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Eurosport commentary

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Jun 5, 2014
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I usually watch cycling on Rai or german Eurosport. But I also watch the last part of a stage or an important race on British Eurosport.

Dear Lord, Kirby and Kelly ...how do you survive that with those clowns?

Kirby getting it wrong all the time, does he drink at work? And Kelly just castrates any emotion out of any action with his voice.

Quigley and Stephens on Tirreno-Adriatico were quite nice to listen to.
4 days of Dunquerke also. Quigley is quite decent.
 
Apr 2, 2014
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I dont mind the Kirby, Kelly pairing

so what if Kirby gets it wrong, you want him to predict the future... that would make it boring

of course we all miss the insights of Harmon,
...but Quigley I just cannot listen to. he kills any excitement atmosphere and isnt particularly knowledgeable to make up for it
 
I like Declan Quickly...a million times better than Kirby
Would like if he didn't feel the need to fill every second though....needs to pause a bit and let co presenter in....it is not necessary on TV to talk non stop...otherwise he is great

Love Sean Kelly...his wry hurmour and he really knows his stuff
 
inthepink said:
I like Declan Quickly...a million times better than Kirby
Would like if he didn't feel the need to fill every second though....needs to pause a bit and let co presenter in....it is not necessary on TV to talk non stop...otherwise he is great

Love Sean Kelly...his wry hurmour and he really knows his stuff

+ 1

Sometimes the commentators need to remember this is T V not radio.
 
Sep 18, 2013
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Bring back David Harmon, I know the guy has had personal issues and may have have had a few clashes with Eurosport in the past but he was everything a cycling commentator should be.

I have switched off both the Eurosport Tour de France and Vuelta coverage and waited for the ITV4 highlights because of Carlton Kirby. He is rather irritating and his bias towards Chris Froome in particular is hard to stomach.
 
nomapnocompass said:
Bring back David Harmon, I know the guy has had personal issues and may have have had a few clashes with Eurosport in the past but he was everything a cycling commentator should be.

My favourite David Harmon quote some years ago at the Vuelta, it went somewhat like this:

"Greipel winning the stage there for HTC... no that doesn't look like Greipel, it's Adam Hansen i think [...]

Or is it Reynes. I'll raise my hand and say it's Reynes [...] no, it's actually Greipel [...results are shown...] no it's Henderson. We're useless."
 
May 9, 2011
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kingjr said:
My favourite David Harmon quote some years ago at the Vuelta, it went somewhat like this:

"Greipel winning the stage there for HTC... no that doesn't look like Greipel, it's Adam Hansen i think [...]

Or is it Reynes. I'll raise my hand and say it's Reynes [...] no, it's actually Greipel [...results are shown...] no it's Henderson. We're useless."

That's amusing but unfair to DH, who has been the best rider identifier commentator I've ever heard in cycling.

Having said that, my favourite, from a few years back, in some minor-ish race, getting really excited for a sprint, and then as some bloke suddenly came from nowhere to win instead of the favourites, suddenly completely changing pace and pitch,

"And I have no idea who that was."
 
Kirby grows on you like a fungus. Sure he is an idiot sometimes but his enthusiasm usually overcomes his errors and he still calls a finish better than just about anyone. Kelly is a good foil for Kirby's excitable moments. Sean knows how to bring him back down to earth. I think they are a good pairing. Magnus Backstedt and Brian Smith are also good especially with Kirby. Kirby on his own, well I would not survive that. Harmon was good with Brian Smith.
 
Sep 4, 2013
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Dr. Juice said:
I usually watch cycling on Rai or german Eurosport. But I also watch the last part of a stage or an important race on British Eurosport.

I just cant get over karsten migels complete lack of enthusiasm for the gc battle. He certainly knows his stuff very well, but when alberto or froome attacks he acts like its nothing special at all, while he's yelling like crazy when there's a sprint finish (which i find rather uninteresting)

JCLC is classy though
 
I think Matt Stephens shows great promise as a lead commentator. He is one of the ones who gets that you don't need to go on about what's on screen all the time. He is always able to have a good cycling chat with whoever is the summariser. Backstedt's not my favourite co-pilot for him though.
 
Jun 4, 2013
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nomapnocompass said:
Bring back David Harmon, I know the guy has had personal issues and may have have had a few clashes with Eurosport in the past but he was everything a cycling commentator should be.

I have switched off both the Eurosport Tour de France and Vuelta coverage and waited for the ITV4 highlights because of Carlton Kirby. He is rather irritating and his bias towards Chris Froome in particular is hard to stomach.

Fully agree, it is always about what Froome is up to, I know it can be interesting, but I find it a bit more interesting what Contador, Purito and Valverde got up to on yesterdays stage.

I know, most people, has favorite rider and/or team, but as a commentator you have to put that aside, at least most of the times.
 
argyllflyer said:
I think Matt Stephens shows great promise as a lead commentator. He is one of the ones who gets that you don't need to go on about what's on screen all the time. He is always able to have a good cycling chat with whoever is the summariser. Backstedt's not my favourite co-pilot for him though.

Again he does what Quickly does an doesn't stop talking vey quickly all the time...needs to take a breath and slow down abit
 
The updated British Eurosport commentary pairings so far in 2014:

Commentators used for .1, .HC & .WT: Declan Quigley, Carlton Kirby, Rob Hatch, Jonathan Harris-Bass, Matt Stephens, Marty MacDonald
Summarisers used for.1, .HC & .WT: Brian Smith, Matt Stephens, Sean Kelly, Magnus Backstedt, Dan Lloyd, Tony Gibb

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
4 Days of Dunkirk: Quigley & Backstedt
Tour of Azerbaijan: Hatch (solo, stage 1) / Quigley (solo, stage 2) / Harris-Bass (solo, stages 3-4) / Harris-Bass & Gibb (stage 5)
Women's Tour of Britain: Porter & Smith (syndicated - also on ITV4)
Giro d'Italia: Hatch & Kelly (with intro from Harris-Bass stage 1 and Andy Smith stages 2&3)
Wiltshire Grand Prix: McCrossan & Stephens
Tour of California: Stephens & Smith
Tour Series (all rounds): Porter & Smith (syndicated - also on ITV4)
Tour of Norway: Quigley & Backstedt
Lincoln GP: McCrossan & Stephens
World Ports Classic: MacDonald & Smith
Tour des Fjords: Stephens & Smith
Criterium du Dauphine: Kirby & Smith
Milk Race: Quigley & Tony Doyle
London Nocturne: Porter & Smith
Tour de Suisse: Quigley & Lloyd
British Road Championships: Kirby & Stephens
Tour de France: Kirby & Kelly with Harris-Bass
British Circuit Championships: Porter, Trott & Backstedt
Elite Circuit Series: McCrossan & Stephens
La Course by Le Tour: MacDonald & Ottilie Quince
Tour de Wallonnie: Stephens & Smith
Clasica San Sebastian: Quigley & Backstedt
Tour de Pologne: Kirby & Backstedt
Women's Ride London: Hatch & Smith
RideLondon-Surrey Classic: Hatch & Stephens
Eneco Tour: Kirby & Smith
Arctic Race of Norway: Hatch & Backstedt (stages 1&2) / Stephens (stages 3&4)
Circuit of the Fens: McCrossan & Stephens
USA Pro Challenge: Hatch & Backstedt
Vuelta a Espana: Kirby & Lloyd (stages 1 &2), Kelly (stages 3+)
Vattenfall Cyclassics: Quigley & Backstedt
GP Ouest-France Plouay: Quigley & Smith
Tour of Alberta: Hatch & Smith / Backstedt
Tour of Britain: Stephens & Backstedt
GP Quebec: Quigley & Stephens
GP Montreal: Hatch & Backstedt
Wallonie GP: Kirby & Backstedt
Voigt's Hour: Kirby & Backstedt

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

Tour of Almaty: tbc
Il Lombardia: tbc
Tour de l'Eurometropole (final day): tbc
Binche-Chimay-Binche: tbc
Tour of Beijing: ???
 
Kirby's bubble exposed in commentary today: no idea that Stybar had had a serious accident at Eneco, nor who had won GP Quebec. Can you seriously imagine a football (for example) commentator turning up to commentate on Man Utd v QPR and not having a scooby who the new signings were or what their last results were? I remember Kirby's Sebastian Henao boob earlier this year when he informed all and sundry that Sky's self-suspension of Sergio was at an end! He hadn't even considered there was a second Henao on the roster.
 
Mar 27, 2012
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and in summing up what he was describing as a poor season for frank schleck he mentioned several races but had "clearly forgotten" that he almost finished top ten in the tour de france.
How is cycling coverage supposed to impress, engage and educate viewers with someone like that doing the commentary.
 
Nov 29, 2010
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Are eurosport not showing the world champs ??? I'm looking at thier schedule for the whole of next week and all I see is vuelta reviews and tour of britian for reviews ! Am I missing something here ?
 
deValtos said:
Are eurosport not showing the world champs ??? I'm looking at thier schedule for the whole of next week and all I see is vuelta reviews and tour of britian for reviews ! Am I missing something here ?

They lost them ahead of the 2013 edition. Instead, they're being shown live either on a national tv station (and / or its website) or failing that, the UCI youtube channel. The latter is georestricted if the event in question is on tv in your country.

What's on where:

http://intranet.uci.ch/mm/Document/...IRoadWorldChampionshis-TVSchedule_Neutral.pdf

https://www.youtube.com/user/ucichannel
 
May 9, 2011
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Yup, and if I was the UCI I wouldn't want the annual WC to be on Eurosport either, just in case on the day Elena Petrokova (world number 147) and Yulia Lipnistikovic (world number 135) decide to take their dour Lithuanian Open WTA match into a third set, and we only get delayed 15 minutes coverage a few hours later, which is generally what seems to happen. Eurosport is just something we watch because we have no choice, but it's such a shoddy channel and I'm glad organizations are actively attempting to avoid having their sports on it.
 
Hmmmm.

I don't think too much criticism of cycling sits well with me. Although it is frustrating how the channel runs its scheduling, Eurosport are the only channel that I can see 2 hours of a stage in (say) Tirreno Adriatico or who consistently show races like Catalunya, Pologne, etc.

Mush as I would love if BBC and others were to commit that much to cycling, it is not happening.

I am actually amazed at how much cycling Eurosport show.
 

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