You can get hold of me at alex@tourdefranceontv.co.uk.
A site about sitting around on your arse watching cycling
What’s new?
- Primoz Roglic finishes as he started | a recap of Stages 16-21 of the 2021 Vuelta a Espana
- An Odd week with Roglic impervious to all his crashes | a recap of Stages 10-15 of the 2021 Vuelta a Espana
- Roglic leads – but who’s the Fastest Ineos Grenadier? | a recap of Stages 1-9 of the 2021 Vuelta a Espana
- Who are the favourites for the 2021 Vuelta a Espana
- Vuelta a Espana highlights will NOT be on ITV4 this year – here’s where you can watch it
- Victories for Froome and Cavendish, but mostly for Pogacar | a recap of Stages 16-21 of the 2021 Tour de France
My husband looks forward to the tour every year and has done for the last twenty years or more. So to his great disappointment he sat ready today to watch the start of the race only to find out that Phil and Paul were not commentating. To say that he is absolutely gutted would be a massive understatement, he said he will not be watching it anymore and it’s another end of an era.
Phil and Paul are and always will be the voices of the Tour de France. You can replace them with whoever you like but for the non cyclist they are the best. Having been a lifelong racing cyclist, mechanic and fan of cycling I understand that younger people may prefer fresher faces but there is no price for experience. Like many who have left comments, I too are totally gutted!
Alex, please delete the ‘a’ before fresher plus ‘a lifelong’ before fan, thanks.
Have done. I’ve left the ‘are’ instead of ‘am’ though (and also your correction request).
Paul and Phil are the voices and commentators of the TdF. It is the only cycling race I follow to the end. With out them it is not the same. Please bring them back
So NOT enjoying Le Tour this year….these two were “the package” with cycllng knowledge, good friends with the cyclists and so much information about the route, having lived and cycled through Europe. Oh come on ASO …really.
Phil and Paul the Rolls Royce of cycling commentators
I thought the same but I do think Ned and David have improved much this year, more relaxed and loads of good information.
PLEASE bring back Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen.I cannot abide the new team of EU loving,Brexit hating Boulting and Millar.The fact that I know about their political opinions is a disgrace-they are paid to inform us about bike racing.They are entertainers not opinion formers. Due to their patronising and condescending comments on Twitter about Brexit voters,I will no loinger be viewing ITV’s covergae.Thanks for ruining my sport.
Love the TdF – keep up the good work.
Afternoon question (not on twitter) – is it just possible that Team Sky intend Geraint Thomas to be the GC winner and that Chris Froome, who is tired after his other recent victories and has in the past been fully supported by Geraint, is taking the pressure off him AND posing as a distraction for all the other teams?
Many thanks,
That’s a nice idea, but I’m pretty sure it won’t be Plan A because of Froome’s Grand Tour track record and Thomas’s Grand Tour track record. Froome also won the Tour and Vuelta in succession last year, so they probably think he’s capable of a Giro-Tour double.
That said, in practice it may very well work out that way. He certainly is a useful lightning rod. Kind of looks like one too.
2018 TDF is a disgrace,very uncomfortable to watch,not enjoying it at all. I am not a big fan of team Sky but the French should be ashamed of themselves. Why has this behaviour not been condemned in the press?
Would love to see the big teams boycote this race and let Spain or Italy become the premier race.
Hello! I am watching stage 19 on my dvr and I am at one hour and 6 minutes, why is every one keeps pointing out that Peter Sagan is hurting, hello! We know, is like wanting him to quit and rop out! Yes he is hurting, we know!!!! Thank you!
I love the tour de France the fitness of these lads is outstanding, however it is with disappointment that the villages, building as of Interest, the mountains, rivers ext. Are very rarely mentioned, to quite a lot of people it is so good to see the lovely countryside and I’m sure it would make the experience for the viewers more complete. Please could this be arranged.
Why do commentators insist on pronouncing names in the natural tongue. No, we do not all speak French, German, polish, Italian et al, you are broadcasting largely to English speakers, and you detract from the smooth coverage of the race. Yes, you need passion, knowledge and experience to cover the race, but you also need to be informative, and inconspicuous. Thanks, generally brilliant coverage but so irritating
Hi watching the feature on ITV4 coverage on Mondays rest day, I remember that year cycling with my Team MK & Northampton team mates. The year Bernal won the TDF, saying to the fellow cyclists, the biggest danger to the TDF is Climate change as the ride to Tignes was shopped short.
I would like to see one of your presenters interview with Michael Woods the Canadian cyclist who struggles with the support of the cyclists on the road, what should be a green past time.
Regards John Weller
I have lived a stone’s throw from Carcassonne for twenty years this year. I am appalled and embarrassed by the constant ignorant sneering and sniping at the authenticity of this great Medieval monument. Yes, it was extensively restored in the 19th century but the Architect, Jean-Luc Viollet-le-Duc took pains to ensure the work was accurate and indeed, the most controversial aspect, the slate tiling is now considered to have been correct. For the record the Cite we see today dates from around 1130 although it is recorded in the 5th and 6th centuries. To know more of it’s amazing history read about the Cathars, the Albigensian Crusades, the Five sons of Carcassonne, The Treaty of the Pyrenees, Prosper Merimee and Viollet-le-Duc and then, if you still think this great Citadel is a pastiche ask yourself why it is now a World Heritage Site. Please have the courtesy to do your research before opening your mouths.
Enjoyed the commentators. Exactly why do the ladies wear short short skirts and low knecklines