my heroes were there Tafi, O'Grady, Zabel,
Armstrong (ok, so a few were missing). Wandered around to watch the
prologue and soaked up the atmosphere in the town, had some frites and
mayo too. After the action was over I sauntered back to the hotel and
relaxed before heading into the night... there was a gig in town, the
Scorpions backed by the Luxembourg philharmonic orchestra.. it was free I
might add!. Next to the hotel was an Italian place... the smell was
dragging me in. Needless to say, it was packed. I got a table and enjoyed
the wait for service, i was in no rush. I'd just finished my pizza and had
ordered desert when a man was ushered onto the table in front of me. He
looked familiar, but his back was to me. I tried to get a look at him in a
reflection, but couldn't. He was tall and had grey hair. I figured i'd
wait until he ordered before getting too excited. It was hard to hear
above the clamour of the restaurant, but his voice sounded familiar....
not only that, but he was reading a book about cycling, 'king of the
mountains' and I could see it was an English language version. Just my
luck that the waiters then decided to be efficient and my pudding and
coffee had arrived and I was struggling to tarry. I was still trying to
get a good glimpse of the man who might be king, but no luck. I paid the
bill and headed off to town, wondering if I was close to greatness. After
the gig I headed for the hotel. I rounded the corner, the Italian was
quieter now. Then I noticed grey hair headed out the door and to the
street... my timing was perfect. He stepped from the entrance and I
reached it. I gasped. could it be? only one way to find out...
"excuse me, are you David Duffield?" "Yes, How did you
recognise me?" I explained that I'd been behind him earlier and had
my suspicions. We then chatted for about ten minutes... I was raving about
the Tour spectacle and the whole atmosphere and how it would be great for
a UK version. He went into great detail about the problems with UK cycling
and how he'd love for a tour of Britain and for the TDF to return. I said
that I loved Eurosport's continued support of cycling, as I worked for the
BBC at the time it was great that someone was showing it and how I'd tried
to convince colleagues to report on it, without luck. We chatted about the
thorny problem of TV coverage and how it's seen as an unfashionable sport
and all the money is in football. He was so enthusiastic about cycling, he
seemed to live and breathe it, much as Murray Walker did motor racing, it
was actually contagious! The hour was growing late and he explained he had
to get up early to get to the start and get all the gossip. He shook my
hand and wandered off into the night. A truly lovely man, it was a
pleasure to have met him and also to have eaten in the same restaurant I
feel I'm part of the folklore now! As i missed the next day's coverage
from the man, I've wondered if he spoke of his great pizza from the night
before and encounter on the street afterwards.
When he walked past me at the cycle show a
couple of months back he gave me a long look, as though he vaguely
remembered. I won't forget though.
Laurence A.
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