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As seen on TV: Ned Boulting's Boardman bike up for auction

"Uniquely abused" bike being sold to raise money for SE London primary school...

Fancy a bike that's been on the telly? A Boardman bike formerly owned by Ned Boulting from ITV's Tour de France coverage team is up for sale on eBay to raise money for a south-east London primary school. 

Boulting, author of How I Won the Yellow Jumper: Dispatches from the Tour de France, was given the 2012 Team Carbon by the man Chris himself. It is described as "uniquely abused".

Boulting rode the size M bike in numerous TV segments during filming for both the 2012 and 2013 Tour de France.

He is able to say goodbye to this bike, despite the many memories it holds because, he told road.cc: "Chris has upgraded me.

"I hope the lucky new owner rides with more aplomb, panache and better gear changes than I ever did."

He added: "To be honest, I don't know how bikes work. But I remember where I have been on them. The one I'm selling rode the 2012 Prologue course and the Col D'Aspin."

Boulting has donated it to Thorntree Primary School in Charlton, SE7, which is now selling it to raise funds for equipment for its outdoor playground.

The bike comes with a letter from Boulting explaining its history and thanking the eventual buyer for their purchase.

The bike has been up Mont Ventoux and the Col d'Aspin and from London to Paris. "But not very fast," says Boulting, "since it was piloted by me."

Boulting describes Thornton Primary as "a wonderful school which supported both my kids through their early years and needs every penny of assistance in order to do the same for the next generations."

As for the bike, Boulting comments that its original white bar tape didn't stay that way for long and has been replaced with sensible black tape, but nevertheless "Chris makes them half decent."

Bidding currently stands at £700. Pop over to eBay if you're interested in picking up a bit of cycling TV history.

John has been writing about bikes and cycling for over 30 years since discovering that people were mug enough to pay him for it rather than expecting him to do an honest day's work.

He was heavily involved in the mountain bike boom of the late 1980s as a racer, team manager and race promoter, and that led to writing for Mountain Biking UK magazine shortly after its inception. He got the gig by phoning up the editor and telling him the magazine was rubbish and he could do better. Rather than telling him to get lost, MBUK editor Tym Manley called John’s bluff and the rest is history.

Since then he has worked on MTB Pro magazine and was editor of Maximum Mountain Bike and Australian Mountain Bike magazines, before switching to the web in 2000 to work for CyclingNews.com. Along with road.cc founder Tony Farrelly, John was on the launch team for BikeRadar.com and subsequently became editor in chief of Future Publishing’s group of cycling magazines and websites, including Cycling Plus, MBUK, What Mountain Bike and Procycling.

John has also written for Cyclist magazine, edited the BikeMagic website and was founding editor of TotalWomensCycling.com before handing over to someone far more representative of the site's main audience.

He joined road.cc in 2013. He lives in Cambridge where the lack of hills is more than made up for by the headwinds.

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6 comments

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andyp | 9 years ago
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'here she is'

Has Ned undergone some kind of Robert Millar* transformation?

(allegedly)

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Scoob_84 | 9 years ago
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Annoyingly, both him and boardman were chatting away and joking to each other whilst i was gritting my teeth and grimacing like i was auditioning for a Rapha photoshoot.

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Rupert | 9 years ago
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He's no slouch on the bike that Ned Boulting  16
Supposedly he does a bit of running as well.

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howieph | 9 years ago
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Rondude!  41

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Scoob_84 | 9 years ago
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here she is

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Scoob_84 | 9 years ago
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He over took me going up the Ventoux riding this bloody bike  20

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