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No more ITV Tour de France coverage
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3natrixFree Member
No more ITV Tour de France coverage after next year!! It will be exclusively on Eurosport which is a tragedy, I really enjoy the highlights show with Ned Boulting & co, they’re a great team.
https://road.cc/content/news/no-tour-de-france-itv-2026-310953
I went to Ned’s show a couple of days ago and chatted with him afterwards, but he didn’t mention this, hope they had some advance warning.
DickBartonFull MemberIf they do, then they are likely to know about it now…a real shame as it is good. More power to the people who think they can churn more money for subscriptions to get people to watch this…I suspect a lot will just switch off from trying to follow this and those who do pay are likely to already have a subscription that covers this.
chakapingFull MemberOh no, it really won’t be the same without Gary Imlach presenting and Matt Stephens reporting (plus Chris Boardman if he turns up).
Orla does a decent job holding it together on ES, but they just don’t give it the same production values or put each day in context so well.
6multi21Free MemberOh no, that’s a shame. I really enjoy the ITV coverage. Theme tunes a banger as well.
weeksyFull Memberon ES, but they just don’t give it the same production values or put each day in context so well
Couldn’t disagree more, the Eurosport commentators have incredible knowledge both of the race, the areas, the teams, the politics, the battles.. They’re absolutley astounding
(as long as you ignore the pronunciation of names of riders 😀 )
6nbtFull Memberthe Eurosport commentators have incredible knowledge both of the race, the areas, the teams, the politics, the battles.. They’re absolutley astounding
some of them, yes. Others, MUCH less so. More, that only really matters if you watch the whole thing. The production values on the “highlights” programme fall WOEFULLY short of the ITV version
19crazy-legsFull MemberThe production values on the “highlights” programme fall WOEFULLY short of the ITV version
This. ITV4’s highlights show was a highlight (sorry…) in itself, it wasn’t just the last 30km of the race replayed. It had history, geology, scenery and architecture, behind-the-scenes racing news, interviews, race analysis…
mtbfixFull MemberThe production values on the “highlights” programme fall WOEFULLY short of the ITV version
Hence my only really watching the Tour coverage and missing the Vuelta and Giro highlights programmes. I suppose the upside is that it will free up an hour of every evening in peak summer.
5listerFull MemberYeah, I’ll miss the highlights package – I rarely get to watch whole stages but the hour in the evening on itv is packed and you leave really knowing what happened on the stage.
Hopefully eurosport/discovery will up their game here as 15 minutes of badly edited highlights really doesn’t do the same job. I share a disco subscription with a mate (mainly for mtb) so can still watch but Orla has become quite grating and the banter doesn’t really work for me.
Overall: gutted!
2b33k34Full MemberThat’s a massive shame. A core part of the summer – just a really warm, entertaining show – the whole team were great.
Next year will be a bitter-sweet
thisisnotaspoonFree MemberYea, we have the eurosport as part of some other package and still watch it on ITV (streamed so you can actually see what’s going on rather than the blurred mess of compression artefacts and SD that passes for ITV4). It’s a shame so much sport is slowly going behind paywalls.
2crazy-legsFull MemberI went to Ned’s show a couple of days ago…
We’re going next week, looking forward to it. Been to a couple of his previous ones.
If EuroSport have any sense, they’ll bring David and Ned along with it and finally put Sean Kelly out to pasture.
4onewheelgoodFull MemberI’ve watched Gary Imlach get old, coped with the replacement of Liggett and Sherwen by Ned and David, still remember the original Channel 4 theme tune (and its replacement). After more than 30 years it will be a different July. The end of an ear.
1nbtFull MemberWe subscribed to D+ solely for the cycle racing, then subscribed to itvx (on a £20 for the year special offer admittedly, wouldn’t have paid full price) solely so we could watch the highlights programme online without ads, as the broadcast version is so horrible
9crazy-legsFull MemberMore to the point, how will I know which funeral / cremation plan to go for?! Has no-one thought about the poor donkey sanctuary?
1TheGingerOneFull MemberBeen watching on Channel 4 and ITV since probably 1984, so personally gutted to hear this as well.
I doubt very much I would pay to see it even with my history of interest and enjoyment.
I also dislike the highlights package on Eurosport on comparison.
chakapingFull MemberMore to the point, how will I know which funeral / cremation plan to go for?! Has no-one thought about the poor donkey sanctuary?
And how are those lions who work for Injury Lawyers 4 You going to keep in antelope steaks?
fasthaggisFull MemberShame,I realy like the highlights on ITV.
A good team and their analysis and race comments are usually spot on.
Going to see Ned next week,will be interesting if there are any ‘questions’ from the audience.
3snownrockFull MemberYep, really disappointing decision. As a former lover of cricket and F1 I haven’t watched them in years since they went to sky.
I have a discovery+ subscription so can watch but have always vastly preferred the ITV highlights to Eurosport. There packages provide no context of the stage, either the last 30km replayed or random time/distance jumps without any linking. A jarring watch.
faustusFull MemberWhat a shame – been watching it it since the late 80’s on terrestrial TV, and the current show is great. The theme tunes are evocative, and I will miss doing air accordian at the start of the programme! I got pretty tired of Phil Liggett in the end, and much prefer the current setup, and i’ve always enjoyed Gary Imlach’s sardonic set-pieces…
2wheelsonfire1Full Member@onewheelgood no need to do a Van Gogh, it’s only a change of coverage!
chakapingFull MemberGood to see so much love for it anyway, hope the programme makers know how highly people think of their work.
On the subject of sport and paywalls, it’s obviously worked well enough for top-level soccer – but perhaps ASO are being short-sighted in taking the WBD megabucks and potentially cutting off a pipeline of future fans?
1franksinatraFull MemberIf they are not working on the tour for another media channel it will also mean the end of Never Strays Car TDF.
Double gutted.
2thethiefFull MemberThis is gutting. The highlights show is the most perfect and best put together sports show in the UK. The Eurosport version is so poor in comparison.
1MoreCashThanDashFull MemberThat’s a massive shame. A core part of the summer – just a really warm, entertaining show – the whole team were great.
That’s how I feel too. **** Eurosport.
crossedFull MemberOh well, that’s another sport I won’t be watching.
Sadly, I’ll still have to pay Discovery+ for a couple of months for the Classics but there’s no way round that, as far as I can see.
As much as I’ve loved watching the Tour over the years, back to the Channel 4 days as others have said, I don’t really have time for anything other than the highlights now and Eurosport offerings were crap.
thisisnotaspoonFree MemberOn the subject of sport and paywalls, it’s obviously worked well enough for top-level soccer – but perhaps ASO are being short-sighted in taking the WBD megabucks and potentially cutting off a pipeline of future fans?
It’s an odd one, arguably Pro cycling is like 90’s Premier league football still. It’s as good as it’s going to get, but it’s not the global behemoth it could be. The problem is if they want to grow the audience and make £££ that’s going to mean the classics and other smaller but traditionally important races being replaced by new ones in other markets. If you want to sell cycling to viewers in the Emirates / Kazakhstan / California , you need races in the Emirates / Kazakhstan / California not some rainy windswept corner of Belgium.
Hopefully in 20 years time we’re not bemoaning the lack of Paris-Roubaix whilst riders attend contractually obliged pre-season races elsewhere.
1convertFull MemberCancelled my Disco+ sub mid TdF because I realised I just didn’t care enough. Didn’t are enough to watch whole stages (life is just too important to devote so much of yours watching other people living theirs) and their highlights are shite. The ITV ones were much better. Orla Chennaoui just annoys me for some reason and Sean Kelly should have been pushed out to pasture around the end of the last millennium.
The ITV mob are just plain better at doing their jobs – that’s the presenters, the hired in experts and the editorial staff.
Beyond some grumpy middle aged men – it’s a shame for the UK cycle industry too. The last thing they needed was the removal of free to air access to watching an hour or so of their products ridden by people who look like they know what they’re doing.
1onewheelgoodFull Member@onewheelgood no need to do a Van Gogh, it’s only a change of coverage!
I worked somewhere once where it was part of the banter to randomly insert anagrams into your speech. I can never hear ‘end of an era’ without mentally substituting ‘ear’. Sorry.
Anyway, it may only be a change of coverage, but as others have said, much though I like Orla, the Eurosport coverage is just not as good. It’s competent enough, but somehow the C4/ITV programme had a warmth and charm that Eurosport cannot replicate.
chakapingFull MemberIt’s an odd one, arguably Pro cycling is like 90’s Premier league football still. It’s as good as it’s going to get, but it’s not the global behemoth it could be.
It’s got more commercial potential, for sure, but I don’t think WBD are the operator to realise that potential.
They won’t be giving it the big budget Sky Sports treatment that the footy or (presumably) golf get. They’ll continue on a shoestring with their clunky, lazy editing and patchy commentary and presenting.
Same probably applies to the DH, sadly.
3franksinatraFull MemberI thought TDF existed to be a massive, beautiful advert for potential paying visitors to France. If that was the case, you would think they would want it viewed by as wide an audience as possible, rather than hiding behind a paywall.
n0b0dy0ftheg0atFree MemberRubbish news, won’t pay to watch it. Will be end of an era,
DugganFull MemberOh man, that is gutting though I did suspect this must be on the cards sooner or later.
I have Eurosport but it their coverage seems quite functional and staid to me and you can tell they just lob it together with less thought than ITV. I will definitely miss Ned Boulting and David Miller (plus also Daniel Friebe tbf).
I find the actual commentary on Eurosport highlights pretty irritating tbh (I think its Carlton Kirby and Rob Hatch maybe?) though the Eurosport post-race analysis is quite good.
heavy_ratFree MemberThats really disappointing. They had the highlights package down to a tee. Gary Imlach will be much missed as will the theme tune. Just won’t be the same with Eurosport.
Terrible decision by the money men
P20Full MemberNo issue with the race coverage on Eurosport, but the whole package as others have said on itv highlights is great.
2jamesoFull MemberNoooo…
the C4/ITV programme had a warmth and charm that Eurosport cannot replicate
This… The commentary team were as much part of July as the Tour, for me.
I’m more likely to ride out to France to see a stage or two than get a Eurosport sub. Just not that bothered by racing overall, the Tour is as much about it being part of summer evenings and a love of France overall since the mid 80s, as the racing itself.
1igmFull MemberWill be end of an era,
and the start of an error.
Though to be fair if Ned and David start doing cricket it might make that watchable.
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