New cycling fan Roy Keane is apparently so clueless about repairs that he threw away his first road bike because he couldn’t fix a puncture.
The football legend revealed he become a keen cyclist earlier this year when he posted a photo of himself heading out on a ride on Instagram.
But he confessed he has no idea how to look after his bicycles when he bumped into ITV’s Tour de France commentator Ned Boulting.
Speaking on his podcast, Boulting told how he had bumped into Keane this week at the ITV studios where the Cork man has been working as a pundit during Euro 2020.
He said: “He’s got a great story about getting a bike and he’s even more mechanically inept than I am.
“The one skill I have, inflating a tyre... he can’t even do that – and he’s never tried.
“The first time he got a puncture on his road bike, not only did he not repair it himself, he threw the bike away and got another one.”
Keane told Boulting he had been a keen cycling fan growing up in Ireland during the 1980s, when countrymen Sean Kelly and Stephen Roche were stars of the sport, and had recently taken up road cycling himself.
Earlier this year Keane took to social media to post a picture of himself wearing a bright cycling helmet, but claimed he won’t be donning anything beyond a tracksuit to go out riding.
He wrote: ‘I’ll wear the helmet but if you see me wearing Lycra, run me over.”
“He said ‘you know this whole thing, supposed war between cyclists and motorists - it is all the motorists’.
“He said ‘you might get one or two idiots on a bike but until I’d experienced what it was like to get a close pass from a white van and the way people disrespect cyclists...’ He was really emphatic.
“He’s got a great story about getting a road bike and he’s even more mechanically inept than I am.
“The one skill I have, which is inflating a tyre... he can’t even do that - and he’s never tried.
“The first time he got a puncture on his road bike, not only did he not repair it himself, he threw the bike away and got another one.”
A stunned Millar burst out laughing and said: “That’s awesome.”
Earlier this year Keane took to Instagram to post a picture of himself wearing a bright cycling helmet, but claimed he won’t be donning anything beyond a tracksuit to go out riding.
‘I’ll wear the helmet but if you see me wearing Lycra, run me over,’ he wrote, posting a selfie.
