Phil Liggett

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Phil Liggett MBE (born 1943) is a sports journalist and commentator on the Outdoor Life Network for the Tour de France and other bike races. He is likely the most popular English-speaking cycling commentator, and he is often called the English-speaking "Voice of the Tour de France". He is a former amateur cyclist and received a professional contract in 1967 but instead of turning professional, he saw a future in sports journalism after he wrote a few articles in cycling magazines about races in which he participated.

Since that early start he has reported on ten Olympics and 33 Tours. He is usually teamed with Paul Sherwen. He is well known for his colorful expressions about the riders or racing conditions with often literary overtones. A collection of these "Liggettisms" was published in 2005. Phil's native town is Bebington, Wirral. He now lives in Bayford, England.

Liggett has also covered other sports including triathlons and ski jumping. Combining this other coverage with his Tour de France work has enabled Liggett to become one of the few sports journalist to work for the "Big Three" networks: (ABC, CBS, and NBC).

For the ten years leading up to January 2007, Liggett was the president of the Cyclists' Touring Club (CTC), Britain's national cyclists' organisation. He was to succeeded by Jon Snow, the presenter of Channel 4 news.

Liggett has had a long time association with Australian network SBS and covers the Tour de France with Mike Tomalaris, as well as covering other Australian events such as the Jacob's Creek Tour Down Under.

He spends most of his leisure time in South Africa where he has a house in the Southern Cape and a game farm in near The Kruger National Park.

[edit] "Liggettisms"

Examples of his "Liggettisms":

• He's dancing on his pedals in a most immodest way!
• He climbs like an angel!
• He's wearing the mask of pain.
• He's crazy. He's always been crazy. And what on EARTH is he doing?
• This is a pedigree group of men, they are holding on by the skin of their shorts.
• And who is that in the background? That looks like Stephen Roche! IT LOOKS LIKE STEPHEN ROCHE!
• His bike actually weighs less than 1 kg. It's a dream going up the hill, but he'll be blown away going down it.
• We now watch the riders make their way up the mountain road, chosen by the road department as the least arduous path. I can tell you right now these riders would disagree with their choice.
• Now if I were an olympic cycling judge—which as it happens I am—I'd say that was alright.
• That is 21 miles of pure purgatory
• He's really having to dig deeply into the suitcase of courage.
• These are the great adventurers of the Tour De France, and the spirit of the race for all to see. Go out and see what you can do.
• Paul [Sherwen], with this attack the chicken skin is about to fall.