Eurosport commentary

[Arnout]

I don't think I love Le Mans as much as you do, I'm more into F1 (I know it has problems, but still), but I try to listen to Radio Le Mans as much as possible when the 24h race is on. I get your point about availability though

 

[BigMac]

Depends on what the race is and who's covering it and what streams are available.

For example the Tour, with Piçarra and Paulo Martins and Olivier Bonamici.

And how do you feel about Gonçalo Moreira and Américo Silva commentatting and how do you compare them to the previous duo/trio.

 

[search]

trust me, if you think Kirby is bad, wait til you hear some of the guys that get trawled out for the graveyard shifts at Le Mans. British, French and German Eurosport all have some absolutely abysmal drivel-spouters by that point

no, in contrary, the german le Mans coverage on Eurosport is one of the best all year

 

[Tournesol]

I enjoy Kirby's ramblings and musings. Don't need to be told exactly what's going on at every moment as I have a pair of eyes

Kirby/Stephens are much more listenable than Quigley/Kelly/Smith/Backstedt for me

Quality post.Some stuff in this thread is a bit much in my view,you'd think some folk in here want to see Kirby taken to a field and shot,its pathetic,he's only commentating on a bike race FFS.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

For example the Tour, with Piçarra and Paulo Martins and Olivier Bonamici.

And how do you feel about Gonçalo Moreira and Américo Silva commentatting and how do you compare them to the previous duo/trio.

It's been some time since I've listened to Portuguese Eurosport so I haven't had much time to hear Moreira and Silva and don't feel I can comment. I actually quite like Piçarra at times, but Martins is absolutely unbearable. On the other hand, I know some are critical of the RTP team, but I really like Marco Chagas. Just like on the Flemish commentary I like José de Cauwer and Michel Wuyts even when they descend into nonsense (I don't speak Dutch but I can make out enough to understand what's going on with knowledge of specific cycling vocabulary and the images on the screen), I just like listening to them. Although apparently I'm told the Boonen man-love made Roubaix almost unwatchable yesterday.

 

[Cyivel]

Quality post.Some stuff in this thread is a bit much in my view,you'd think some folk in here want to see Kirby taken to a field and shot,its pathetic,he's only commentating on a bike race FFS.

Carlton is that you?

 

[Tournesol]

Carlton is that you?

Eurosport PR department.Were quiet at the moment.

 

[BigMac]

It's been some time since I've listened to Portuguese Eurosport so I haven't had much time to hear Moreira and Silva and don't feel I can comment. I actually quite like Piçarra at times, but Martins is absolutely unbearable. On the other hand, I know some are critical of the RTP team, but I really like Marco Chagas. Just like on the Flemish commentary I like José de Cauwer and Michel Wuyts even when they descend into nonsense (I don't speak Dutch but I can make out enough to understand what's going on with knowledge of specific cycling vocabulary and the images on the screen), I just like listening to them. Although apparently I'm told the Boonen man-love made Roubaix almost unwatchable yesterday.

I think the RTP team would be better if they had someone other than João Pedro Mendonça leading it. I respect him for being a sports enthusiast, but he's just that. He knows a bit of everything and his cycling specific knowledge is somewhat limited. He drops some fancy words (which he does pretty well) and leaves most of the technical talking to Marco Chagas. Marco Chagas would be perfect as a commentator if he was a aware of more modern methods and stuff regarding the peloton and equipment. He is eloquent and provides a pro insight. Also, his voice is almost as peculiar and appreciable as Phil Ligget's.

Thanks for sharing your opinion and answering to my question!

 

[Libertine Seguros]

I think the RTP team would be better if they had someone other than João Pedro Mendonça leading it. I respect him for being a sports enthusiast, but he's just that. He knows a bit of everything and his cycling specific knowledge is somewhat limited. He drops some fancy words (which he does pretty well) and leaves most of the technical talking to Marco Chagas. Marco Chagas would be perfect as a commentator if he was a aware of more modern methods and stuff regarding the peloton and equipment. He is eloquent and provides a pro insight. Also, his voice is almost as peculiar and appreciable as Phil Ligget's.

Thanks for sharing your opinion and answering to my question!

But the thing with RTP is that the technical talking is generally left to the one with the knowledge, so it doesn't bother me that Mendonça doesn't have that much of it. But regards the voice, I think you're right on that. Just as Michel Wuyts' iconic "armvolle" and "versnelling" traditionally soundtracks the Classics, it would seem so wrong to be watching A Volta without Chagas guiding us through it, and Marco Chagas commentating on cycling in mid-summer is one of those signs that all is right in the world, like a comforting blanket of normalcy.

 

[Hugo87]

For example the Tour, with Piçarra and Paulo Martins and Olivier Bonamici.

And how do you feel about Gonçalo Moreira and Américo Silva commentatting and how do you compare them to the previous duo/trio.

I prefer the first trio to the second.

I don't like Piçarra, because he usually only say obvious or dumb things and then has "fetiche" riders like Taaramae and he keeps overrating them all the time.

Paulo Martins doesn't speak very good Portuguese, tells some creepy jokes and he's a fan boy of Contador/Paulinho/whatever, but it's well informed, most of the times can tell who's attacking and see who's actually in the bunch without checking their back numbers.

Olivier he's a class act, funny, knows facts and stories that nobody knows beside him, has a big passion for the sport, a dream commentator.

Gonçalo Moreira he's well informed, actually knows what's he's saying, but when i'm listening to him, It feels I'm checking cyclingnews/velonews/team's twitter/team's facebook/interviews. The kind of job he does, I already do it myself all year and through out the race, so adds nothing to me.

Américo Silva it's boring.

Probably i'm a bit biased, because I listen to this guys for more than 10 years and i'm just accustom to them.

RTP team... At times for 2 or 3 minutes you just hear the wind, it feels like some Manoel de Oliveira's movies.

 

[argyllflyer]

The updated British Eurosport commentary pairings so far in 2014:

Dubai: Quigley & Smith
Oman: Kirby (solo)
Andalucia: Hatch & Stephens
K-B-K: Hatch & Stephens
Le Samyn: Kirby & Smith
Langkawi: Hatch (first week) / Quigley (last few stages) (both solo)
Strade Bianche: Hatch & Smith
Roma Maxima: Quigley & Smith
Paris-Nice: Hatch & Kelly
Tirreno-Adriatico: Quigley & Stephens
Milan-Sanremo: Quigley & Kelly
Catalunia: Kirby & Backstedt
E3 Harelbeke: Quigley & Stephens
Criterium International: Quigley & Stephens
Three Days of De Panne: Kirby & Smith
Tour of Flanders: Kirby & Kelly
Vuelta al Pais Vasco: Kirby & Stephens
Paris-Roubaix: Kirby & Stephens
GP de Denain: Kirby & Lloyd
Tour of the Reservoir: McCrossan & Stephens
Amstel Gold Race: Kirby & Kelly
Fleche Wallonne: Kirby & Lloyd
Tour of Turkey: Kirby & Smith
Liege-Bastogne-Liege: Hatch & Kelly

Coming Up (from @carltonkirby, @RealStephens, @robhatchtv, @BriSmithy):

4 Days of Dunkirk: tbc
Tour of Azerbaijan: tbc
Tour of California: Stephens (someone said he's doing main comms??) & ??
Criterium du Dauphine: Kirby & Stephens
Giro d'Italia: Hatch & Kelly
Tour de France: Kirby & Kelly
Vuelta a Espana: Kirby & Kelly

 

[BigMac]

I prefer the first trio to the second.

I don't like Piçarra, because he usually only say obvious or dumb things and then has "fetiche" riders like Taaramae and he keeps overrating them all the time.

Paulo Martins doesn't speak very good Portuguese, tells some creepy jokes and he's a fan boy of Contador/Paulinho/whatever, but it's well informed, most of the times can tell who's attacking and see who's actually in the bunch without checking their back numbers.

Olivier he's a class act, funny, knows facts and stories that nobody knows beside him, has a big passion for the sport, a dream commentator.

Gonçalo Moreira he's well informed, actually knows what's he's saying, but when i'm listening to him, It feels I'm checking cyclingnews/velonews/team's twitter/team's facebook/interviews. The kind of job he does, I already do it myself all year and through out the race, so adds nothing to me.

Américo Silva it's boring.

Probably i'm a bit biased, because I listen to this guys for more than 10 years and i'm just accustom to them.

RTP team... At times for 2 or 3 minutes you just hear the wind, it feels like some Manoel de Oliveira's movies.

Thanks for sharing, I agree with most of what you say, and I lol'd hard on some of your points. The last one is priceless. Indeed there are those awkward moments in RTP when none of the commentators speaks for some time.

One of the things that most ****es me off about Piçarra is that he keeps going on Facebook picking questions from fans (obvious idiotic questions from clueless people that rather deserve a punch) and tries to answer them live. It's very irritating because most of them are questions whose answers could easily be found on google, and others are people who no nothing of what they're talking about and only want to hear their name on TV. But Piçarra keeps answering them just to pass time and usually ignores more interesting questions.

Olivier is very good. He knows much more about cycling than Piçarra does, yet Piçarra clearly despises him and tries to pass the idea that what Olivier says is never to be taken serious and that he doesn't know what he's talking a about.

Last year, Olivier bet live that Quintana would finish second after Froome in Le Tour, and both Paulo Martins and Piçarra ridiculed him, saying he had no reason to think so and that betting on Quintana was absolute rubish. And no, they were not joking.

He's very funny and I honestly doubt I could listen to LP and PM for three weeks if he wasn't in the mix. He and Moreira.

 

[Hugo87]

Thanks for sharing, I agree with most of what you say, and I lol'd hard on some of your points. The last one is priceless. Indeed there are those awkward moments in RTP when none of the commentators speaks for some time.

One of the things that most ****es me off about Piçarra is that he keeps going on Facebook picking questions from fans (obvious idiotic questions from clueless people that rather deserve a punch) and tries to answer them live. It's very irritating because most of them are questions whose answers could easily be found on google, and others are people who no nothing of what they're talking about and only want to hear their name on TV. But Piçarra keeps answering them just to pass time and usually ignores more interesting questions.

Olivier is very good. He knows much more about cycling than Piçarra does, yet Piçarra clearly despises him and tries to pass the idea that what Olivier says is never to be taken serious and that he doesn't know what he's talking a about.

Last year, Olivier bet live that Quintana would finish second after Froome in Le Tour, and both Paulo Martins and Piçarra ridiculed him, saying he had no reason to think so and that betting on Quintana was absolute rubish. And no, they were not joking.

He's very funny and I honestly doubt I could listen to LP and PM for three weeks if he wasn't in the mix. He and Moreira.

Yes, Piçarra is rubbish and he tries to "ridicule" Olivier all the time, when he's miles away from him in terms of knowledge and class.

Moreira and Martins would be a good duo to have all year long, somehow they would compensate their weak points. Moreira is more professional and actually knows to interact with fans, would bring more interesting discussions on air and probably challenge Martins to stop with that silly jokes.

 

[BigMac]

Portuguese Eurosport guys are already in the Netherlands where they'll comment Amstel from the finnish line. They'll do the same for Fléche and Liége.

That's Paulo Martins^

 

[Siriuscat]

The updated British Eurosport commentary pairings so far in 2014:

Dubai: Quigley & Smith
Oman: Kirby (solo)
Andalucia: Hatch & Stephens
K-B-K: Hatch & Stephens
Le Samyn: Kirby & Smith
Langkawi: Hatch (first week) / Quigley (last few stages) (both solo)
Strade Bianche: Hatch & Smith
Roma Maxima: Quigley & Smith
Paris-Nice: Hatch & Kelly
Tirreno-Adriatico: Quigley & Stephens
Milan-Sanremo: Quigley & Kelly
Catalunia: Kirby & Backstedt
E3 Harelbeke: Quigley & Stephens
Criterium International: Quigley & Stephens
Three Days of De Panne: Kirby & Smith
Tour of Flanders: Kirby & Kelly
Vuelta al Pais Vasco: Kirby & Stephens
Paris-Roubaix: Kirby & Stephens

Coming Up (from @carltonkirby, @RealStephens, @robhatchtv):

Liege-Bastogne-Liege: Hatch & Kelly
Tour of California: Stephens (someone said he's doing main comms??) & ??
Criterium du Dauphine: Kirby & Stephens
Giro d'Italia: Hatch & Kelly
Tour de France: Kirby & Kelly
Vuelta a Espana: Kirby & Kelly

Jeeez.... we need Harmon back!!

 

[Siriuscat]

For all of us stuck with ESUK.......

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/bringbackharmon

 

[Adam.S]

I don't get the Kirby hate, i love his enthusiasm, he really gets into races, on the other hand i find Kelly totally boring and drab, i know hes a cycling legend and knowledgeable but hes just some bloody monotone. Is he actually part robotic?

 

[hfer07]

I don't get the Kirby hate, i love his enthusiasm, he really gets into races, on the other hand i find Kelly totally boring and drab, i know hes a cycling legend and knowledgeable but hes just some bloody monotone. Is he actually part robotic?

The principal issues of Kirby are the "serious flaws & continuous mistakes he makes while commentating" which are the wrongful riders identification, the lack of continuity throughout the race & how he seems to get lost during important developments of the race. As far as his entuciasm & passion for cycling- I actually support it - and many here perhaps do too- it's quite entertaining indeed - but that's not enough.
As far as Kelly? He's untouchable- he knows what he's saying without the bvllsh!t needed to be filled in during the race. When he speaks you know he's telling it

 

[Swiss Tony]

For all of us stuck with ESUK.......

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/bringbackharmon

Signed... Others take a minute and sign...it might just rid of us Kirby

 

[ILovecycling]

Signed... Others take a minute and sign...it might just rid of us Kirby

me too.

 

[argyllflyer]

The anti-Kirby brigade have a bit of choice in UK today as Rob Hatch and Magnus Backstedt are covering the race live on Sky Sports.

 

[podunavac]

Kirby constantly using the "rich vein" phrase speaking about Valverde is just dull.
It was a kind of witty when it was fresh, but now it's just dull.
He, also, use it only for Valverde.
He's really a biased hypocrite.

 

[JRanton]

For all of us stuck with ESUK.......

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/bringbackharmon

Signed.

..

 

[Rossco8]

As far as Kelly? He's untouchable- he knows what he's saying without the bvllsh!t needed to be filled in during the race. When he speaks you know he's telling it

That was the problem I found..."when he speaks"....he rarely did (last year when I listened). And when he did he was devoid of any emotion. I hope he has improved in that respect.

 

[argyllflyer]

That was the problem I found..."when he speaks"....he rarely did (last year when I listened). And when he did he was devoid of any emotion. I hope he has improved in that respect.

He's been doing 'that' for as long as I've followed cycling on Eurosport!