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Tributes paid to cycling journalist Richard Moore, who has died aged 49

Tributes have poured in for the cycling journalist and award-winning author Richard Moore who died on Monday, aged 49.

Provided by The Guardian Photograph: Simon Gill/Alamy

The highly respected writer was a former racing cyclist himself, who represented Great Britain during his career and Scotland at the 1998 Commonwealth Games, where he competed in the road race and the time trial.

In a moving Twitter post, the Eurosport presenter Orla Chennaoui said of the shock news: “On Monday, our hearts were crushed and the air sucked from our lungs. Words can never do justice. Richard, you were the best of us. You charged from the front. You made shit happen. You were one of the few friends who never, ever let me down. You never let anyone down.”

Moore was a regular fixture in the Guardian and Sunday Times, Scottish publications such as The Herald and The Scotsman and also wrote for Cycling Weekly for a number of years. His book In Search of Robert Miller won the best biography award at the 2008 British Sports Book Awards, while he penned volumes on Chris Hoy, Team Sky, and the Tour de France.

He will perhaps most be remembered in the cycling community for founding the Cycling Podcast in 2013 with journalist colleagues Lionel Birnie and Daniel Friebe.

On Wednesday morning, the Podcast broke the news of Moore’s passing, stating: “Monday was an unfathomably difficult day. In the morning we received the news that our leader, lynchpin, friend and brother Richard Moore had passed away. We are all shattered.

“Before the podcast’s genesis in 2013, Richard had already built one flourishing career as a brilliant, versatile and prolific author and journalist. His books won awards, his warmth and humour drew friends – an enormous circle of the most diverse personality types spanning sports and continents.

“To us, he was a force of nature, unerring but above all unifying. There can be no consolation today, but the closest thing is knowing that the network of affection and love he knitted will now become an edifice of support for those most deeply affected by this loss.”