No more ITV Tour de France coverage

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

Perhaps, but I get it included with Virgin, others seem to get it with Sky, I’m surprised it’s not available down towards the bottom of the Freeview channels (honestly not looked).

Of course if all people want are the days highlights for the TDF there’s always YouTube…

Meanwhile:

In some brilliant news for cycling fans, ASO have reached a new TV deal with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), ensuring many of the sport’s biggest races remain free to air across the majority of Europe up until 2030

The BBC and ITV are members but it doesn’t look as though all members of EBU are covered in this deal.

Arse. Not happy with the dropping of the ITV4 highlight package.

I wonder whether Pete Kennaugh had advance knowledge of this as he announced he wouldn’t be part of the ITV4 team next year anyway, and has been a bit vague of why/what he’s doing instead…. (*Wink*)

The Bardet/on a ragga tip outro will never be betterred.

FYI the tour de it’s the biggest annual sporting event in the world by live spectators and tv viewers. The Olympics and World cup are bigger but not annual

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…

I watched one stage on itv 4 last tour. I think i was at my dads. I was surprised how little cycling the hour contained. I think we spent a lot of time looking at a macaron shop. Having grown up with the itv and channel 4 coverage i was a but disappointed. Ned and David are still the best commentary team though. I do of course mourn the passing of more free to air cycling

If you do end up, like me, on Discovery + here is a tip. Watch the live show with chat. If you press the up arrow on your remote you can jump to attacks, accidents, sprints, cols, interviews and the last 20km. Thus making your own highlight show

If you do end up, like me, on Discovery + here is a tip. Watch the live show with chat.

Whatever you do choose the coverage that doesn’t include the Breakaway. It’s banal bollocks. The alternative stream shows more pre and post coverage from the start and finish venues.

To quote another program … diary contains 1 word …. Bugger.

It’s not been my go to for a while, why would I pick it over Orla?

FYI: Eurosport have a cycling-specific channel on YouTube which seems to have most race highlights for free BUT, maddeningly, they are forever putting spoilers in either the video title, the description, the thumbnail or an adjacent video…

I’m hoping that ITV (or BBC or Channel 4?) can still put together a decent highlights package using the expediting production company/team in a similar way to Channel 4s agreement with Sky in F1….?

Can anyone attending Ned’s show (or follows him on Twitter?) ask him for comment and report back?

I’m with @didn’t hurt

I think my all time top pundit was Dannie Christmas. Although that might have been Tour de France Femme

why would I pick it over Orla?

Because she’s over-excited, shouty and boring. But then we all have different commentators we do/don’t like.

I find Ned a bit grating, he makes a fair few mistakes too and I’m not keen on his over excitement and shouting, thankfully David corrects his errors. I think David Miller’s monologues are quite nice, and his racing insight is fantastic. I’ve always liked Gary Imlach’s sombre, sartorial tone.

But, I think Eurosport do it better. Although as mentioned above, they do like to put spoilers in the headlines and thumbnail photos, you can turn off the news function off in the app which helps. I know that Sean Kelly can be a bit love/hate with viewers but I like him in small doses especially his plain talking and occasionally gaffs.

I hope another broadcaster does pick this up as it’s always nice to have a choice.

Upset! Very! I watch the GCN coverage because there’re no breaks. But even if I’ve sat through the whole stage live I’ll always watch the highlights show on ITV4, AND listen to the bloody podcast. *sad emoji*

I get free Discovery+ with my Sky subscription so I guess I’ll still keep watching it. Same with DH.

I have to say that I gave up on ITV4 when David Miller came on board. I just found his monotone drawl a bit grating. I always enjoyed the other presenters but Miller to me is part of the doping generation that continue to be part of cycling that I think we would be better without. The same of course could be said of the likes of Sean Kelly and a whole raft of individuals who still are in and around the sport but for some reason that I cannot put my finger on, David Miller just put me off the programme. It is probably unfair and in real life, he might be a really nice guy but I found his commentary irksome.

I enjoy listening to the likes of Carlton Kirby, Jonathan Harris Bass and Rob Hatch. For me, they are engaging, funny and interesting. Orla Chennoaui is an excellent and knowledgable anchor. I usually object to paying to watch stuff but being able to watch all the classics and the grand tours is worth every penny to me. I grew up with the tour on Channel 4 and a bit of me is sad to see it go as it is clearly much loved by many on here.

Cheers

Sanny

Same as Wattey, I often have the whole stage on (working from home) and still enjoy the highlights on ITV4.

It’s a sad state of affairs when we have a programme that’s almost perfect, with great presenters who know their stuff and give out the correct info, names of riders and insight during the race. I find with Discovery it’s ages before a presenter will even mention who’s in a break. Carlton seems to just enjoy the whole process for himself and not necessarily for the viewer.

Maybe when we see Ned’s TdF 1923 show(next week) he may mention it.

I’m guessing this is partly due to the fact that the UK riders don’t carry the same pull as they used to. Their team briefcases obviously don’t even come close to the Slovenian doctors and Ineos look like a team in demise.

Just for the Eurosport bashers….Orla is not a commentator, she’s a presenter, and a bloody good one. Her line of questioning to the pros shows intelligence and a love for the sport. The live show, Sean aside, is head and shoulders better than itv 4 and benefits from input from huge stars like Jens Voight, Evans, Contador and McEwen and have the ability to get to places Itv just can’t afford to do.

That said, its highlights montage is woeful, just an amalgamation of the best live bits. All they really need is Gary Imlach to edit/present a show for them and it’ll be perfect!

I am in agreement with @Sanny, can’t stand Millar and don’t find him any more insightful than the many other ex-pro commentators and a doper to boot.

Don’t really get the anti Sean Kelly stance but each to their own. I also think Orla is an excellent presenter who gets a lot of stick that a male presenter wouldn’t get.

Sean Kelly is very good, Orla also.

This is unfortunate news. I’ll not be paying money for Eurosport, and 3 weeks of the highlights show was a staple of my summer. Not any more I guess.

the coverage that doesn’t include the Breakaway.

Ned did a good piece about how to cover a breakaway with an obsure rider, about whom you only know two facts:

So, its Weigl, the Breton rider from Team Obscura who interestingly is 29 tomorrow.  Back to the peleton…………

Now back to the breakaway, and its still Weigl, hailing from the north-west of France this 28 year old rider is all on his own………  Back to the peleton…………

So its still Weigl in the break, nearing his third decade of life, from the area of France where, in good weather, you can look across the channel to see the UK….. Back to the peleton…………

This lone French rider, who 6 years ago would have been competing in the under 23 category is till going well. So, David, what else can you tell us about this rider…………………………

Could give rise to a new game of ‘breakaway bingo’ 🙂

Maybe when we see Ned’s TdF 1923 show(next week) he may mention it.

Please ask him and report back here!

As I’m not a fan of subscription TV, it would appear my “3 weeks in summer” may consist of more evening rides.

Hopefully, summer 2026 will be better than 2024 , but not sure how many aerial shots of castles or fields of sunflowers will be involved.

I am more likely to see Didi at the side of the road, though (and welcome his presence, too)

Nobody has criticised Orla in this thread, she’s great.

It’s the production, editing and overall package that ITV was way ahead on.

It’s made with love and it shows.

Eurosport for live and ITV for the hilights was my viewing. Will be sad to lose the ITV. I’ve followed it since the beginning on C4. I prefer the pro’s coverage on Eurosport for live ans also use the jump to function. But the ITV hilights were excellent for the non cyclist. If Eurosport had any sense, they’d retain it for a broader audience.

Orla is great, as are Adam And Danni

Carlton Kirby can f right off though. He’s a terrible commentator. He seems caught out by anything that happens on the race as if he’s never seen a bike race before

“Omg <insert mispronounced riders name here> has just attacked out of nowhere”

despite said rider sitting on the back of the breakaway and was conspicuously shedding bottles and weight from their pockets for a couple of minutes before

Nobody has criticised Orla in this thread, she’s great.

Have you read this thread?

…but Orla has become quite grating…

…Orla Chennaoui just annoys me for some reason

Because she’s over-excited, shouty and boring.

So there might be a free to air highlights show https://www.cyclingweekly.com/racing/british-free-to-air-tour-de-france-highlights-being-explored-for-2026-after-itv-loses-rights?utm_term=BF704E42-1C0A-4C2E-961F-1000285C0756&lrh=ccfda2f819ca2a1a1a2e6f36cd4ca6d08f0e62b9616c73c378d3388ae9c24dab&utm_campaign=A8C132A5-BD9C-4737-AC90-016639AFEA3E&utm_medium=email&utm_content=DACFF1AB-DD87-4C6A-93C7-26838869AFC2&utm_source=SmartBrief

FYI the tour de it’s the biggest annual sporting event in the world by live spectators and tv viewers.

that (the tv-viewership figure) is bollocks based on extrapolating a very small sample size & includes people who’ve (accidentally) tuned in for as little as 1 minute over the 3 weeks. If you believe the TDF people then almost half the worlds population watches it. Yeah, right 🙂 I have a feeling that figure might decrease just slightly when it’s behind a paywall.

that (the tv-viewership figure) is bollocks

“…live spectators and tv viewers…”

The number of live spectators must be stupendous.

You think that would be the case if they started charging people to stand by the side of the road?!

the TdF is such a massive/iconic event because of the fans, not because of the riders or the course. I wonder if the owners really appreciate this? There are a lot of casual fans (including me) who’d sooner find something else to do than pay to watch it. And without the fans, it’s just another bicycle race.

Most of those folks at the side of the road are fans – and the “ooh,the TDF is coming through our town” contingent will probably contribute to the next generation of fans.

Either way the number of folks watching the spectacle is incredible – let’s hope the numbers of TV viewers isn’t adversely affected

I’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.

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).

the C4/ITV programme had a warmth and charm that Eurosport cannot replicate

+ 1 to all of these. Probably like many on here I got into the Tour and following racing with Liggett and Sherwen when I was a teenager, part of the summer!

Makes the loss of GCN+ even more annoying – their highlights package was better than the current one on Discover/Eurosport IMO.

Nobody has criticised Orla in this thread, she’s great.

I am. I find her very annoying. Her target market appears to be ‘divorced dads’ imo. I just think she comes over very ‘rent a gob’ – and by that I mean a bag full of over exuberance for hire. She might well be an ardent life long road cycling fan, I don’t know. But to me she just comes across too obviously as a ‘professional presenter’ hired to add some colour and noise that attracts a particular demographic. Other presenters are clearly doing it for the coin too, but to me do a better job of faking it that they’re just fans who can’t quite believe they are able to enjoy the ride and spout bollox about it for a living.

Ah FFS. First WBD nick downhill, now the Tour.

It’s July, it’s 7pm, it’s ITV4, everyone shut up I’m watching my programme, like I have for every year since Channel4. Not anymore I’m not. I don’t pay for any subscription TV so that’s me done.
**** greedy bstard paywall bolox. No more casual viewers to get hooked.

@convert I understand the cynicism but having listened to Orla on the Cycling Podcast over all of these years I don’t agree with your take. Orla clearly knows and cares about cycling.

And while I’ll miss the itv coverage I’m not sure you can simply dismiss Eurosport’s coverage. I’ve enjoyed both over the years. It’s apples and pears. And while I might not be Carlton Kirby’s biggest fan the commentary and coverage is anything but second rate.

Latest episode of Never Strays Far podcast discusses news… apparently, Ned learnt from a Eurosport colleague.

Nobody has criticised Orla in this thread, she’s great.

This is irony, right?

Another one here for the fudge Eurosport. Really enjoyed the itv4 highlights shows. Good balance and well delivered. Have not enjoyed any previous Eurosport highlight shows.

I understand the cynicism

Thats not cynicism it is straight sexism – a woman can only be in that to role to titillate men, they have no knowledge or interest in the sport.