Twelve years old and football mad. In 1987 there was very little sporting space in my head for anything beyond the goal-scoring antics of Ian Rush, Kenny Dalglish and co.
My Panini sticker albums might not have been entirely completed, and I had rarely got past the subs' bench for the school team, but rest assured, there was nothing more beautiful in the world to me than a well taken goal. That is, until July that year.
It was serendipity in action. My dad had spotted an ad for Channel Four's half-hour Tour de France highlights programme, and thought he'd give it a go. He rode a bike, but he wasn't really a bike race fan. Instead, as an ardent Francophile, he was in it for the scenery, the sweeping views of the country, the villages en fête – and perhaps just a bit of sport.
That summer, I too had started riding the bike a bit – exploring independently beyond the usual boundaries of childhood for the first time – but the first glimpse I ever got of bike racing was after wandering aimlessly into the living room one summer evening, following the sound of sporting action and excited commentary.
And now, within a few days of watching this colourful and noisy and beautiful spectacle, I was a bike racing fan too. And when it hit the mountains, and I saw for the first time battles on the summits, Stephen Roche going head-to-head with Pedro Delgado and the rest, there was no doubt in my mind, this was my new sport.
After that, the Tour de France became an annual TV appointment which very few things were allowed to impede. Numerous video tapes – some of which I still have – were filled up, and played and replayed time and again.
Everything about the Channel 4 coverage of the Tour was perfect – almost. From Pete Shelley's unforgettable theme music, to the legendary partnership of Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen, to the sporting action itself. Not to mention that it was, ahem, free. The only thing missing was live coverage.
There was a moment in 2001 which in hindsight feels rather too familiar in light of what we are currently seeing with coverage of the race, when Channel 4 announced it was dropping the Tour. Deeply troubled bike racing fans held their collective breath for a moment early that year, as the prospect of literally zero Tour coverage – live or otherwise – loomed. When it was announced that the race would, after all, be shown on ITV2… oh, the relief.
Initially ITV picked up the baton from Channel 4 with daily highlights, but it wasn't long before live coverage appeared – firstly at weekends and then, eventually every day. Suddenly we were living the full Tour de France 360, and with the newfound continental success being enjoyed by British racers, we hardly knew what to do with ourselves.
In time, like everything if it's around long enough, ITV's live and free coverage of the Tour became something that was just there. Every July, we could rely on it as being something that was just there, as reliably as the race itself.
From old hands like Gary Imlach, who worked with Liggett and Sherwen back in the Channel 4 days, to the current – excellent – commentary box double act of Ned Boulting and David Millar. Each July, they are all a three-week extension of our friend group, but after this year, that will end.
ITV4 will show live coverage of the race one more time this year, but next year it will revert to highlights-only. Perhaps we should count ourselves lucky that watching the Tour de France will still be possible, but it's going to be different. A new normal. The options: stump up £30 a month for a TNT subscription, or watch highlights online, or hopefully on free-to-air.
If you were born this century and can only remember live coverage, I bring good news from the other side. A highlights-only existence is not as dark as it sounds and, important this, it will be enough to win over brand new bike racing fans along the way. Coupled with social media coverage and, of course, coverage on Cycling Weekly, even existing bike fans can have a good Tour de France.
Other options exist too – here's one way of unlocking the Tour from anywhere in the world, and scoring a £50 Amazon voucher while you're at it.
However you cut it though, the end of ITV's free live coverage will be the end of a long era and a step in the wrong direction. In 2001 we sat tight and things came good. In time, let's hope that the same happens again. As an eternal optimist, I believe it will.
