THE VOICE OF CYCLING

GERALD DE KOCK JUST WANTED TO PLAY CRICKET. Then he wanted to study sports science at Stellenbosch University. But the universe has a habit of sending the best intentions along unmapped highways, and he was diverted to the world of cycling – via a 40-year-long commentary career that started in Potchefstroom, during a Western-Transvaal versus Boland Currie Cup rugby match.

- GERALD DE KOCK, COMMENTATOR AND MOUNTAIN BIKER

To say it’s been a journey for South Africa’s undisputed ‘voice of cycling’ is an understatement. De Kock has been humming along on South African airwaves since 1985, covering everything from test match cricket to indoor hockey. Today, he’s synonymous with cycling, even if some excitable mountain bikers still confuse him with fellow commentator Arnold Geerdts…

“I’d been playing cricket in the UK, then I was playing in Joburg for the Wanderers,” De Kock says. “The Wanderers captain back then was Alan Wilkins, who had just finished playing county cricket and was working for the SABC on Radio Sport, the English-language service. Alan asked me to do a voice test, which I did; and then I was offered a job.”