It didn't look like a niche sport when the Tour started in England in 2014...
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It didn't look like a niche sport when the Tour started in England in 2014...
Nor the Giro in Belfast but as far as media coverage goes it is very niche compared to other sports.
Also, surely Grand Departs attract huge crowds wherever they occur as it's a once in a generation experience.
Eurosport/Discovery annual subscription is more expensive than GCN normally (in the UK at least) but it's cheaper this week with the discount, so seems like a no brainer for me to get it now. I assume the streams and commentary are the same for both.
I don't think cycling is that popular in the UK as a TV sport (hence why it's on Eurosport, the home of minority sports here). Sure the live races are always rammed with people who just go for the event but I imagine the percentage of those that can name more than 3 non-British riders is very small.
I don't think cycling is that popular in the UK as a TV sport (hence why it's on Eurosport, the home of minority sports here). Sure the live races are always rammed with people who just go for the event but I imagine the percentage of those that can name more than 3 non-British riders is very small.
It was a grand old time 2014, nothing like seeing the collective disappointment of a million Yorkshiremen who've stood on a hill waiting for a glimpse of their hero, the 2014 Tour of California winner to arrive.
Agree that the 'first name terms' thing Blyth does is mute worthy, the Jermaine Jenas of cycling commentary.
Agree that the 'first name terms' thing Blyth does is mute worthy, the Jermaine Jenas of cycling commentary.
A Brit can win a stage race and not get a mention on the 5Live Sports news (which can be 5 mins long sometimes).
Armchair Cyclist
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BBC sports news bulletins didn't even mention Pidcock's CX world championship, and they are normally all over any kind of UK sports success.
The TV quiz 'Pointless' (you may know it as 'Jo færre, jo bedre ') had a round on TdF winners since the war, and pointless answers included such obvious/recent riders as Sastre, Roche, Pereiro, Riis and Evans (100 out of 100 random people didn't name them when asked to name Tour winners)
Outside of people I have met in a cycling specific context, I have met precisely one person I can have any conversation with about racing in any depth at all.
The TV quiz 'Pointless' (you may know it as 'Jo færre, jo bedre ') had a round on TdF winners since the war, and pointless answers included such obvious/recent riders as Sastre, Roche, Pereiro, Riis and Evans (100 out of 100 random people didn't name them when asked to name Tour winners)
Outside of people I have met in a cycling specific context, I have met precisely one person I can have any conversation with about racing in any depth at all.
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Fair enough. Here, I think it's the third biggest sport (based on TV time), and it's only because most Danes have an unhealthy relationship to handball that it isn't second.
I'm watching Faun Ardeche now with GB commentators. They have been saying Vansevenant is Bagioli for over 10 minutes and repeating it about every 30 seconds. There are probably about 5 riders you could recognize in the peloton even if they 'd be wearing a masked singer costume, just by their style. Vansevenant is one of them. Unreal. Bagioli is a sight for sore eyes in comparison.
In my country it’s right up there in coverage with most Olympic sports. Not covered at all and barely during the Tour de France.
Huh? Pretty sure they correctly identified him when when I watched it yesterday...
I didn't watch it yesterday, but a brief replay of Kuss' attack proves they thought it was Bagioli who was trying to close him down, when it was clearly Vansevenant. Jez Cox even talked about "the bobbing style of Bagioli".
It's possible my brain just "translated" 'Bagioli' to 'Vansevenant', because... well... it was so obvious who it was.
Goes to show pretty sure, isn't sure enough. This guy must have said it a dozen times, and kept referring to his style.
And when finally the TV sign said it was Vansevenant, and he says "i think i might have said it was Bagioli" LOL.
Goes to show pretty sure, isn't sure enough. This guy must have said it a dozen times, and kept referring to his style.
Well, I didn't catch the entire coverage. Bit of racing going on in Belgium too.
That's the least of his problems for me. The high-pitched monkey noises and sharp intakes of breath are intensely irritating.
Yeah, I cringe every time hear that sucking noise that multiple commentators use.
OTOH congrats are due to Marty McDonald. During the cross season, he set a world record with a season-long average of 11.78 "as well"s per minute.
Why, was Anna Henderson following the move as well?
For now I really like him but I could imagine he'd get a bit much if he is on all the time but I do love it when him and Dan Lloyd discuss how far back in the peloton they would have been when the pace suddenly gets upped. Lots of good banter between those two.
After being dumped by SBS, Robbie McEwen has climbed aboard the ES/GCN mobile for the season.
Whereas Adam Blythe apparently breathes a lot, does Hannah Walker breath at all? She doesn't seem to stop to take any breaths between sentences, so maybe they can share it out a bit in eurosport/gcn and Hannah can have some of Adam's oxygen.
McEwan is a pro, so will be well aware of Kirby's style and will adapt accordingly.
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