NED Boulting has covered every Tour De France since 2003, and the television pundit will be taking a lively look at the soul of British racing in a special spoken word event at Clitheroe’s Grand Theatre in May.

It promises to be a fascinating evening for all cycling fans — just a few months before the Tour De France passes the edge of the county.

With the race skirting Skipton at one end and Todmorden at the other, thousands of North West cycling fans will be heading across the border to witness the Yorkshire leg, from Leeds to Harrogate on July 5.

“There’s incredible excitement about the Tour De France coming to the North of England.

“I’m really looking forward to seeing the Ribble Valley and the Forest of Bowland, where Sir Bradley Wiggins does a lot of his training,” said Boulting, the author or two cycling books on the Tour.

“Lancashire has a huge cycling history, and is right at the heart of the cycling revolution.”

Boulting asks how Britain became so obsessed with cycling; a search that has taken him from the Velodrome at Herne Hill to the Tour of Britain, and the Champs-Elysees via Bradley Wiggins, Chris Boardman and Chris Froome.

The Yorkshire start will be the fourth time the race has visited the UK and the first since 2007, when a Westminster prologue was followed by a stage in Kent. Previous visits were in 1974 and 1994.

There will be a special question and answer session with Boulting following his talk, which is sponsored by The Green Jersey Bikes ‘N Brews Shop, Clitheroe.

n An evening with Ned Boulting, Clitheroe Grand, £13.50. Sunday, May 18. Details from 01200 421599.