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BBC Breakfast covers the Tour of Flanders… without mentioning the winners; Tadej Pogačar: great at bike racing, terrible at posting photos to social media; Catholics v 15-minute cities; Too much Kwaremont on the Kwaremont; Ronde-up + more on the live blog

The Tour of Flanders is over for another year, and all that Belgian beer has morphed into one serious headache, but Ryan Mallon’s here to keep the party going on Monday’s live blog (warning: may contain Ronde content)
Mon, Apr 03, 2023 09:26
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SUMMARY

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BBC Breakfast covers the Tour of Flanders… without mentioning the winners; Tadej Pogačar: great at bike racing, terrible at posting photos to social media; Catholics v 15-minute cities; Too much Kwaremont on the Kwaremont; Ronde-up + more on the live blogFlanders crash
03 April 2023, 07:59
Flanders crash
BBC Breakfast covers the Tour of Flanders… without mentioning the winners

You’d have thought that, after a decade of British dominance at the Tour de France, the UK’s major news outlets would be used to reporting on cycling’s biggest races by now.

Well, think again.

After an in-depth discussion of the latest exits from the Premier League managerial merry-go-round earlier this morning, BBC Breakfast’s sports reporter John Watson turned his attention to the Tour of Flanders, much to the surprise of every cycling fan watching.

But nope, Watson wasn’t set to describe how Tadej Pogačar made history by becoming only the third male rider ever to win both the Tour de France and Ronde van Vlaanderen, or how Lotte Kopecky took an emotional second consecutive win in her home race, just weeks after the death of her brother.

Watson was on the big red sofa, rather inevitably, to talk about that crash…

So, no mention of who actually won yesterday’s races, or even – considering it’s the BBC – that two British riders, Fred Wright and Anna Henderson, made the top ten.

Or that the Ineos Grenadiers’ Brit Ben Turner was seriously injured in the crash (more on that later), or that the rider responsible, Bahrain Victorious’ Filip Maciejuk, was disqualified for the manoeuvre and later apologised.

> Horrendous Tour of Flanders crash sees Bahrain Victorious pro disqualified

Nope, just lots of references to Maciejuk riding on the pavement (maybe John is in the middle of an intense game of anti-cycling bingo?) and, strangely, “rubbernecking”, as if the riders checking on the condition of their stricken teammates are the equivalent of nosy motorists passing a crash on the motorway.

“When it goes wrong in cycling, it goes wrong spectacularly,” Watson opined. The same goes for cycling reporting on the BBC, I guess.

But who knows, maybe Lorraine’s currently undertaking an in-depth analysis of Alpecin-Deceuninck’s use of resources during that frenetic first hour in the crosswinds? I’ll check…

03 April 2023, 16:51
03 April 2023, 08:55
Tadej Pogacar 2023 Tour of Flanders (SWpix/Zac Williams)
“King of not cropping photos”: Tadej Pogačar – great at bike racing, terrible at uploading photos to social media

Is there anything Tadej Pogačar can’t do?

The 24-year-old Slovenian cemented his status as the greatest all-rounder in the current male peloton (and perhaps of the last fifty years), ratcheting those Merckx comparisons up another notch, by pulling off a staggering solo display at yesterday’s Tour of Flanders.

In case you missed it (which I’m sure you didn’t), the two-time Tour de France winner launched attack after attack on the sport’s most mythic cobbled bergs, before dispatching some of the finest classics talents we’ve seen in years to win comfortably in Oudenaarde.

Tadej Pogacar 2023 Tour of Flanders (SWpix/Zac Williams)

[SWpix/Zac Williams]

It was truly era-defining stuff.

And, as regular readers of the live blog will know, Pog isn’t just the current king of cycling, he’s also a member of its meme aristocracy, a standing underlined by his nonchalant tweet to swanky jumper supremo Adam Blythe – just fifteen minutes before the race rolled out from Bruges yesterday morning.

> "Gen Z and their phones": Tadej Pogačar still replying to Twitter memes... 15 minutes before Tour of Flanders starts

However, it goes to show that 274km of chaos and cobbles can leave even one of the sport’s greatest ever talents tired and mentally drained.

While Pogačar’s pre-race tweet reminded us of his Gen Z status, he more closely resembled your auntie Karen on Facebook in the hours after his win.

In a (since deleted) celebratory post, the four-time monument winner committed the cardinal sin of image posting on social media – he forgot to crop the photo:

Tadej Pogačar Tour of Flanders victory tweet

And not only that, Pog left his camera roll open for all of us to see, with references to David Brent and (rather aptly) cartoon King of the Hill giving us even further insight into his love of memes:

Tadej Pogačar Tour of Flanders victory tweet and camera roll

Tadej Pogačar: king of cycling, king of memes, king of tufts, king of not cropping photos…

03 April 2023, 10:19
Egan Bernal and Pope Francis (picture courtesy Vatican Media)
“Isn’t the Vatican a 15-minute country?” The Catholic argument against 15-minute cities… and why they’re just like the Taliban, apparently

Just when you thought you’d heard every possible angle on the whole 15-minute city debate, in comes the Catholicism, delivering a rousing mass on the evils of convenient shops and healthcare.

Yep, you read that right. Earlier this month, the Catholic Herald, the 135-year-old London-based Roman Catholic monthly magazine, published an article titled ‘The Catholic argument against 15-minute cities’ (I wish I was making this up).

In the article, the Herald argues that the idea of providing “everything you need to live well in an urban setting” stands in stark contrast to the anti-government, individualistic stance of the Roman Catholic Church – which, famously, has never told anyone how to live their lives.

> Why is the 15-minute city attracting so many conspiracy theories? 

According to writer James Jeffrey, a regular in the Spectator, the concept of 15-minute cities will “disincentivise the family unit” and punish those who have children, while echoing the worst excesses of 20th century communism, which led to “millions of lives lost”.

And, if you thought that was bad, 15-minute cities are also similar, Jeffrey says, to the repressive tactics employed by the, wait for it, Taliban.

“I’ve experienced transport being excessively controlled by the Taliban, and I can assure you it sucks,” he writes.

“Their IED campaign in Afghanistan’s Helmand province was so deadly effective that the British Army lost its freedom of movement.

“Admittedly the use of IEDs is an extreme form of traffic fines—but the principle is the same: someone else interdicting your movement. It changes everything.”

Okay…

The article, predictably, has been roundly condemned by cyclists and various non-conspiracy theorists:

However, it does pose one important question: What does the Pope – who, of course, lives in the world’s oldest (and only) 15-minute-country and, by all accounts, loves cycling – think of the whole debate?

03 April 2023, 16:41
Careful now

And now we head over live to the Catholic Herald’s headquarters, where an anti-LTN and 15-minute cities protest is breaking out…

Thanks to road.cc reader Awavey for reminding me of this classic in the comments! Careful now…

03 April 2023, 16:07
Ethan Hayter wins opening stage of Tour of the Basque Country

In better news for the Ineos Grenadiers, Ethan Hayter took the opening stage of the Tour of the Basque Country this afternoon into Labastida, launching in the dying metres of the tricky uphill finish to bear Mauro Schmid and John Aberasturi after an inch-perfect lead out from teammate Omar Fraile:

“The team really backed me, as I wasn’t amazing in Catalunya,” Hayter said after the race. “But I’ve stepped up here. I just have to thank them.

“Omar’s an expert in Basque Country racing and I only had to do the last 100 metres. It’s really nice to get this.

“I broke my collarbone in the Tour Down Under and it took me a while to come back from that, hopefully, this will give me more confidence to keep going forward.”

03 April 2023, 15:50
Active Travel April Fool’s Jokes > Jordan Peterson
03 April 2023, 15:29
Tom Pidcock rues “complete hunger flat” at Tour of Flanders

Last Ronde news story for the week, I promise (and then of course we move onto Paris-Roubaix)…

While the Ineos Grenadiers’ Tom Pidcock briefly looked like infiltrating his way into the Big Three after Tadej Pogačar initially put the pressure on up the Oude Kwaremont, the young British hope eventually faded before finishing a lowly 52nd – and it was all down to the dreaded bonk.

“What a job these boys did yesterday,” Pidcock posted on Instagram today. “Unfortunately I couldn’t repay them.

“It was all mint until I had a compete hunger flat, I’m amazed I even made it to the finish. A stupid mistake, but there’s always next year.”

03 April 2023, 14:07
Maddy Nutt's Ribble Gravel SL — a podium-winning gravel race machine
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by road.cc (@road.cc)

 > Maddy Nutt's Ribble Gravel SL — a podium-winning gravel race machine

03 April 2023, 13:46
Cyclist in Brazil dies after swallowing bee during training ride

A cyclist in the Amazon area of Ponta Negra, in Brazil, died after suffering an anaphylactic shock having swallowed a bee while training.

News outlet G1 reports the insect flew into the rider's throat and stung him. He called the emergency services when he started to feel ill but was found unconscious by paramedics and firefighters.

The cyclist was transferred to hospital following several resuscitation attempts but passed away on March 30, with anaphylactic shock the cause of death.

Back in 2021 a US-based cyclist crashed and was taken to hospital after a bee flew into his bicycle helmet and began stinging him.

03 April 2023, 13:33
“Records are there to be broken”: Massive numbers tune in for Lotte Kopecky’s Ronde win
03 April 2023, 12:57
03 April 2023, 12:26
Throwback Monday

This morning’s Tour of Flanders ‘report’ on BBC Breakfast reminded us here at road.cc of a certain Mark Cavendish’s scathing review of the Beeb’s coverage of cycling following the ill-fated 2012 Olympic road race:

Ouch. I bet that still stings.

03 April 2023, 11:59
Tadej Pogacar on his way to winning 2022 Strade Bianche (Anton Vos/CorVos/SWpix.com)
Lunchtime Pog Polls

Do a Columbo, do a Columbo…

Oh, just one more thing about the Tour of Flanders, sir.

Where do you reckon Tadej Pogačar’s sensational Ronde win ranks in the, admittedly scary, list of blistering performances the 24-year-old Slovenian has already churned out during his still young career?

Does yesterday’s staggering solo domination – punctuated by brutal attack after attack on the Oude Kwaremont, Paterberg, Koppenberg, and Oude Kwaremont again – top his era-shattering smash and grab time trial to Le Planche des Belles Filles at the 2020 Tour de France?

Or do you think his savage Tour-killing attack on stage eight of the 2021 Grande Boucle, though the pouring rain to Le Grand-Bornand, most accurately sums up the Pog phenomenon?

Tadej Pogacar in yellow - picture credit A.S.O., Charly Lopez

A.S.O., Charly Lopez

Or perhaps you’re a bit hipster and prefer his startling entrance onto the scene as a 20-year-old at the 2019 Vuelta, where he leapfrogged onto the podium with a spectacular stage win on the penultimate day? Or what about his Strade Bianche decimation last year, or his destruction of Paris-Nice last month?

There’s plenty to choose from, if we’re honest, so if I haven’t mentioned your favourite above, let us know in the comments!

Super Survey Maker

But don’t think for a moment that was the only Pog poll this lunchtime…

Yesterday, when asked about the potential to win all five monuments (he’s currently on three), the UAE Team Emirates star noted that nothing was impossible, and that “some extra kilos” were all that was separating him from a future stab at Paris-Roubaix.

Which probably explains why the Ronde’s organisers immediately starting supplying him with frites…

What do you think? Is a monument clean sweep possible for the only rider who actually seems capable of living up to the billing of the ‘Next Merckx’?

Super Survey

03 April 2023, 11:27
Pedal Me bike in Londn (picture via Pedal Me pn Twitter)
Transport for London launches Cargo Bike Action Plan, which aims to promote use of cargo bikes and address barriers that prevent shift from vans

Transport for London has launched a new initiative which will see it working with boroughs, businesses, and the freight and servicing industry to promote the use of cargo bikes and transform how deliveries and servicing trips are made in the capital.

According to TfL, cargo bikes could replace up to four percent of van kilometres by 2030, a figure that rises to 17 percent in central London.

The government’s Cargo Bike Action Plan, which was launched on Friday at the National Cargo Bike Summit in London, will aim to address the barriers that inhibit or prevent a shift from vans to two wheels.

The plan will involve developing a London safety standard for cargo bikes, exploring opportunities to provide space, such as micro-hubs and parking to support last mile cargo bike operations, monitoring key cargo bike routes, supporting further cargo bike uptake, ensuring suitable capacity for cargo bikes on future TfL cycle schemes, and providing businesses with the tool and information they need to make the switch to cargo bikes.

> “Adrian, you’re wrong!” Pedal Me’s co-founder on cargo bikes

“Cargo bikes are no longer a niche concept, and they can be real game changers when it comes to delivering freight and servicing trips,” says London’s cycling and walking commissioner Will Norman.

“Not only do they provide environmental benefits by not contributing to air pollution, they also make journeys more efficient, and present a much lower risk of danger to people walking and cycling than vans and HGVs.

“I’m delighted that TfL is launching this action plan to explore how we can grow the use of cargo bikes on our road, to help both the environment and the health of Londoners, and build a better, safer, greener London for everyone.”

Just don’t tell Adrian Chiles…

03 April 2023, 10:58
“Stick to grand tours please”: Mathieu van der Poel speaks for every classics rider in the peloton
03 April 2023, 09:27
Lotte Kopecky (Zac Williams/SWpix.com)
Ronde round-up: Injury updates, more Pog memes, German ex-pro stag do vibes, and too much Kwaremont on the Kwaremont

Yesterday’s Tours of Flanders were something else, weren’t they?

They had basically everything you could want from a cold Sunday in early April: a frenetic and chaotic start, crosswinds and echelons, controversy (though we could have done without the mass crashes, I suppose), a trademark Koppenberg squeeze, tactical intrigue and long-range attacks from favourites, and, finally, two worthy winners and two staggering solo performances.

Tadej Pogacar Mathieu van der Poel 2023 Tour of Flanders (SWpix/Zac Williams)

(SWpix/Zac Williams)

With the Flanders buzz only starting to fade away now, and with the aim of not making it a very long day on the live blog for any non-racing fans (I’m sorry), I’ve decided to compile some of the news – and memes, there are always memes – into the following Tour of Flanders round-up.

Or Ronde-up (sorry, again)…

In the midst of all the action-packed racing, yesterday proved a day of carnage for much of the peloton.

The big pile-up of the day, sparked by Bahrain-Victorious’ Filip Maciejuk’s risky off-road dash to the front (you know, the one covered by BBC Breakfast), left several riders injured.

UAE Team Emirates’ Tim Wellens – who was set to play a key role for Tadej Pogačar later on – broke his collarbone in four places, while Peter Sagan and Danny van Poppel were among those to suffer cuts and bruises which ended their race.

Ineos rider Ben Turner – whose spring campaign was already impacted by a fractured elbow sustained during a crash at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad – also sustained a radial fracture to his left arm after going down in the crash.

2022 Gent-Wevelgem winner Biniam Girmay also went down hard in a high-speed spill later in the race, spending last night in hospital with concussion, though Matej Mohorič escaped serious injuries in the same crash.

Meanwhile, the Maciejuk pile-up debate shows no signs of slowing down, as Movistar’s Carlos Verona weighed in on the controversy, and the “lack of respect” currently in the peloton:

That “lack of respect” was also witnessed up close by one fan, who assumed he was just going to have a jolly day watching the race cruise by:

Speaking of spills, Pogačar’s attack on the final ascent of the Oude Kwaremont was so powerful that it sent this fan flying backwards into a nearby table:

Or perhaps it was a case of too much Kwaremont on the Kwaremont…

And on the subject of enjoying a beverage or two on the side of a cobbled hill, André Greipel and Marcel Kittel – members of the Retired German Sprinters’ Alliance – were giving off strong ‘dad and son on a stag do’ vibes yesterday:

Oh, and did I mention Pog is king of memes?

While Lotte Kopecky is certainly the queen:

Now, that’s enough of the Ronde (for the time being, at least)… 

03 April 2023, 08:27
Tadej Pogačar uploads Tour of Flanders win to Strava... and gets flagged (by MVDP?!)
Tadej Pogacar uplaods Tour of Flanders win to Strava... gets flagged (main image Zac Williams/SWpix.com)

Looks like a certain Mr Van der Poel was busy on his phone last night…

> Tadej Pogačar uploads Tour of Flanders win to Strava... gets flagged

Ryan Mallon

After obtaining a PhD, lecturing, and hosting a history podcast at Queen’s University Belfast, Ryan joined road.cc in December 2021 and since then has kept the site’s readers and listeners informed and enthralled (well at least occasionally) on news, the live blog, and the road.cc Podcast. After boarding a wrong bus at the world championships and ruining a good pair of jeans at the cyclocross, he now serves as road.cc’s senior news writer. Before his foray into cycling journalism, he wallowed in the equally pitiless world of academia, where he wrote a book about Victorian politics and droned on about cycling and bikes to classes of bored students (while taking every chance he could get to talk about cycling in print or on the radio). He can be found riding his bike very slowly around the narrow, scenic country lanes of Co. Down.

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58 comments

Avatar
chrisonabike replied to Patrick9-32 | 1 year ago
1 like

Nope - they're all debatable as written.  This is now just pedantry since I wasn't necessarily disagreeing.  Indeed in the UK I would guess you're right on the first and I've also heard the middle claim (we become more conservative with age) quite frequently.

However your first link (road.cc mangles them) only shows that responding Christians (and not Catholics specifically) in England and Wales have an average age in their 50s and greater than those than most of the other categorised religions.

Your link for the middle claim relies on an exit poll so is only looking at the voting choices of those who voted.  It notes that old people are much more likely to vote than the young.  So another possible - if maybe less likely - explanation is that actually there are more young conservatives than recorded but they don't go to the polls...

The last - your link apparently relates to a US social study, not a UK one...

I'm not seeing lots of Conservatives (big or small C) cheerleading for active transport (early Boris a major exception).  I also don't see much official enthusiasm from any party except possibly the Greens (in Scotland we did get a commitment to a modest %age of the transport budget under the SNP, we'll wait to see what that's actually spent on).  There seem to be very varied views within party groups (just look at Rupa Huq / Baron Winston...)

I do agree that the least successful suggested contraceptive method is abstinence however!

Avatar
wycombewheeler replied to Patrick9-32 | 1 year ago
2 likes

Patrick9-32 wrote:

This study shows a clear trend towards right wing politics as people age in the 2019 general election: https://www.britishelectionstudy.com/bes-findings/age-and-voting-behavio...

as they age, or is it just older people. I think I've moved to the left as I've aged. Although it's entirely possible I have stayed where I was and the political parties are moving past me.

Avatar
brooksby replied to wycombewheeler | 1 year ago
0 likes

wycombewheeler wrote:

Although it's entirely possible I have stayed where I was and the political parties are moving past me.

I think all the political parties have gradually been moving right.  Does anyone else remember when Labour was unapologetically left wing?  Now, I think they're centre-right.  The Tories used to be centre-right and are now definitely just right (not far right, or at least not all of them...).

Avatar
belugabob replied to Patrick9-32 | 1 year ago
0 likes
Patrick9-32 wrote:

The majority of catholics are older
Older people tend to lean more right wing
Right wing people tend to hate anything to do with active transport

It only takes three logical steps to get to the point where writing an article about how un-catholic active transport is makes sense. 

Realistically, this is one of the catholic church's more sensible takes. Having unprotected sex as much as possible as a remedy for sexually transmitted diseases and famine is more in their wheelhouse. 

Surely, the unprotected sex thing would mean that more Catholics are younger?

Avatar
Legin replied to Miller | 1 year ago
10 likes

I married a Catholic, they chucked her out for having the temerity to marry someone who isn't religious. My hatred for that church and it's bigotry knows no bounds.....

Avatar
wycombewheeler replied to Legin | 1 year ago
7 likes

Legin wrote:

I married a Catholic, they chucked her out for having the temerity to marry someone who isn't religious. My hatred for that church and it's bigotry knows no bounds.....

congatulaions it's normally much hader than that to free someone from a cult.

Avatar
Hirsute replied to Miller | 1 year ago
5 likes

Surely with the mention of IEDs it is beyond parody.

No mention of any biblical reference.

Apart from Palm Sunday, Jesus did walk everywhere.

Avatar
hawkinspeter replied to Hirsute | 1 year ago
4 likes

Hirsute wrote:

Apart from Palm Sunday, Jesus did walk everywhere.

Well, he did drive a Honda, but he didn't like to talk about it.

John 12:49

Avatar
JustTryingToGet... replied to Hirsute | 1 year ago
1 like
Hirsute wrote:

Surely with the mention of IEDs it is beyond parody.

No mention of any biblical reference.

Apart from Palm Sunday, Jesus did walk everywhere.

And the Palm Sunday donkey was a stunt to show up kings in their thoroughbred horses, the 4x4s of the day.

When I see shit like this, I do wonder when and where they did their bible studies.

Avatar
hawkinspeter replied to JustTryingToGetFromAtoB | 1 year ago
2 likes

JustTryingToGetFromAtoB wrote:

And the Palm Sunday donkey was a stunt to show up kings in their thoroughbred horses, the 4x4s of the day. When I see shit like this, I do wonder when and where they did their bible studies.

Reminds me of Luke and his tauntaun

Avatar
brooksby replied to Hirsute | 1 year ago
1 like

Hirsute wrote:

Surely with the mention of IEDs it is beyond parody.

No mention of any biblical reference.

Apart from Palm Sunday, Jesus did walk everywhere.

Oh, right: I E Ds

Avatar
Awavey replied to Miller | 1 year ago
6 likes

I'm just surprised they didn't go for the obvious meme

Avatar
mattw | 1 year ago
3 likes

Has it been mentioned? Aldi have a handlebar light/cam for £49.99 with a voucher reduction to £29.99.

Will be quite basic, but a good backup perhaps. Review concerns seem to be over the mount if anything.

https://www.aldi.co.uk/bike-handlebar-camera-%26-light/p/713061512217601

Avatar
hawkinspeter replied to mattw | 1 year ago
0 likes

mattw wrote:

Has it been mentioned? Aldi have a handlebar light/cam for £49.99 with a voucher reduction to £29.99.

Will be quite basic, but a good backup perhaps. Review concerns seem to be over the mount if anything.

https://www.aldi.co.uk/bike-handlebar-camera-%26-light/p/713061512217601

Quite a few of the reviews complain about the handlebar bracket. I've used a similar bracket that came with some cheap front light and they're pretty bad at being able to stay in the right orientation. I can imagine a whole ride spent re-positioning the camera after every little road bump.

Avatar
maviczap replied to hawkinspeter | 1 year ago
1 like
hawkinspeter wrote:

mattw wrote:

Has it been mentioned? Aldi have a handlebar light/cam for £49.99 with a voucher reduction to £29.99.

Will be quite basic, but a good backup perhaps. Review concerns seem to be over the mount if anything.

https://www.aldi.co.uk/bike-handlebar-camera-%26-light/p/713061512217601

Quite a few of the reviews complain about the handlebar bracket. I've used a similar bracket that came with some cheap front light and they're pretty bad at being able to stay in the right orientation. I can imagine a whole ride spent re-positioning the camera after every little road bump.

I glued a 3d printed mount to mine as the standard mount was crap

Avatar
eburtthebike | 1 year ago
7 likes

Is anyone surprised by the BBC's coverage?  Institutionally anti-cyclist, even the sports reporters.

Avatar
Velophaart_95 replied to eburtthebike | 1 year ago
2 likes

No, and what is a shame, is they used to cover it reasonably well. Since the late 90s coverage on 5 Live of the final 20-30 mins of a TdF stage. Then a weekly podcast called 'Bespoke' and even commentary of P-R one year.....

All that has gone.......They still do have the rights to the Worlds (all disciplines) but tend to stick them on either the website or red button.

Avatar
maviczap replied to eburtthebike | 1 year ago
2 likes
eburtthebike wrote:

Is anyone surprised by the BBC's coverage?  Institutionally anti-cyclist, even the sports reporters.

No, I'm not surprised

Avatar
eburtthebike replied to eburtthebike | 1 year ago
1 like

Coincidentally, on R4, a prog called You and Yours, just had a feature about cargo bikes.  Brief, with the presenter being entirely negative, but the people being interviewed did their best to point out how wonderful they are.

Avatar
Surreyrider replied to eburtthebike | 1 year ago
3 likes

So you mean it was less a feature about cargo bikes and more a feature about why they're a waste of time (& money)?

Avatar
Surreyrider replied to eburtthebike | 1 year ago
4 likes

I can't wait for the day I don't have to pay for a TV licence because I really wouldn't miss much about or on the BBC.

Avatar
muhasib replied to Surreyrider | 1 year ago
1 like

I wonder what would you miss now on the BBC that you are still prepared to pay £159 a year for?

Avatar
Rendel Harris replied to muhasib | 1 year ago
3 likes

muhasib wrote:

I wonder what would you miss now on the BBC that you are still prepared to pay £159 a year for?

Personally I'd gladly pay the less than 50p a day (or much less spilt between members of a household) just for Radio 3 and Radio 4; I also use their website a lot for news, weather etc, plus although I'm not much of a lad for TV there's the Six Nations coverage, then there's the cricket commentary on the radio, the Olympics/Commonwealths coverage...compared to what I pay to BT Sport, Amazon and Eurosport just to ensure I can watch rugby and cycling it's incredible value and that's without watching any of their TV programmes apart from sport.

Avatar
muhasib replied to Rendel Harris | 1 year ago
1 like

Six Nations rugby each year and the Commonwealth Games every 4th year are the only two events that legally require a TV licence from your interests above broadcast by the BBC and 6N is now a shared event. It's ironic that their share of live broadcast audience is reducing but all are still required to pay for.

Avatar
Rendel Harris replied to muhasib | 1 year ago
3 likes

muhasib wrote:

Six Nations rugby each year and the Commonwealth Games every 4th year are the only two events that legally require a TV licence from your interests above

That's the difference, I'm talking about the value of what I get from the BBC, you're talking about the price. No I don't need to have a licence to listen to Radio 3 and Radio 4 or use the BBC website, but as I do so a lot and have the means to pay for it I don't mind doing so, knowing that if I don't it won't exist.

Avatar
Legin replied to muhasib | 1 year ago
1 like

muhasib wrote:

I wonder what would you miss now on the BBC that you are still prepared to pay £159 a year for?

Tony Blackburn on R2.

Avatar
mattw replied to eburtthebike | 1 year ago
0 likes

Will have a listen at the BBC WS.

Strange events at the BBC international - BBC World News and BBC News being merged, I think.

Avatar
ktache replied to eburtthebike | 1 year ago
0 likes

There was some crashing in the F1

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