Mixed fortunes
• It had been a long time since I last stood, microphone in sweaty hand, in what is mysteriously termed a “mixed zone”. These are the penned off areas, often festooned with sponsors’ logos, through which riders pass after completing their races, en route to the safety and seclusion of their team buses. They are the interface between the practitioners of the sport and its messengers, the media.
The mixed zone was once my stomping ground, for the first
