Eurosport commentary

[Zam_Olyas]

Yeah .....

Right, that settles it..i will start watching this years tdf.

 

[One Man Grupetto]

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.

Funny that!

Also, there doesn't seem to be a great understanding that a lot of Pro-Conti teams don't have the budget to sign enough riders to cover two GT's. Squad sizes are a lot lower than WT teams. E.g. Caja Rural and Androni only have 18 riders on their roster, Sojasun and IAM have 23. Sure, if you were guaranteed entry to more than one GT then you could probably sign one or two more (Cofidis have 25 on their roster, presumably because they are a shoe-in for TdF and the Vuelta) but you would generally be spreading yourselves too thin over the course of the year.

Note - Vini Fantini had 25 riders but erm, two of their riders seem to have disappeared off the roster since the Giro.

 

[Pricey_sky]

Well according to Kirby these last 41km's will be over in half and hour. The peleton are really flying at 82kph!

 

[argyllflyer]

As much as I like James Richardson as a football presenter and pundit, he really doesn't know a lot about cycling and I'm always mystified why British Eurosport persist with him. He appears to not follow the sport particularly closely and doesn't seem to gain knowledge from year to year.

This week he has named Cav's team as:

Quickstep Omega Pharma
Omega Pharma Lotto
Omega Quickstep

The middle one there was a completely different team from 2011!

Maybe it's deliberate to tease answers out of Dan Lloyd but his questions are banal and ill-informed, and statements he makes can often can be contradicted pretty easily. I know it's British Eurosport but the talk post-stage should not have been about an exciting, close battle for green (as James couched it) but how Sagan is likely to romp away with it as the sprinters will pick up little on the rolling days - as Dan had to say.

I do like Rob Hayles' cheeky interviews pre-stage though; being an ex-pro he can get away with far more than the likes of ITV's Ned Boulting or whoever else Eurosport have on the ground and they all seem far more relaxed than they would be talking to a 'proper' journalist.

 

[The Hitch]

As much as I like James Richardson as a football presenter and pundit, he really doesn't know a lot about cycling and I'm always mystified why British Eurosport persist with him. He appears to not follow the sport particularly closely and doesn't seem to gain knowledge from year to year.

This week he has named Cav's team as:

Quickstep Omega Pharma
Omega Pharma Lotto
Omega Quickstep

The middle one there was a completely different team from 2011!

Maybe it's deliberate to tease answers out of Dan Lloyd but his questions are banal and ill-informed, and statements he makes can often can be contradicted pretty easily. I know it's British Eurosport but the talk post-stage should not have been about an exciting, close battle for green (as James couched it) but how Sagan is likely to romp away with it as the sprinters will pick up little on the rolling days - as Dan had to say.

I do like Rob Hayles' cheeky interviews pre-stage though; being an ex-pro he can get away with far more than the likes of ITV's Ned Boulting or whoever else Eurosport have on the ground and they all seem far more relaxed than they would be talking to a 'proper' journalist.

Its sad that these channels just find random tv heads from football to throw at the cycling broadcasts rather than people who actually watch the sport.

I saw Ned boulting has a column in metro now

 

[djlovesyou]

As much as I like James Richardson as a football presenter and pundit, he really doesn't know a lot about cycling and I'm always mystified why British Eurosport persist with him. He appears to not follow the sport particularly closely and doesn't seem to gain knowledge from year to year.

I particularly enjoyed this little (paraphrased) exchange before the TTT:

James: Do you think Radioshack have a chance of holding on to the yellow after today's stage.

Dan: No, I don't think so, their team isn't quite strong enough at the discipline.

James: (Being completely serious) Even with Andy Schleck?

Dan: (With a straight face) Yes, even with Andy Schleck.

 

[Cyivel]

I particularly enjoyed this little (paraphrased) exchange before the TTT:

James: Do you think Radioshack have a chance of holding on to the yellow after today's stage.

Dan: No, I don't think so, their team isn't quite strong enough at the discipline.

James: (Being completely serious) Even with Andy Schleck?

Dan: (With a straight face) Yes, even with Andy Schleck.

Ah now, I took that as a joke, James does have a deadpan delivery so I don't think he was being serious there.

 

[The Hitch]

Yeah i thought that was humour too. Afterall in the 2010 tour Richardson Roche and other talked every single day about how Andy was going to need minutes in the mountains on Contador because he sucked in the tt.

And in the 2011 Tour there were the same conversations only with Evans in mind.l.

Richardson may know little about cycling, but he remembers the Tours he presented.

 

[gooner]

Its sad that these channels just find random tv heads from football to throw at the cycling broadcasts rather than people who actually watch the sport.

I saw Ned boulting has a column in metro now

Richardson done a brief bit of presenting back in the 90's for the Channel 4 highlights package but usually it was Imlach doing it regurlarly even then. Imlach works for the Bundesliga and does their preview show for the weekend's games for the international viewers. You might here him on ESPN doing it. I'm not so sure he keeps up regularly on the racing outside July every year. To be fair to Ned Boulting he admits he hasn't been following the sport for a huge amount of time. I was reading a review of his new book and it talks about how he first came into the sport working at the 2003 Tour and gradually getting the love for the sport that he has now.

I will throw a name out there which might surprise some as he is currently a football presenter but Ed Chamberlain is a huge fan of the sport. I know he presents the Premiership on Sundays(which he is excellent at) but he is very knowledgeable and watches each race throughout the year. I remember him on Sky Sports News talking about the Aquila stage in 2010 and I often read his blog where he gives his opinions on what happens in the sporting world. I remember his column last year about the Vuelta and mentioning the climbs like Cuitu Negro and so on. Even just before the Giro he was writing about his tips for the overall and spoke even about Pirazzi at one point while also referring to the events of what went on in Trentino. I was very surprised at his knowledge of the sport and while I know he is tied down at Sky, he would be a great addition if Eurosport could just take him for the month of July. Eurosport do it with Rob Curling for their tennis coverage as he also works presenting the sports news for Sky News.

 

[gunara]

Guys, sorry if it's asked before, I only subscribed to the channel for six months, do you know why in Asia Eurosport often list a stage as "start town vs finish town" (i.e. "Eibar vs. Beasain")? Is there some kind of legal reason or just laziness? I know it's cosmetic, but it's made me watch Romandie on bad stream connection before the last stage, especially after I read here that in other part of the world they don't show Romandie. Then I remembered they did it before in Pais Vasco and Catalunya, when I almost thought they did some Spanish Tercera Division football program instead of cycling.

 

[Zam_Olyas]

Ah now, I took that as a joke, James does have a deadpan delivery so I don't think he was being serious there.

Must be a joke, jimbo knows his stuff . i like Barry glendenning from guardian i think he follows the sport a little bit.

 

[argyllflyer]

Richardson done a brief bit of presenting back in the 90's for the Channel 4 highlights package but usually it was Imlach doing it regurlarly even then. Imlach works for the Bundesliga and does their preview show for the weekend's games for the international viewers. You might here him on ESPN doing it. I'm not so sure he keeps up regularly on the racing outside July every year.

Imlach has done a few other highlights shows this year for ITV, Paris-Roubaix definitely and at least one other, might have been L-B-L. The difference between him and Richardson is you can buy into believing he's someone who knows his stuff. JR just comes across as a bit clueless.

 

[The Principal Sheep]

Imlach has done a few other highlights shows this year for ITV, Paris-Roubaix definitely and at least one other, might have been L-B-L. The difference between him and Richardson is you can buy into believing he's someone who knows his stuff. JR just comes across as a bit clueless.

James comes across to me as a nice enough guy with a passing interest which as a studio anchor I'm fine with, Imlach however seems like someone acting like he knows but really doesn't (much like his NFL coverage).

 

[argyllflyer]

James comes across to me as a nice enough guy with a passing interest which as a studio anchor I'm fine with, Imlach however seems like someone acting like he knows but really doesn't (much like his NFL coverage).

Again, I like James Richardson to listen to and especially when it comes to football, but I'd expect an anchor of a daily show to be able to get things right like who Cav rides for. The examples I gave before are genuine and ridiculous. Imagine turning on Match of the Day to hear the presenter talking about Wayne Rooney playing for Manchester, United Manchester or Manchester City... Quickstep Omega Pharma, Omega Quickstep and Omega Pharma Lotto? That's just bad, especially the latter seeing as they're a totally different team who still exist, albeit with a new co-sponsor, and are a big rival to OPQS. That's not minor detail overlooked, it's basic understanding of who races in WT. If you don't know who the WT teams are, what chance would you have of knowing about the riders?

Kirby's also in a time machine with his frequent mentions of Saur Sojasun.

 

[The Principal Sheep]

Again, I like James Richardson to listen to and especially when it comes to football, but I'd expect an anchor of a daily show to be able to get things right like who Cav rides for. The examples I gave before are genuine and ridiculous. Imagine turning on Match of the Day to hear the presenter talking about Wayne Rooney playing for Manchester, United Manchester or Manchester City... Quickstep Omega Pharma, Omega Quickstep and Omega Pharma Lotto? That's just bad, especially the latter seeing as they're a totally different team who still exist, albeit with a new co-sponsor, and are a big rival to OPQS. That's not minor detail overlooked, it's basic understanding of who races in WT. If you don't know who the WT teams are, what chance would you have of knowing about the riders?

Kirby's also in a time machine with his frequent mentions of Saur Sojasun.

I can see how that would annoy some but to be honest I rarely pay much attention to these sections and such errors would probably just make me laugh. With regards to Sojasun Kirby is far from alone on this, Chris & Ned have both done this during ITV4 highlights.

 

[argyllflyer]

One minute in and we're got another 'Omega Quickstep'!

 

[argyllflyer]

I can see how that would annoy some but to be honest I rarely pay much attention to these sections and such errors would probably just make me laugh. With regards to Sojasun Kirby is far from alone on this, Chris & Ned have both done this during ITV4 highlights.

Saur are anything but with all their free advertising!

 

[The Principal Sheep]

Saur are anything but with all their free advertising!

I doubt their French colleagues are having such a hard time with it though

 

[Zam_Olyas]

Must be hard for a fan who is not so fond of sky in particular

james richardson ‏@acjimbo 3m
nice day and that but @trainsharpsean yates is on with us today. on @EurosportUKTV at 12.45, to talk sky's tactics, last year and this.

 

[Pulpstar]

Seems Mr Froome's radio was working on Toussierre. Also Bradley is a diva

 

[Normandy]

Just watched highlights of stage.

Does Eurosport/Kirby think that the veiwers are stupid.

So biased.

 

[Cult Classics]

AC Jimbo does follow the cycling beyond the Tour, no doubt. For a start he's a fluent Italian speaker and massive lover of all things Italy, so there's no way the Giro isn't on his viewing schedule. And I distinctly remember he managed to take the Football Weekly podcast off onto a tangent discussing Cancellara and Sagan at Flanders earlier this year too, so he also likes his classics.

 

[superconfex]

Ok....whats happen to Harmon?
Thought Kirby was holding fort till he got back from were ever.
If it's been mention, i apologize.

 

[Zam_Olyas]

AC Jimbo does follow the cycling beyond the Tour, no doubt. For a start he's a fluent Italian speaker and massive lover of all things Italy, so there's no way the Giro isn't on his viewing schedule. And I distinctly remember he managed to take the Football Weekly podcast off onto a tangent discussing Cancellara and Sagan at Flanders earlier this year too, so he also likes his classics.

You are right every way.

 

[cocteau_ireland]

Ok....whats happen to Harmon?
Thought Kirby was holding fort till he got back from were ever.
If it's been mention, i apologize.

Depressed,he is