When the intergrity of Chris Froome's riding and his coverage of Team Sky were questioned, David Walsh didn't like it one bit.
When men with such big welcomes for themselves as David Walsh are put under pressure live on radio or TV, the results can be very amusing indeed
And so it came to pass the other night when Walsh was being interviewed by broadcaster Ger Gilroy on Newstalk’s Off The Ball show.
To be fair to Walsh, Gilroy seems to have completely lost faith in cycling, with no desire to entertain the prospect that riders even might be clean. And he sounds like he has a particular issue with Team Sky.
Being asked the same question again and again can’t have been much fun for Walsh; a man who doesn’t take to criticism too well at the best of times.
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Walsh was on to talk about (what else) Chris Froome’s ride in the Tour de France and the storm swirling around his team.
Kimmage, another man who rates himself extremely highly too, had been on the show the previous night.
He said The Times newspaper had turned into a mouthpiece for Team Sky.
Kimmage’s piece in The Sunday Independent last weekend was a good one.
He probed the doping allegations and outlined very clearly why Team Sky had gotten itself into the mess it is in and outlined some of the steps it could take to more transparent.
His implying the team’s unwillingness to throw around the personal phone numbers of its medical staff like snuff at a wake was proof of a lack of transparency was a strange observation in an otherwise good read.
Walsh’s piece in The Sunday Times consisted of him having a chat with Froome on a veranda during the Tour.
It seemed very important to Walsh to show (a) that he had Froome’s number and was texting him and that (b) he met him away from the hoard of other hacks following the race.
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He really needn’t have bothered the race leader for an audience as Froome’s comments to him were exactly the same as they’ve been in press conferences since the race started.
Reading the piece was like reading the online stories that have appeared every day during the previous week.
While Walsh and Kimmage soldiered together at The Sunday Times for years in the trenches under fire from Lance Armstrong – and the sport of cycling in general, it must be said; the difference in the tone of their pieces last weekend was quite incredible.
Walsh got very, very tetchy with the Ger Gilroy when quizzed about his coverage. You can listen to the interview in the first clip below.
And then Kimmage’s insightful interview with Gilroy from the previous night is the second piece item below.
David Walsh on Off The Ball
Paul Kimmage on Off The Ball
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