At the first Rouleur Classic show in London two years’ back, I was chatting with Pippa when one of our esteemed writers approached – Morten Okbo, the Danish Blues Brother, possibly the coolest man in the building. Suited, booted, and hatted, as always.
He’d had a few, but so had I by then. He looked me in the face, then turned to Pippa, and waited for an introduction that was not forthcoming.
“Hi. I’m Morten. I write for Rouleur. What do you do?”
Pippa glanced my way, with a deliciously mischievious smile on her lips, and replied: “I write for Rouleur, too.”
She said how much she enjoyed Morten’s writing, while he was somewhat on the back foot. He digested this information, tried to compute it, then wandered off, slightly puzzled.
I caught with up him later. “You know who that was, don’t you?” I asked, knowing full well he didn’t.
When I told him, there was copious swearing, and regret at having met someone who was one of those riders whose exploits had got us both into cycling in the first place, and not even realised.
Pippa was formerly Robert Millar, and writes a column for Rouleur, which is one of the most popular and insightful reads in the magazine, as well as fine regular columns for cyclingnews.
She has guarded her privacy fiercely over the last ten years – including intrusions from the tabloid press – but now feels that the time is right to make a public announcement, and that society has now become accepting of gender issues and transitioning. The world may have gone backwards in many respects over the past decade, but thankfully, in this instance, we have seen vast improvements.
Pippa will be commentating for ITV4 next week on its Tour de France coverage. She will undoubtedly be as insightful, witty, acerbic and cutting as ever.
Tune in, if you can, and welcome Philippa York to your television commentary team. She knows more that the rest of us put together. And has the spotty jersey to prove it.
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