Commentary on TNT and other WB brands

[batchuba]

Anyhoo...

As much as I am not a fan of Kirby his enthusiasm in the last couple of kilometres was kind of enjoyable.

Agreed. The ITV highlight version was depressing by comparison. His entirely genuine explosions of enthusiasm make up for a lot of his many shortcomings.

Commentating highlight of the stage though was when he was losing his mind as the little puppy was nearly minced by the peloton, and Kelly, deadpan, observed:

"good work by the dog".

 

[wirral]

Kirby very much on form today. Lots of info on Corsica enthusiastically delivered. Kelly shining as well and getting his own spot in Tour Extra.

 

[The Principal Sheep]

Kirby very much on form today. Lots of info on Corsica enthusiastically delivered. Kelly shining as well and getting his own spot in Tour Extra.

Don't know what's changed (other than no Harmon) but Kelly seems to be coming out of his shell more and more lately, it's taken it's time but he's gradually getting accustomed to the fact that he's an actual commentator and not just a guest in the studio!

 

[wirral]

"..hexagoning the corners.." Brilliant

Kirby is so unappreciated and underrated.

 

[cocteau_ireland]

Kirby the TTT expert has just contradicted what dan Lloyd stated in the studio. Kirby insists the rider must stay under his limit whilst at the front,whereas the ex-pro says the idea is to go over a sustainable output at the front and recover at the rear. Wonder who's right??

 

[argyllflyer]

Wonder if Kirby has noticed how long it take (about 30 secs) to get from the first shot of the finishing straight to the finish line? reminiscent of DQ saying people that were 100m from the finish in Giro ITT with 10 seconds to go were going to beat the time, despite the severe gradient.

 

[The Hitch]

Saxo tinkoff 300m to go 10 s behind OPQS.

Kirby "and they are going to win you know".

Seriously, the guys is absolutely hopeless.

 

[djlovesyou]

I'm usually a staunch defender of Kirby's eccentricities, but I thought he was terrible today.

He just seemed a little bit confused as to what was going on from start to finish, but given his new standing has top commentator, he has to pretend that he's fully in control and in the know.

I thought his dismissal and general criticism of some of the smaller teams' performances today was pretty uncalled for, and showed a distinct lack of understanding of how a team like Cofidis is run compared to teams like SKY or OPQS.

At least Kevin Seeldraeyers is elsewhere, so we don't have him being predicted as a potential winner for every stage, be it a sprint, MTF or TT.

 

[Netserk]

Saxo tinkoff 300m to go 10 s behind OPQS.

Kirby "and they are going to win you know".

Seriously, the guys is absolutely hopeless.

They'd 'only' have to ride >108 kmph for that to be spot on!

 

[Jazasz]

They'd 'only' have to ride >108 kmph for that to be spot on!

According to Paul Sherwin thats ~ 80 miles per hour. So fast!

 

[argyllflyer]

I'm usually a staunch defender of Kirby's eccentricities, but I thought he was terrible today.

He just seemed a little bit confused as to what was going on from start to finish, but given his new standing has top commentator, he has to pretend that he's fully in control and in the know.

I thought his dismissal and general criticism of some of the smaller teams' performances today was pretty uncalled for, and showed a distinct lack of understanding of how a team like Cofidis is run compared to teams like SKY or OPQS.

At least Kevin Seeldraeyers is elsewhere, so we don't have him being predicted as a potential winner for every stage, be it a sprint, MTF or TT.

He was calling for Sojasun and Cofidis to be canned, completely ignoring that when the wildcards were announced, the UCI's own rankings based on 2013 performances had Europcar, Sojasun and Cofidis as the top 3. Cofidis have won equal or more .1 and above races than any of the teams he was touting such as NetApp, MTN Khubeka and IAM.

I have absolutely no problem with wildcards going to French teams. It's the Tour de France after all. Was he as vocal about highlighters (inbetween kissing Santambrogio's rear end), Androni and Valvolve CSF Inox or whatever they're called this season?

 

[mariposa]

He was calling for Sojasun and Cofidis to be canned, completely ignoring that when the wildcards were announced, the UCI's own rankings based on 2013 performances had Europcar, Sojasun and Cofidis as the top 3. Cofidis have won equal or more .1 and above races than any of the teams he was touting such as MTN Khubeka and AIM.

Yes he was completely out of order there. I nearly followed him on Twitter to remonstrate!!!

 

[DirtyWorks]

Kirby the TTT expert has just contradicted what dan Lloyd stated in the studio. Kirby insists the rider must stay under his limit whilst at the front,whereas the ex-pro says the idea is to go over a sustainable output at the front and recover at the rear. Wonder who's right??

If you took Kirby's comment in context of a three-week race, they'd both be right in different situations. FWIW, the basic TTT is running just above the body's red line, then recovering a bit in the draft. The strongest guy takes longer pulls. Don't add the complexities of effort management over three weeks. It gets complicated.

 

[argyllflyer]

If you took Kirby's comment in context of a three-week race, they'd both be right in different situations. FWIW, the basic TTT is running just above the body's red line, then recovering a bit in the draft. The strongest guy takes longer pulls. Don't add the complexities of effort management over three weeks. It gets complicated.

As Kirby just makes it up, I feel you give him way too much credit here.

 

[One Man Grupetto]

He was calling for Sojasun and Cofidis to be canned, completely ignoring that when the wildcards were announced, the UCI's own rankings based on 2013 performances had Europcar, Sojasun and Cofidis as the top 3. Cofidis have won equal or more .1 and above races than any of the teams he was touting such as NetApp, MTN Khubeka and IAM.

I have absolutely no problem with wildcards going to French teams. It's the Tour de France after all. Was he as vocal about highlighters (inbetween kissing Santambrogio's rear end), Androni and Valvolve CSF Inox or whatever they're called this season?

+1 on all of the above. Couldn't have said it better.

 

[Leadbelly]

I can sort of see where he's coming from though.

Certainly with Cofidis they have been very quiet so far this Tour. I know they had multiple (3-4?) people involved in the crash on stage one, but they have obviously made some sort of decision not to get involved in breaks. Maybe Navarro will surprise us when we get to the mountains, but they've been quite boring so far.

I do disagree with him though about there being teams that are more "deserving" currently. It probably shows a certain lack of depth in talent in cycling, but none of the teams he mentioned would be more deserving that Cofidis/Sojasun. It always nice though to see new teams getting a chance - makes it less of a closed shop.

 

[Elverde]

Saxo tinkoff 300m to go 10 s behind OPQS.

Kirby "and they are going to win you know".

Seriously, the guys is absolutely hopeless.

Kirby has lost it. He is out of order in his criticism of the wildcard teams.
There are no decent commentators on the English language TdF coverage.
Eurosport are pathetic. ITV 4 are worse. I prefer to watch tdp which is in Spanish. I do not fully understand the language but it is better than listening Kirby's drivel.

 

[argyllflyer]

I feel with Cofidis, the strategy is pretty clear - challenge for the GC. Navarro has 2 top 20s (P-N/Catalunya) and a top 5 (Dauphine) finish in WT races so far this season, as well as a win in Murcia. Taaramae is a good back-up plan. Maybe they feel sending riders off on 'be seen' suicide missions early on is a waste of energy if they're going to support their main guys later on.

 

[manafana]

Kirby very much on form today. Lots of info on Corsica enthusiastically delivered. Kelly shining as well and getting his own spot in Tour Extra.

Kirby has done ok, and if he gets the best out kelly then thats a plus.

Shouldnt be slagging the wildcards bar sojasun the wildcards are strongest teams they could have got and least sojasun are giving this their all too.

 

[wansteadimp]

Kirby has done ok, and if he gets the best out kelly then thats a plus.

Shouldnt be slagging the wildcards bar sojasun the wildcards are strongest teams they could have got and least sojasun are giving this their all too.

Why is Kirby so obsessed by Matt Goss? He has tipped him for victory everyday so far.

 

[JRanton]

I've had enough...

I'm going to start watching Sporza's coverage from today. I won't understand very much of the commentary but it will still be 100 times better than Eurosport or ITV4.

 

[The Principal Sheep]

I've had enough...

I'm going to start watching Sporza's coverage from today. I won't understand very much of the commentary but it will still be 100 times better than Eurosport or ITV4.

I'll rarely watch ITV4 for live coverage but have been watching the highlights and oh it's painful, Phil & Paul commentating, Chris Boardman / Ned / other with a pointless segment after every advert break (of which there are many) by the end your not sure if you watched the stage or not...

 

[TommyPlus]

During the Giro Eurosport were continually bleating about Vini Fantini not having a wildcard for TDF.
The crusade seems to have quietened down. Seems odd.

 

[Zam_Olyas]

James Richardson aka Jimbo on eurosport?

 

[Cyivel]

James Richardson aka Jimbo on eurosport?

Yeah .....