Hugely popular cycling commentator David Duffield has died today at the age of 84 following a fall.

Among those to pay tribute on Twitter was his friend and successor in the commentary box for British Eurosport, Carlton Kirby.

Besides his long career as a commentator, which he combined with a career in marketing in the bike industry including for brands such as Moulton and Ti Raleigh, ‘Duffers’ was also an accomplished rider, particularly on a tricycle.

In 1956, he secured the Land’s End to John O’Groats record on a trike, riding the end-to-end route in 3 days, 12 hours and 15 minutes.

His unique style of commentary led to fans fondly coining the phrase ‘Duffieldisms’ and web pages being created in his honour, but he also possessed a huge knowledge of the sport.

Here are some of the tributes being paid to him today on Twitter.

Here he is calling Sean Kelly home in the memorable 1992 edition of Milan-San Remo.

Duffield superfan Marco Framboli, who runs the We love David Duffield fan pages paid tribute to hs hero:

“When David Duffield commentated on a bike race his passion was infectious,” Framboli wrote in an email to road.cc.

“You weren’t just getting a corporate, made-for-TV view of a cycle race, you were getting a genuine behind-the-scenes look, warts and all, from what felt like a good friend or favourite uncle.

“His descriptive language was so colourful that it was worth watching a full seven hour stage just to hear his unique turn of phrase.

“Back in 2001 I started collecting these gems, later to be known as Duffieldisms and publishing them on a web page, simply called ‘We Love David Duffield’, dedicated to David’s style of commentary.

“Very quickly it became apparent that David held a special place in the hearts of fans around Europe when contributors started to email by the hundreds.

“It turned out that people really did want to him about his pet rabbit called sixpence or the time he filled a petrol car up with diesel and had to do a commentary from a hotel room by telephone. I think the very apparent honesty of the man was what made him so appealing.

“Despite his fame in the cycling world David was always very accessible, He once came to our club dinner in south London To give out prizes before returning straight home to Bath.

“He was also very approachable and chatty to anyone that saw him at a bike show or race.

“Coming from a cycling club background, you felt above all, that even with what David had gone on to achieve, he was still one of us.”