Cyclist and broadcaster Paul Sherwen, 62

Paul Sherwen, a member of the Englishspeaking cyclists nicknamed the Foreign Legion, has died of a heart attack. He was 62 years old.

Mr Sherwen finished the Tour de France five times and, together with Phil Ligget, formed the Channel 4 commentary team that brought the race to British screens for in the late 1980s.

The son of Margaret (nee McGowan) and John Sherwen, Paul was born in Widnes, Cheshire, but grew up in Kenya.

He later said his disrupted childhood made him an adaptable person, which served him well through a globe-trotting life as a professional cyclist and broadcaster.

In 1977, after Paul graduated from Manchester University with a degree in paper technology, he was invited to become part of the Athlétique Club de Boulogne-Billancourt, France’s leading amateur cycling team.

He was nicknamed the “climber” because although he struggled in the Tour de France mountains, he had an unerring instinct for guiding a group to the finish inside the time cut on the toughest days. In his final tour in 1985 he crashed on stage 10, causing a massive bruise on his neck and finished outside the time limit. However, after his manager Albert Bouvet fought for him to carry on with the referees, Paul lasted out the remaining 13 days.

He returned to Africa with his family in 1996 and settled in Kampala, Uganda. He was also involved in conservation work in Kenya.

He is survived by his wife, Katherine, and their children, Margaux and Alexander. Cycling’s “Foreign Legion” member Paul Sherwen.