Mad, mad, mad; that’s pretty much how the past 5 days have been. Being my first event with a media pass it certainly has been an eye opener to what happens in the press room before, during and after a cycling race.
The Hilton hotel in Adelaide was the HQ for the race, all the riders and staff are based here, and down in what is usually the conference room is a mass of journalists tapping away, feeding the latest news back to the cycling fans around the world. I’ve never seen as many Macbooks outside of an apple store, everyone concentrating, trying to hit the dead line that’s been set. The atmosphere is pretty intense and the usual hub of chat is low. When a little bit of exciting or hot news hits it picks up, people asking one another info on what they know about “rider X”, some guys have a vast knowledge then some surprise me with the simple questions they ask.
On two occasions this week I’ve stuck around the press room being one of the last to leave, a few stick around drinking (free) beer and coffee watching the high lights that are streamed constantly. On these two occasions Paul Sherwin and Phil Liggett both visited the room, I can confirm that off camera there is very little difference to the on camera persona, just the odd word that would get them in to trouble if said on air seems to be the only difference.
Having the chance to see all this has been an insight, you just don’t realise how much work go’s in to the articles, photos, video or radio for a race like this. I’m sure journalists and photographers just go in to hibernation at the end of a season, it’s stressful and pretty full on. A three week race must just be as hard on these guys as the pro’s. There are also the old timers, you can tell the people who have been doing this for years, they know everyone, seem to have a system and also know how to cut corners.Oh and drink beer.
Anyway, enough about the guys behind the race you want the interviews. Here’s stage four’s gorilla style interviews.
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