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bbc cycling coverage

by Jon Burrage
Mon, Jul 05, 2010 13:26
10

Now we all know that the bbc and cycling coverage dont tend to go together, not very well anyway. I was just listening to 5live and john inverdale was talking to their 'cycling correspondent' who said the following about yesterdays TDF stage.

"Mark Cavendish clearly didnt know the run in, his lack of research led to him taking out half the field on one corner" How far from truth do they want to be? Cav was following the wheel of his lead man, the lampre rider came over at a different angle. Cavs lead man got through so why wouldnt Cav have got through if the Lampre rider had not leant on him? Also, to say that he took out half the field is just wrong...that crash happened a few hundred meters up the road.

This chat on the radio led to several people texting in to belittle the tour and laugh about cycling in general with only a couple of mentions stating its appeal.

It just makes me sad.

If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.

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10 comments

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James Warrener | 14 years ago
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I am still following on letour.fr

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Jon Burrage | 14 years ago
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I do find the bbc text updates useful when Im at work though.

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Fish_n_Chips | 14 years ago
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Never trust the media anyway. 26

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nikalway | 14 years ago
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I've found the best BBC TdF coverage to be on Twitter with Phil Sheehan. Does a fine job and plenty knowledgable.

The ITV coverage is the same as for Versus in the States. Phil and Paul commentate most of big races for them throughout the year. Definitely the best commentary pair.

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demoff | 14 years ago
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The ITV4 coverage has definitely gone up a couple of notches this year especially with the live coverage.
They put together some great atmospheric montages as well.

Just a shame that Ned Boulting had to cover the World Cup for the first week and we have to suffer Jill Douglas. It was embarrassing watching her supposedly interview Tony Martin yesterday, rather than ask him questions about his race and performance she tried to get a Cavendish interview on the cheap very disrespectful. Hurry back Ned.

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TheHatter replied to demoff | 14 years ago
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demoff wrote:

The ITV4 coverage has definitely gone up a couple of notches this year especially with the live coverage.
They put together some great atmospheric montages as well.

Just a shame that Ned Boulting had to cover the World Cup for the first week and we have to suffer Jill Douglas. It was embarrassing watching her supposedly interview Tony Martin yesterday, rather than ask him questions about his race and performance she tried to get a Cavendish interview on the cheap very disrespectful. Hurry back Ned.

Thoroughly agree - Ned is missed for his knowledge and humour. Though Gary Imlach seems a bit more serious at the moment when he has previously showed some great wit.

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Simon_MacMichael | 14 years ago
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So the world's best sprinter (and his team) doesn't study the final corner on the first sprint stage of the Tour de France? Er, right.

BBC Sport has its highs and lows, some of the punditry at the World Cup has been shocking in its lack of insight and research, as highlighted by this excellent article from Tom English in Scotland on Sunday.

http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/sport/Tom-English-39The-level-of.6364084.jp

Jon, I think the issue with the Eurosport "live" coverage is that they have to wait for the international feed to come through from the host broadcasters, nothing they can do about it. Hence the sitting round in the studio talking.

They took a lot of flak in the Giro when the end of Wiggo's maglia rosa-winning ride was missed due to an ad break, but the fault lay with host broadcaster (not sure if that was Italy's RAI given the race was in Amsterdam).

Wasn't rocket science to work out that cycling fans (and not just those in the UK) might want to see the arrival of the man who was after all the pre-race favourite for the opening time trial.

Must admit I do get annoyed with Sky for putting those in-game teasers for forthcoming live football matches that always show time of when their coverage begins, not when game actually kicks off.

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neilwheel | 14 years ago
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I'd love to see the BBC cover the Tour.
If the BBC put the full might of BBC Sport behind the TDF, then I bet we'd be seeing be far more in-depth and knowledgeable coverage. I doubt they'd be taking reports from whoever happened to be in the area at the time and have an expert reporting team in place.
From a Technical POV, you can't beat BBC Sport's production values; look what happened to F1 when ITV got hold of it and how much it has improved since it returned to BBC Sport.

Unfortunately, they haven't got the rights to broadcast the event; Sky/Eurosport bagged those a long time ago.

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Jon Burrage | 14 years ago
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agree, ITV4 has been fine. However, Eurosport 'live' tdf coverage on sunday was wide of the mark.
'LIVE TOUR DE FRANCE' it cried on the channel select, however, when I pressed to enjoy such a cycling programme I was greeted with Rob Hayles, Stephen Roche and the guy of gazetta football italia talking about cycling and telling us Brad Wiggins was on the course, ooh, he is a bit slower than Tony Martin.

Why not show us?

Sorry, frustrations aired...positive face on now!

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timlennon | 14 years ago
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Very sad - but goes with Auntie's general coverage of road transport, surely? I'm saying kudos to ITV4 for not at all bad coverage, myself!

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