No more ITV Tour de France coverage

I’ve waxed and waned with following pro cycling over the years, but I’ve always dipped in and out of the ITV coverage of le Tour.  This year was like the early 2010s again, avoid coverage during the day, get home in time for the highlights to see how Cav has done.  Loved it.

Ned, Gary and David will be sorely missed.

Football seems to be the only sport that has thrived since going pay for view. I suspect that had more to do with it being culturally embedded in the nations psyche as well as the money Sky spent promoting it.

Like others I no longer watch cricket or F1.

What I’ve seen of DH in the last couple of years hasn’t inspired me, the Redbull coverage was a weekend staple for my lad and I.

I will bid a fond adieu next summer, then likely put pro cycling in the box with cricket and F1…

This sucks. Big time sucks. Suckedy suck suck.

Been watching it every season since the late eighties.

ITV coverage is an institution. Summer won’t be the same without that team, as it has evolved through the years…

Gutted

Watched it for years – 50% for the race and 50% for commentary from Gary and the crew. They always seemed to have the balance right on what’s actually going on in the race plus realising that a lot of us also like gratuitous shots of French countryside and pointless trivia on geology.

And yes the highlights show was put together perfectly right down to the choice of each closing music track – I can’t see Eurosport getting any of that right, that was Imlach humour.

As someone already pointed out, more enshification of life.

There’s just something almost ineffably relaxing during the TdF when the Eurosport coverage is being loud and a bit raucous, to turn over to ITV4 and be soothed by Ned & David discussing something gently. It’s not that I don’t enjoy the Eurosport team, because I really do, but Dan Lloyd leaving meant it’s just been much more apparent that they do things differently; both are good, but there’s not always the need for a big production. I just found myself erring towards ITV4 far more in the last few seasons. Less CGI, which is a good thing, but that theme music! That’s a crying shame if it doesn’t get aired again.
Sad times, yet again.

I have no interest in road racing at all.

I don’t understand the tactics.

I only know the names of about 4 riders in the grand tours.

BUT

I could happily watch every second of the tdf as its shown on itv4.

I can’t put my finger on it,  but there’s something about the combination of the scenery, commentary and crowds that makes it wonderful.

Write to ASO pointing out the error of their ways.  Ch4/ITV provided coverage when it was a niche interest, but giving it exclusively to Eurosport is going to lose a lot of viewers and hurt interest in the sport.  They’ll be back to niche interest and no free to air coverage before they know it.  They should look at the example of how cricket suffered in general when it removed a lot of coverage from free to air.

Ah that’s a real shame – watching the Tour through the ITV4 highlights has been a summer tradition for me for about the last 10 years tbh. Sad to see it go

That’s a real shame, great highlights. Eurosport doesn’t come close.

Ch4/ITV provided coverage when it was a niche interest

On the contrary, CH4 viewing figures were around 1M back in the days of only 4 channels; it’s a struggle to get even half of that as far as I’m aware.
I’d wager that there are far more Slovenians watching than Brits, for example.

Thinking about this a bit more, looking on the bright side .. I’ll be getting out in the evenings in July a lot more in future.

So lets say you’re a retrogrouch technophobe tightwad who does not subscribe to any paid-for services, as they barely watch film or tv ever, the only satellite things they’re aware of are in orbit- what would be the cheapest way to continue watching LeTour? Am thinking…. free trial of Amazon Prime then take out a July only subscription to discovery+ ? Watched through smart TV or Xbox…would that work?  Or is there another way?

Gutted like everyone else. As already said, the highlights ITV put out are really good, actually highlights with some other good stuff on slow days rather than the end of the race that Eurosport do 🙁

Will also miss Gary’s sarcasm!

So lets say you’re a retrogrouch technophobe tightwad who does not subscribe to any paid-for services, as they barely watch film or tv ever, the only satellite things they’re aware of are in orbit- what would be the cheapest way to continue watching LeTour? Am thinking…. free trial of Amazon Prime then take out a July only subscription to discovery+ ? Watched through smart TV or Xbox…would that work?  Or is there another way?

Monthly subscription to Eurosport via their web app and cancel once it’s over?

I have no interest in road racing at all.

I don’t understand the tactics.

I only know the names of about 4 riders in the grand tours.

BUT

I could happily watch every second of the tdf as its shown on itv4.

I can’t put my finger on it,  but there’s something about the combination of the scenery, commentary and crowds that makes it wonderful.

That actually sums up a lot of Tour viewers. Everyone watches the Tour in the same way that everyone sits there and watches horse dancing in the Olympics cos everyone watches the Olympics. If you put horse-dancing on TV on its own or on a paywalled channel, it’d get 4 viewers, 2 of whom thought that the weather would be on next.

If you put horse dancing on as part of the Olympics, twelvty million people watch it, none of them having the slightest clue WTF is going on but just kind of enjoying the general spectacle and going with the flow.

Hell, even my Mum watches the Tour – my Mum can, with difficulty, distinguish the front end of the bike from the back end and the only rider she ever knew was Mario Cipollini cos he had a “funny name” (her words) and Phil Liggett used to shout it a lot in the days when he was winning! But she’ll watch the Tour, at least having it on in the background so she can look at the scenery and the chateaux.

WB/Discovery/ASO are going to find out the hard way that the Tour isn’t as big as they think.

I can see the rationale for their decision, but I can’t believe the figures will work out. Pro cycling isn’t yet a major league sport, despite the ASO thinking it is.

Monthly subscription to Eurosport via their web app and cancel once it’s over?

Thanks, and is that an app that works on a common smart TV or only on desktop/ tablet?

Cripes, am so OldSkool…

This is a rare thing, pretty much universal agreement about a subject on STW. I’m trying to remember the last this this happened, if ever?

It’s a shame so much sport is slowly going behind paywalls.

meh, at least now I can spend more time riding my own bike rather than sat on my arse watching someone else ride theirs!!

the Tour isn’t as big as they think.

I thought there was some niche statistic that if you took live spectator numbers it is by far the biggest sporting event in the world… no idea how that translates to worldwide tv viewing stats.

Bloody hell that shit – even though I have Eurosport, I never watch the Eurosport TdF

Whats more I am sure it will have a massive impact on Sales revenue in the UK cycling industry. More people are out on the roads during and after the TdF.

Someone needs to start standing up for TV rights in the UK. No DH mtb and the biggest road biking race on the planet will effect the UK bike industry

@crazy-legs are the organisers of things like the tour of Britain worried about the impact this will have?

meh, at least now I can spend more time riding my own bike rather than sat on my arse watching someone else ride theirs!!

haha, yea it’s always a challenge in July to make sure I get on the bike and out the door before the coverage starts

Thanks, and is that an app that works on a common smart TV or only on desktop/ tablet?

Cripes, am so OldSkool…

It’s now part of Discovery+ so you sign up for that at £6.99, if you have an app for discovery+ on your TV then it’ll work via that otherwise laptops/phone/tablet

It’s now part of Discovery+ so you sign up for that at £6.99,

Eurosport and Discovery + are currently part of standard Sky subscriptions, even if the Discovery interface is absolutely shockingly bad

 It’s as good as it’s going to get, but it’s not the global behemoth it could be.

I think anyone who genuinely believes that elite cycling is every going to be a ‘global behemoth’ is slightly deluded. Grand Tour racing in particular is a bit like test cricket in that it takes ages – a lot of the time it’s actually quite dull – and the detail of tactics etc is complicated. Plus the Tour de France dwarfs ever other event.

And if this season’s anything to go by, there’s a reasonable chance that the next few years are going to consist of Pogacar riding off the front of the peloton to victory at varying points. Without jeopardy, sport tends to get dull.

I thought there was some niche statistic that if you took live spectator numbers it is by far the biggest sporting event in the world

the trouble is, the TDF is a business like most big sporting events, and hordes of people turning up at the side of the road for free isn’t making them any money! A quick google suggest the whole TDF brings in (a lot) less money total than just the broadcast revenue Man City receives each year for their televised games. They are a tiny business in the grand scheme of things. I can’t see this paying off tbh.

 a tragedy

Holy Hyperbole!

Meh, ITV only picked up the rights because C4 dropped them didn’t they?

It’s just sports broadcasting Eurosport are fine, ITV are OK, does it really matter so long as it’s on some free to view channel?

It’s a tragedy for me. Genuinely one of my very, very few “must watch” programmes a year.

The highlights programme is so good that, come evenings in July, my fiancee – who has zero interest in watching any other sport except gymnastics – will be the one putting the TV on and tuning to ITV4 before I do.

does it really matter so long as it’s on some free to view channel?

It’s not – or won’t be – that’s partly the point people are making.

It’s just sports broadcasting Eurosport are fine, ITV are OK, does it really matter so long as it’s on some free to view channel?

Like politicians not knowing the price of milk or bread, not knowing you’re paying for eurosport via some TV package is unforgivably Bougie!

?

I think anyone who genuinely believes that elite cycling is every going to be a ‘global behemoth’ is slightly deluded.

OK, maybe slightly hyperbolic, but it’s still a strangely European (mainland) sporting obsession.  The UK’s always been on the fringes of that, and the rest of the world doesn’t seem to care.

Evidenced by most of the sponsors being very Euro-centric. Rather than the Chinese betting firms that have taken over football shirts.

Unfortunately not Meh for me – Eurosport coverage is basically shit. From Sean Kelly to the computer generated ‘newsroom’.

But who knows – maybe they’ll up their game.

Discovery+/Eurosport is so cheap it’s virtually free. £6.99/month (and no yearly sub) is a bit of a bargain IMO.

Can’t vouch for their cycling coverage as I’ve not watched it, but their coverage of WEC/LeMans is excellent.

there’s a reasonable chance that the next few years are going to consist of Pogacar riding off the front of the peloton to victory at varying points.

.. until he gets busted ; )