Phil Liggett Uncensored: Insights from the Iconic Voice of Cycling

Join me in an exclusive, uncensored interview with Phil Liggett, the iconic voice of cycling. In this in-depth conversation, we delve into Phil’s illustrious career, exploring the highs and lows of cycling commentary.

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Hey everybody I’m here with beo at the Hilton during the tour down under 2024 because we are going to go and introduce a cycling Legend and I’ve asked Bevo to come and interview him with me because I love how Bevo interviews Sports and cycling Legends oh thanks sarap I’m

Super excited to be here and um I’ve bet feel like actually about this time last year and one the nicest VES and obviously done so much for the sport of cycling so yeah really excited to chat with him again and of course being a part of your amazing podcast so Salina

Let’s do it oh and the steps it’s got all the winners on it hey everybody he has shaped informed and inspired cycling through generations he has covered 53 Tor Frances and this year will be the 17th Olympic Games in Paris he is the voice of cycling he is legendary Phil lied

Yay how you feel love to see you thank you for being on my show it’s wonderful to meet you yeah and I’m going to throw over now to Bevo because he’s got some questions he wants to ask you and I will ask along the way because you know B you met him I’ve

Met you before nice to see you again by the way great to see you again in Australia yes in person obviously last time I think we CH the Legends bever a couple years ago was on Zoom so we did and I got lot of comments on what we did

Too oh that’s you did oh yes no I did thank you everyone loves hearing obviously like Sarah mentioned your Journey’s amazing in the stories and we’ll speak a little bit later on about the excellent stuff that yourself and treasure do with animal conservation um but obviously we’re here for the t under

Such a great event uh not only in Australia but in Adelaide and we spoke a couple weeks ago myself and saraphina about how amazing it is for for tourism in South Australia and I guess in terms of yourself being involved with the twiter since it started uh what do you

Think makes it so special feel well when they they first uh planned it when they lost the Formula 1 in Adelaide you know then they asked the public what would you like to see that would replace the formula one because everybody thought this was such a great thing uh for

Adelade and he certainly was and uh the majority public said let’s have a bicycle race like the tour to France which was a bit of a shock and then Mike tur who was a track specialist and had won a gold medal in the Los Angeles Olympics was char with the looking into

It with more detail and Mike came to me and they came up with his plan uh and it was easy it was a no-brainer to call it the tour down under that’s what it was and but the the biggest worry was how’ you bring the best cyclist in the world

In January when they’re all freezing coal around Europe and uh and thinking more of skiing uh to ride at the highest level in January in a very hot time of the year and that that was the biggest fear but anyway they did it the right way they researched it um they came to

Me as well to because I used to organize the tour of Great Britain for 22 years and so Mike wanted to know what happened the South Australian tourism got involved the South Australian government got involved and John John olon was the premier at the time he backed it in full

And uh the Police Service backed it in full they took the police service to the to of France say this is how you handle an escort a bike race on the public Highway on the closed roads nothing was a problem uh because I actually had never been to South Australia till this

Was happening and I love this place South Australia is South Australia it’s not part of anywhere else it’s South Australia and they do things great and what more everybody pulls in the same direction they produced the toan and there they flew me out the year before

Uh I flew in because I’ll never forget it because they landed that my helicopter on the famous oval didn’t the ground on wasn’t too chuff when uh the chopper came down on the Square but anyway um and then T took off and flew chant was doing the first year and flew

Me around all the courses in ’98 to show me from the air kangaro Gorge and all these lovely places like cudley Creek and I was just I just love what I saw so um I said to my I said Mike this is unbelievable and your support from the

From the people from the government from the police is unbelievable so Mike is very much of South Australian very proud of being here spent his hundreds of cycling hours riding into the Adelaide Hills in his preparation for the um for the Olympics and stuff and so I said

Well con ROM I said let’s go and so the next year was the first honanda and where we started right here um we in the Hilton hallel here the toand brought Innovations to the race like let the public see how the mechanics prepare the

Bikes so they got a big tent up in the Square all the mechanics had their little separate rooms and the public were allowed in to sit on the barriers and watch the mechanics at work building the wheels getting the bikes clean and that was night and day then they created

The tour of the lid with the difference um it it’s just it could not fail and I remember John Aon on day one um were were on The Terraces here for the start we were coming back at the end of the week to the same area same course and I

Remember John Aon saying look when you saw the thousands of people he said I told you we should have built an want another grand stand built before next week when they come back another suit we put 10,000 more people in and he got his wish uh because there were thousands of

People watching the race and they proved what they asked for they got but of course for the town town for the for the state everybody traveled into State word spread around the world it’s a great time of year the sun’s out hey let’s all go to Australia and in particular South

Australia and so the races never look back I’ve had a wonderful time here I’ve done everyone um obviously during Co there was two that became became a national event rather than International but apart from those I’ve been here and next year be the 25th edition where did

The years go all the most famous CES in the world been here and every one of them I don’t know anybody with that exception who have said hey I’m not going down there again um because tur’s biggest fear was the weather will be too hot I’m shortly going to see the

Mounting gorillas so I might be a gorilla I tell you why because the guy who’s one of the most stages in this race in the tour down under is Andre GLE just retired now he’s a big guy and he’s won uh I think it’s 14 stages of this

Race and he’s way clear the records he robing M and second with 12 so must be 18 anyway um so Andre but it was ustr nicknamed him the gorilla because of the way he rips out he’s such a big Sprinter and he would come out and he snack these

Statements and and he was just a very nice guy when he spoke to him very introverted quiet but he was big and so yeah so I think that’s one of my big memories calling Andre the gorilla and now of course all those years on he’s retired

And we’re off to see the gillers in in ug I was thinking when you were talking before about um what you’re doing in South Africa and um another way for people to make money maybe you need to introduce a tour D South Africa take Cy to South Africa I did I

Had all there yeah and and Trish because she’s um physio she she worked on the Australian team in this race which have Robbie mun actually who’s now my co- commentator here the to uh because she’s res but um no it’s and S the racing is not very popular

Amongst the people in South Africa which is a shame because there’s been some great racing and of course the country is beautiful yeah would be amaz and the big they have long passes there you know people think South Africa SL you get up towards the drakensburg mountains um

Which they call the high bels and the long time pass oh some beautiful passes and the scenery yeah and OB the animals you know you know having the overhead view through the yeah yeah yeah absolutely when I’ve been there and I’ve been with a lot of top South African

Cyclist U Australian cyclists and when they finished the race there um nice people who own airplanes have always offered to fly us to see things you know um I remember we took uh we took Hank bals and a few of the Damian McDonald who had was killed a few years back in

The in Melbourne um we took him into the bush and remember one guy started creeping around we were about to have a BRI where I Barbie because I’m in Australia now it’s a BRI in South Africa I’m a Barbie and um the guy owned the lodge and he landed his airplane on the

Grass Airfield just down the road he always leaves his vehicle at the end of the Airfield tucked in the trees anybody could have it but where they’re going to go in it and so and the keys in the condition we landed is a originally big

Aircraft a 14 SE of aircraft and he he was trying to stop the airplane as it ran down the runway because the Impala were all over it and it was dark and he was trying the sweat was coming down his face anyway that was okay then we to

Parked on the airplane got out the airplane jumped in his vehicle and as we’re leaving he’s shining the lights and there’s a line right there with his big eye her big eyes looking straight at you and she could have launched onto our legs but they did really but they kept L

Us then when we got back to for the first time um he told the boys and there were big Cy so the boys said just um be careful he says for snakes but just put some wood on the Bri and get the fire going yeah yeah you know what the

Aussies are like yeah okay yeah so throwing the wood on they’re all making so much noise we’re in the bush you don’t make noise in the bush anyway um you got the fire going of course out came the snake cuz the fire started burning up was a black man most

Poisonous snake oh my goodness that’s in public View and um the guy’s name was Mike and Mike I saw him leave that seat and in one flowing motion grabbed the the tail of the snake and kept going and just threw the snake into the bush as he won’t kill

A fly no matter what the snake might do to him he wouldn’t kill it so just threw away and on the same evening one of the guys started to certain he spotted a line watching us have our bar and silly started going around the back I’m said what are you

Doing I said this isn’t the zoo you know that guy will kill you and he was trying to get round to get get a photo of the LI watching having in the Barbie so he came back just teir between the legs yeah because they’re not going to charge

Us if we’re sitting around the bar making noise but they’ll watch it and you know they’re assessing yeah yeah oh we had some great experiences just want to ask you as well um a lot of people remember a couple years ago you had a quite a serious boat

Accident um just remind everyone what happened and how you’re going after that as well yeah well I like to come over a little bit early when I come to the tour down under because over the years we’ve done the bay Classic series which are over around Port Philip Bay or inong as

They were on this occasion and then um over the years too Jerry Ryan the entrepreneur who has the Australian realiz his ambition to put no training cycling team in the to advant which he achieve Cherry be the first to Cher he’s not sure the a few Bob but he’s he loves

The S cying been very generous to the Riders from Australia with assistance and help as well so we made good friends and we were staying at Jerry’s uh hotel at the midon wine estate which is in Mambi outside of Melbourne itself and it’s on the golden river Jerry had flown

Off to Hawaii with his family to celebrate his son’s 40th birthday so John tooro the finest finest cyclist uh in Australia and John who was an Olympian and com G rid and stuff he um he was charged with steering the boat now it’s a lovely boat and it’s a very

Gentle cruise down the golden river but it had been in flood it was now officially okay but it had been in flu less than a few days earli and um we coming back back and a water SK had gone by and soaked us and so I was just had

Shorts on I took my shirt off and I held it off the back like this to try Dy before we got back because the boat was bound for the jetty of the hotel we were St but then no warning at all there was a big tree trunk that got water loged

But only just a dip below the surface we didn’t see it John and the nose of the boat went over it but the propeller took the trunk and I just remember seeing that the outboard motor come straight on the water and the boat go from 15 knots to

Zero and I went from zero to 15 knots and I went straight down the boat and I was flying I flew past Trish uh about a meter off the ground parallel and slammed into the furniture with my back with a bit my head I was dead but it was

My back and I broke four ribs I’ve got to speak and so I um John thought I was just being a as he put it um a moaning old man from Britain you p and then when I told him a few days later I broke in full he said oh mate

You’re not just you’re not only old pal at all are you I said no it’s pretty painful painful but anyway I didn’t because I was doing the TV here and I was did a little job up there first and then went for a ride with John and we stayed at Jerry’s

Hotel um I didn’t want the press to find out about the accident because the television network I’m working for were here and I couldn’t get to them and so I thought this hits the Press uh we’ve got no commentator for the tour down so I made everybody say

Nothing must not I did and of course also the airline would not have let me flown if I would told my four broken ribs which I didn’t know at the time anyway hadn’t been to any doctors anybody alerted so I stayed another couple of days up there and uh you know

Trish being a physio she kept on checking me out and said I don’t think there’s any go you’re fine so anybody the pay wasn’t of course and then I landed here and the first thing I did I called at the race doctor over the years

I made fans with him up on the tow down told him what i’ done he says you know you better check out just across the window there there 200 m to the best hotel here and it’s obviously private and so I went over there he made the appointment and

He was in Sydney hadn’t come here yet and he made the appointment I walked over went in uh we all had to wear masks in those days and um I remember everybody’s walking past saying hi Phil hi Phil how you doing and the receptionist kept looking at me and say

Who are you I said well no I guess you don’t ride a bike or watch television she goes no I said well that’s why you don’t know what anyway all the surgeons were popping by and all saying the same and there were very strict code problem

With with with the masks but they took me back into the room I’d had the X-ray in it took me back into the room and this is great we can take our masks off now F we all want a photo with you I said guys I’d like to know what my

Photos’s done because the one you just took out oh don’t worry about that they said you you doing a good job four broken ribs and they show him with the you know little white marks on every rib um but I was I was okay and I was able

To come to the producer who was in this hotel and say hey Mike I can come clean now um I’ve had a bit of an accident but I’m fine you can see I’m fine and so I got away with it uh the next day the

Word got out and he said uh Phil turns from biking to Flying other than that I don’t do anything I remember that um AJ M’s a great was just I met him at the 1980 mosow Olympics when he was just coming over to being a TV commentator and we always

Coincided for dinner at night in the hotel now this is this is Moscow and this is supposed to be the big break through the games have finally gone into a country which is still part of curtain um didn’t quite work out the way they expected but we we were in a big

5,000 bed Hotel only one way we to leave only in one way we were allowed to enter and you couldn’t see the rest of the hotel that was the way it was and so we always finished up myself and Adrian he did the Athletics I did the Cy but we

Always seem to get dinner at 11:00 at night so we always sent again and we were talking and that was basically uh he said he said amazing thing about your your voice and your commentary is you can go as high as you like with your levels of pitch and your voice doesn’t crack

Because if you you many comment start screaming that’s what it sounds like they’re screaming I’m so I didn’t know I did it he just said that’s the most amazing thing can you do it now can you go see well I can try I mean not too far

Now look at that man coming down the street now he’s putting one leg in front I don’t believe this this is unbelievable he’s crossed the road now he’s out of sight do you know what I do it in cars people pick me up at the airport and

I’ll I’ll just say to the driver look at this guy going across the road now what a stupid place to cross he’s not going to make this and he started to accelerate and the guy says do you know you just started commenting I do that’s your thing yeah I many times spit

A I just see things and that’s it I interpret them and I’m very pleased with but I do not know what I’m going to say before I start work you know most guys I I see the journalists who work and all the comment they’re wri in their opening

Minds so they make sure they say the obvious things like good afternoon good morning welcome to where are we and put that in and mention the weather nice day and all that I don’t do any I just hope it comes out in the right order up but I remember this little U production

Assistant come up to me when I was working with CBS and she goes excuse me Mr said yeah um can we just have the the words you’re going to say when you open the show so we know when to go I said well I have no idea so um but

It’ll be something like hello and welcome okay then I heard the producer in my earpiece and obviously to her microphone her little handset saying just leave him alone he’s a Brit he’ll be okay that’s she said Fally left yeah but we’ve had some laughs in that situation and when I trained Paul

Sharon to be a commentator he was he was a great cyclist and we we jailed this personal friend over we did 33 tours I that’s a record by any any s people Jo in the world in any sport woman J and he said comedy Jo because that’s what it

Was but um a PA used to used to shake a bit used to get quite nervous very tense but eyes are calming d d and as I was once told when I was I was doing my very first commentary live and the phone went by the telephone and it was a guy was

Very famous guy who was the host back in the studio guy called Dicky Davis and he the phone and he goes hello old son Dicky here oh God Dicky’s talking to me and this is my very first day of commentating it was a 45 minute live

Show so he said listen he said I’ll give you a big build up we we’re we’re just coming back from the wrestling into commercial and then then we’re coming to you and he said I’ll give you a big Builder and he said all you’ve got to do

Is remember why you got the job I said Dicky I don’t know why I got the job he says because they liked you now don’t change when you start talking don’t start getting Posh uh they like your character your personality don’t change it and that’s the only word of advice I

Got in commentary and it’s the only word of advice I gave Paul Sher in 30 years later don’t change because they like what they see so if people want to get involved with the um so going back to poaching and we’ll just finish up soon as well but um

If people want to get involved in that can they and supporting any way you can I mean we’ve done a we love helping people and an um Africa was because we went to live there for a while yeah we um we have two entry one

Is we we help game reserve called kka in the Eastern cap and you k a r i e g. it’s a game reserve C game reserve just check out the website it’s all uh We’ve because that’s in just south of the Kulu n where they are they’ve lost

Over 400 R recently in the bad figures and that’s splitting the cick from where cor is cor anying because we work very with them and people are unbelievably generous I can I you know I was in tears last time had could we can only take 16 people a time because the the beautiful

Really po lodes we arrange a price for them uh with a written in a donation and then uh A lady called Lundy is the found Foundation CEO and The Lodges of franch so we have to pay The Lodges to but the boys and the Rangers allowance with lind’s permission and

It’s the only time can happen is to ride mountain bikes and so we bought 16 mountain bikes which is part of no every time people come they get the mountain R in their feet and you ride out in the wild in the bush amongst the animals okay the guys

Are armed back and front but we’ve never had an incident we even rode past a rhino and and then they have a car guard way out front to a radio back if they say a buffalo hanging out because Buffalo are quite dangerous um and the Americans who came and basically

All through cycling people have met and big companies do cycling and at the end of the trip we had the local people gave us a traditional dance and they wonderful they got Trish up there with a grass that scared on it w more than she did

And uh and they danced and we we just um enjoyed the company they they loved us and then the boys which was uh multinational but mostly Americans and swiss and German uh our spokesman W stood up and he took over the speech from me and he said we’ve had a

Chat and um we’ve um we decided to have a collection no they know about the fact they don’t have to spend the penny they written into the what they pay and he said we decided and they said nobody was pressured I found it afterwards they each gave the lowest donation was a

Th000 us and the big donor gave 20,000 us and then he announced so for you Lindy said the CEO um I’m delighted to give you this two million South African R now Lindy is never lost she started crying I started crying we could speak because it was an

Incredible J and it cost um 2 million RS about $200,000 us it’s enormous man then Lindy just has always been clean and open with where the money goes and so she uh in a newsletter which is now being produced um she’s they pull down all these fences on the Bushman River to

Because she’s got a vast plan of how all this land will be returned to the Wild and she’s also so the lodge is the biggest employer of the people so they’ll all get benefit from these and the local school we had to go and see the kid at local school I wasn’t too

Good at the net ball and I mean but I couldn’t even play 90 minutes of football they’re going to kill me but they’re great people and and they need help of so it’s an example of how they understand if we protect our animals they’ll also benefit and that’s the only

Way the animals will survive live in Africa it’s the only Way Awesome