Giro d'Italia Giro d‘Italia 2024, Stage 5, Genova-Lucca, 178 km

[Libertine Seguros]

And I have a VERY high bar for tv commentators (any sport. any language). There might be about 2 or 3 who do an excellent job unerringly out of 1,000 clowns.

Speaking of commenters being clowns, the Twitter beef breaking out between the whining Belgian cycling old guard and the Grift King himself Benji Naesen and his merry band of sycophants who follow him because if he can make it so can they stands a good chance of being more entertaining than tomorrow's stage.

It will be interesting to see who backs down because as far as I can see the problem is both of them have reason to believe they're in the right. Benji is right that the old guard pundits and commenters are a bunch of selfish gatekeeping dinosaurs with an obnoxiously smug and exclusionary attitude, and the old guard guys are right that Benji is a bandwagon-jumping hack who panders to a largely ignorant following and adds little or nothing of value to the discourse.

 

[hfer07]

I'm happily surprised about the last stages thrilling last 10K of racing - it appears to me the "Poga wild-racing" effect may have encouraged the spirit of break-away heroes to pursuit glory, as opposed to simply wait for the sprinters to mop them up

 

[Valv.Piti]

Speaking of commenters being clowns, the Twitter beef breaking out between the whining Belgian cycling old guard and the Grift King himself Benji Naesen and his merry band of sycophants who follow him because if he can make it so can they stands a good chance of being more entertaining than tomorrow's stage.

It will be interesting to see who backs down because as far as I can see the problem is both of them have reason to believe they're in the right. Benji is right that the old guard pundits and commenters are a bunch of selfish gatekeeping dinosaurs with an obnoxiously smug and exclusionary attitude, and the old guard guys are right that Benji is a bandwagon-jumping hack who panders to a largely ignorant following and adds little or nothing of value to the discourse.

Roger de Vlaeminck: 11 monuments and very good looking
Benji Naesen: 0 monuments, chubby and can't climb flemish hills on a 10.000 Euro bike

Yes, its a close call

 

[Lequack]

Poor Pog has to drink the whole bottle after each stage

 

[Izzyeviel]

Roger de Vlaeminck: 11 monuments and very good looking
Benji Naesen: 0 monuments, chubby and can't climb flemish hills on a 10.000 Euro bike

Yes, its a close call

If Kirby & Blythe can have opinions on cycling, so can Benji.

 

[dazaau]

This Giro deliveries. Great so far, was nice to see a break steal the show, just, and the wheelsucker not get rewarded as well

 

[VeloMaster]

I hadn't remembered these forums even existed for a longest time.

And tbh - it wasn't the irritation with Pietrobon which made me post after an eternity, but rather the frustration with the commentators who kept lauding the co-operation for ages after it was clear to every observant eye that Pietrobon wasn't pulling at all.

I am fine with his tactics. I am not fine of paid pundits being so totally absent of the real situation. Shame to whole studio of those idiots...

I noticed that early on, too, and was pretty surprised when the commentary team only figured that out after it was essentially too late. Sometimes I wonder whether they are actually watching given the number of times the time gaps will be changing radically, up or down, and they wont even notice and just carry on. Sigh.

 

[AnotherArmChair]

that Benji Naesen guy wrote on twitter
https://twitter.com/BenjiNaesen
" in the last 3 years, I've had 5 offers to provide tactical advice for WorldTour, ProTeam teams or riders individually."

Wow ..tactical advice to world tours teams with seasons riders as DSs ...what baloney

 

[AnotherArmChair]

I know everything that happened and all he has done but for me one of the best pundit I have heard in cycling is Johan Bruyneel



https://twitter.com/BenjiNaesen

 

[Extinction]

While both English commentators on Eurosport & Cyclingnews live feed missed it, Pietrobon free-wheeled without even a token pull for 20 kms at minimum. Probably clearly longer before I paid any attention. Chapeau to a trio for believing in themselves!!!

...as both of holding the peloton in bay AND beating Pietrobon anyway without his participation.

Paleni will be getting a favor from EF and/or Cofidis one of these days. Pietrobon won't.

Pietrobon was simply on fumes. He was the weakest of the four. Sure, to then attack like that after sitting on for so long wasn't classy, but on the other hand he is obliged to try and win whenever the opportunity arrises. It's pro bike racing, not a club ride.

 

[AmRacer]

Pietrobon was simply on fumes. He was the weakest of the four. Sure, to then attack like that after sitting on for so long wasn't classy, but on the other hand he is obliged to try and win whenever the opportunity arrises. It's pro bike racing, not a club ride.

I prefer a Politt

 

[Bolder]

that Benji Naesen guy wrote on twitter
https://twitter.com/BenjiNaesen
" in the last 3 years, I've had 5 offers to provide tactical advice for WorldTour, ProTeam teams or riders individually."

Wow ..tactical advice to world tours teams with seasons riders as DSs ...what baloney

I did find that odd, and yet he and his LR partner did/do work for Visma, with no apparent illl effects. There are a few other sports, including baseball, where you don't have to have played the game to be a successful team employee.

But I think they were mostly doing video analysis rather than, say, developing a TDF plan. They might be seeing things that the DSs don't have time to look for.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

I did find that odd, and yet he and his LR partner did/do work for Visma, with no apparent illl effects. There are a few other sports, including baseball, where you don't have to have played the game to be a successful team employee.

But I think they were mostly doing video analysis rather than, say, developing a TDF plan. They might be seeing things that the DSs don't have time to look for.

Don't forget "and lying about it to pretend to maintain objectivity, meaning he still had access to other teams' and riders' data and info, while serving as a shill and a mouthpiece for every ridiculously narrow-minded and selfish idea that team's money-grubbing boss has and throwing tantrums about any criticism of either himself or his former boss".

 

[Red Rick]

Speaking of commenters being clowns, the Twitter beef breaking out between the whining Belgian cycling old guard and the Grift King himself Benji Naesen and his merry band of sycophants who follow him because if he can make it so can they stands a good chance of being more entertaining than tomorrow's stage.

It will be interesting to see who backs down because as far as I can see the problem is both of them have reason to believe they're in the right. Benji is right that the old guard pundits and commenters are a bunch of selfish gatekeeping dinosaurs with an obnoxiously smug and exclusionary attitude, and the old guard guys are right that Benji is a bandwagon-jumping hack who panders to a largely ignorant following and adds little or nothing of value to the discourse.

Twitter influencer Libertine is the hero cycling needs but not the one it deserves

 

[ZamlinusYoutubeious]

Twitter influencer Libertine is the hero cycling needs but not the one it deserves

Libs is on twitter/X?

 

[pastronef]

Never liked them. At times they are passable, at times unbearable. Way too partisan in anglo-centricism even in their good days.

I would prefer commentary in Euskara but it is not available on my subscriptions. Best sports commentary is usually the one which relays the emotion but you don't understand what they say.

And I have a VERY high bar for tv commentators (any sport. any language). There might be about 2 or 3 who do an excellent job unerringly out of 1,000 clowns.

yep, I guessed you didn't like them already. I like them, I'm Italian, but I don't like the Italian Eurosport commenraty, prefer Rai-tv. I'm very biased towards the Brits, so I enjoy them. McEwen, Blythe, Hatch and co.

 

[pastronef]

If Kirby & Blythe can have opinions on cycling, so can Benji.

Blythe is great for me

 

[Lequack]

Lipowitz lost a minute...

Out with sickness

https://twitter.com/x/status/1788495647634587674

View: https://twitter.com/BORAhansgrohe/status/1788495647634587674

 

[AnotherArmChair]

Bora are calling him Lipo so its official

Its a shame really as would love to have seen what he could do on a mountain top stage ..esp if in a break

 

[Red Rick]

Don't forget "and lying about it to pretend to maintain objectivity, meaning he still had access to other teams' and riders' data and info, while serving as a shill and a mouthpiece for every ridiculously narrow-minded and selfish idea that team's money-grubbing boss has and throwing tantrums about any criticism of either himself or his former boss".

It's actually the only reason I can see why teams would wanna work with him. He never says anything interesting and his only claim to fame is stupid catchphrases like tugbuddy and fake news climbs. His tactics literally never go furgher than "put teammate in break and inshallah".

It's so weird to me that a lot of fans worship the ground he walks on

 

[Libertine Seguros]

It's so weird to me that a lot of fans worship the ground he walks on

Because, like Jose Been, he's a story of somebody who was just an enthusiastic fan and computer game player who has gone on to be able to make a living from the sport. It's presented in a way that somebody who doesn't know much about cycling can watch, understand and feel knowledgeable for understanding, even if it's only just beyond surface level and surfing populist trends on Twitter for engagement purposes (and then bragging about engagement and subscriber count as a 'gotcha' to the people with actual insight and knowledge). It's not for nothing that the criticism coming from the 'old guard' cycling personalities has derided him as exploiting naïveté and ignorance to build a fanbase of novice fans. It's like if a popular Madden Youtuber suddenly became an NFL pundit - to be a successful social media personality you have to have something that makes people keep coming back to see/hear/read you, so having that guy/girl on the NFL coverage would be popular with certain audience sections, but the people who've played, coached or managed at the highest level will never treat them with real respect. But if they treat them with open disrespect, the social media personality's fans will rush to their defence. And one thing Benji is really good at is stirring up polarised opinions so that he can pick the more popular side, or at least wait until Richard Plugge tells him what his opinion should be.

He's an absolute grifter, but the old media personalities are hardly covering themselves with glory here either and only serve to entrench his fans' viewpoints and let him continue the charade of being some benevolent character simply out to have a positive impact on the sport.