StepDown

Now that the TdF is winding down time to review the coverage seen on NBCSN and NBC.

BEST
• Phil and Paul celebrating 30 years together covering the Tour (fun fact Paul McCartney put them in his song “Let’em In”, just kidding the lyrics are Phil and Don but sounds like Phil and Paul)
• HD video on NBC GOLD well worth 30 bucks for all those races
• Inside the Tour with Christian Vandervelde
• Christian’s Stage Preview where he rides part of the stage
• Steve Porino’s Inside the Peloton-he has some really great inside about how the race is unfolding in real time
• Jens Voigt who has pulled back the curtain on the Peloton and offered some truly AMAZING insight gained in his 17 years riding the Tour
• The continuing travel log naming the churches, monastery’s, chalet’s, church’s, historical markers and all the rest. I said this before but there are a lot of folks who could care less about a bike race and watch the TdF as a travel show

WORST
• Pre-Race Show- any cycling fan could care less about, Bob Roll and Christian’s “speculating” on the what may happen on the upcoming stage. I could have the same conversation with my friends at work, it’s arm chair Quarter Backing and a WASTE of 30 minutes of TV time
• Prime Time Show- same as above, WASTE of time except for the interviews
• Pick A Winner segment-who cares about their picks and who is leading, get rid of it
• Pushing the NBC Fantasy game, over and over and over, if I want to play fantasy I will go to the big boy sites
• Ask Bobke-what great insight could a guy that rode in 3 TdF’s have to offer anyone. Here’s one of this year’s Ask BobKe questions, “why is there a + sign by all the riders times from 2nd place on down when they are actually behind the race leader’s time, shouldn’t that be – xx:xx time”. In 1998 my 5 year old nephew ask me that same question as soon as he was able to add and subtract. BobKe’s TdF records ,finished 63rd (1986),[5] DNF due to a crash (1987),[6] finished 132nd (1990).[7] was supposed to start the 1988 Tour de France but dropped out the day before the race began due to illness.
• NBC promo calling the Tour the “Road to RIO”, these two are not related in any way, NBC is desperately worried about RIO which has all the ingredients to be a “recipe for disaster”.
• Non-stop Peter Sagan celebrity worship, did anyone see the segment called “Peter goes to Hollywood” that started with Peter pulling logs across a field in Slovenia, SAD.

I would be interested in what other cycling fans have to say about this year’s coverage.

Vive la France

steppy

texbiker

I can agree with most of your observations. This is how I watched the tour: started off with EuroSport or ITV4 via livestream on my Chromebook while I ate breakfast and read the newspaper. Then I switched to NBCSN on Dish satellite via DVR after I finished my daily bike ride. I was careful to stay away from Twitter. I skipped almost every commercial and watched the post race show long enough to see the jersey presentations.

Carlton Kirby and Sean Kelly on Eurosport are interesting but can babble as much as Phil and Paul but they all are limited by the video feed from France Channel 4. ITV4 commentators were also interesting but I am not familiar with them except for David Miller and Jens Vogt. Jens was limited to the post race the times I caught him.

I am old enough to be amazed that live coverage of a bike race traveling all those kilometers sent all over the world is possible. Streaming over the internet makes it even more amazing.

My process skipped the pre-race show and I don't use Facebook so I didn't bother with Bob's Q&A's.
Up to the tour I could watch NBCSN live stream without extra $$ because of my Dish satellite subscription gave me access. I thought that was a bad change and I refused to pay that.

I missed/skipped most of the Peter S. stuff.

FullGas

just watch the NBC coverage with 'mute' on and a finger on the fast-forward button...

HardyWeinberg

I like Christian VdV and Jens Voigt a lot. I kind of like Paul Sherwin's attempts to bring Phil back toward reality but Paul is off a lot too. I do love all the landscape/architecture narration. I was slightly bummed when they were touring the Manche in the 1st 2 stages, the only place I've been outside of Paris, and didn't discuss the neolithic culture at all, of which there is a lot of evidence sitting out all over the place. Not so visible from helicopters though, I guess.

I definitely hate the pick-a-winner segment and its running tally. There is nothing good about any of it.

I am bemused by Phil. I remember hearing my favorite baseball announcer lose his short-term and long-term memory. Even without accuracy to detail he remained a great part of the atmosphere to the end.

I love Peter Sagan, the guy is just awesome. I can also appreciate that near as I can tell the rest of the riders all hate him. I love Sagan's perpetual 2nd places, and don't mind his wins either.

This year I have finally come around to Sky, I feel like I'm rooting for the Yankees or something. But Froome has shown panache to spare this year, good for him.

I generally don't watch anything pre-race, and I try to stick around to watch where riders I am interested in finish in relation to the stage winner and their competition, but don't stick around for standings. I catch up on all that on the tourtracker app on my phone. This has a been a great year for my work schedule letting me be slack on my July mornings.

I generally don't like watching it other than live. I always record it but if I didn't see it, in the end, I am content with reading the end results somewhere. Yesterday and today were great viewing.

Pemetic2006

I love Phil and Paul. There will come a day when they won't be doing this anymore and, to me, the tour will not be the same.
Phil laughing at himself when he gets something wrong is probably my favorite foible of his.

DLBroox

I've only watched using the Gold app on the iPad and the Apple TV, so I've only listened to Mathew Keenan and Robby Mcewen first, and then Phil and Paul when they throw it over with 50 km to go. They have Jens occasionally come in for color.

I love Mathew and Robby. They're insightful and amusing. Robby is especially funny at times. And they don't ramble. They talk about interesting things. Robby has great stories from his days riding too. He can relate what's going on from a top rider's point of view.

I've always loved Phil and Paul, but now I think they just don't know what to add other than calling names and giving us a look at castles, which I also really do like. But Paul rambles on about nothing even more than Phil. I think Phil is actually more insightful. And I don't mind his mistakes. He always corrects himself. It's not like he's not self aware. But I love them both like my two old grandfathers.

I'm a teacher on summer break so I watch it all live. It makes my summer. I love it. And I'm always depressed when it's over. One because I miss it and two because I know my break is close to over...

Stadjer

I was just wondering 'Would the reporters in America have "The Castle Book" too? That's what they call it here, it is about a lot more than just castles. I usually watch the stage itself on Dutch TV, and the aftermath and analysis talkshow in the evening on Belgian TV (they do the castles too), and those Belgians take their food as seriously as their cycling racing, so they send a reporter to a local cheesemaker to make a 10 minute item about the cheese that is made near the stage of that day. Other days it's about the wine or another local product. I love it.

The tour also needs it, not only because the whole event is not just about the sport but also about France, but it's just not a sport that keeps you on the edge of your seat all the time. Especially not those stages that will end in a mass sprint. Basically watching the TdF is a lot of waiting for something to happen, so please feed me with trivia about la douce France.

Lazyass

I can't stand listening to Christian. He has these quick pauses in the middle of every sentence, his words don't flow smooth at all and it's annoying. I wish they had LeMond. I've always wondered why he seems to have nothing to do with the sport.

Leinster

Lemond was away from the sport for a time, but he's back now.

https://roadcyclinguk.com/racing/int...oMusrAbyugt.97

markjenn

You make some good points, but they'd be made a lot better without the Bobke ranting. We get it, you don't like Roll.

- Mark

Chicago Al 

As I wrote in a longer post below, I think Christian has come a long way and is getting much better on-air. Don't mind him with Bobke at all, in fact this seems to have taken the pressure off Bobke to 'perform.' And it's great to have someone with a recent connection to the riders and teams; there are plenty of current riders who Christian rode with and you can be sure he still hears all the inside dope*. Jens is improving too. And as for Sagan...he's the most entertaining rider out there, and is great for the sport. Hell, if there was an American rider as skilled and interesting to watch, he'd be all over the US news.

*See what I did there? ;- )

Bauhaus1

I have no problem with the coverage. Bobke is fine i enjoy his offbeat humor. Just because he was a domestique doesn't mean he doesn't know anything about cycling, i actually think it adds a different perspective to the tour's ins and outs. I will never complain about the coverage because I had to endure years of John Tesh and his 1 hour per stage Musical theater. And yes, Sagan is the most entertaining cyclist even in the U.S. During the TOC stage one in San Diego the crowd was 50-60% Sagan fans. They call him the King of California.

bikecrate

I love Phil and Paul. Phil actually seems better the past couple of years since they added more commentators. I think it takes some of the load off. Christian and Bob are okay. Some of their mannerism get on my nerves a bit. Jens I have mixed feelings. Sometimes he is so absolute with his observations it kind of blows up in his face. Like yesterday when he was so sure Greipel wasn't going to win because of his bike changes and then he wins.
Overall, I liked the coverage. The main annoyance is the number of commercials. My 82 y/o mother (of all people) was interested in watching, but got turned off by all the interuptions. I can DVR through them, but she doesn't have one. Once again they cut off the daytime coverage of the awards ceremony for NASCAR...grrrrrrrr!!!

dbf73

my impression (and I can't remember or point to the source of it) is that he is fairly popular with his peers. In general, I enjoyed the coverage as a whole

Cyclist0094

First time I ever bought a subscription to watch the TDF . It was well worth $30 to skip the ads and get a few more minutes of coverage. I'll definitely do it again next year. My only gripe is the first couple stages they were broadcasting the mic feed from the motorbikes, that was pretty annoying. Phil and Paul are getting pretty long in the tooth but they still set the standard that their eventual successors will have to meet.

Andy_K 

I'm a huge fan of Phil and Paul. Being able to ramble on for hours without really saying much is one of the primary skills required of a commentator in most sports. I think they're entertaining.

Jens' commentary this year immensely increased my understanding of breakaways. Phil and Paul always do a decent job of explaining the fact that sometimes a breakaway gets caught and sometimes it doesn't. Jens actually explained why and seemed to have a better idea early in the race which it was going to be.

Christian and Bob are solid commentators, but I'm not sure they could pull off full race coverage.

Overall, I think NBC had a great mix.

BTW, I like the daily predictions.

vtchuck

I have NBCSports through DirecTV , but got NBC Gold & watched almost the entire TDF on my Mac. Liked being able to wait until afternoon to watch without having to tie up the TV for hours. Some sound issues at times, but mostly great. Will likely sign up next year, assuming the price doesn't jump too much.

Bolo Grubb

I watched it all through the website or the phone app. It is a shame that the phone app gives many more options then the web page, but it is the only option I have for seeing race coverage.

I can hook my phone to the TV to get the benefits of the app on a larger screen, but that also ties up my phone for several hours.

dcsix

Exactly. And I love this...Ask Bobke-what great insight could a guy that rode in 3 TdF’s have to offer anyone.

Yo-steppy-please share with us what YOUR best time was in the TdF? Bob Roll does not pretend to have been anything more than a domestique-not normally in the top ten!-and yes I do find him to be quite interesting, and a person with lots of insights into racing. He also pairs well with Vandevelde, who while he's a bit tongue-tied at times he has solid, current info. Also, to mock a man's TdF time is uncool, no matter what the time, imho. It's the TdF.

I love the pre-race show.I dislike the daily wager on who will win, and the fantasy game.As for Peter Sagan, he's the best, most interesting thing to happen to cycling in years, not sure why you feel compelled to call it celebrity worship-he's a phenom, the genuine article, and goofy mountain man films and a Grease redux are interesting to fans of his, no matter how sappy.

Gasser5.2

I missed the first week, but enjoyed this year's Tour more than any since the He Who Must Not Be Named era. Phil and Paul are priceless, and I appreciate their breadth of info on the riders, the Tour, and all the areas the boys roll through but are often too preoccupied to appreciate. I agree Christian is improving, and Jens is a hoot when he delivers a zinger with that accent. I loved it when he chided Phil and Paul for being guilty of "British understatement".

Giacomo 1 

I thought the coverage was great.

Phil and Paul are the gold standard and will be tough to replace. Who else will be able to keep my interest for a 5 hour flat stage? Who else can call a bunch sprint like they can? Their age and generation lend an air of sophistication to the telecast, showing that sports can still be fun to watch. They are the voice of the TDF.

I love Bobke. He's a funny guy and I appreciate his humor. I'd love to have a beer and a ride with him.

Christian is getting better and he has some pretty interesting things to say, but he has to stop stumbling over his words and he needs to get rid of those nano second hesitations in his speech pattern.

Jens can really shoot from the hip. Nothing he says seems to be rehearsed. Sometimes good, sometimes not.

Steve Porino is excellent. He always seems to be where the action is and he has a good connection to team managers.

Steve Harris and Schlanger are good enough straight men for guys who are not cycling guys and set things up pretty nicely.

So, all-in-all, the coverage was very good. They invested a lot in this race and they covered nearly every angle. Good stuff!

Pemetic2006

What happened to the guy that was in the box with Bob and Christian the first week?

Andy Somnifac 

He's part of the Eurosport team. And he (still?) has a monthly program, Lemond of Cycling that can sometimes be pretty cringeworthy.