@ocrider aaargh I totally missed the very non obvious audio options thanks!

<p style=”text-align: left;”>Can’t work out how to get commentary on discovery plus, any ideas?</p>

We’ve  paid & subscribed for Eurosport through Amazon Prime – women’s Finals currently running with no commentary.

Anyone managed to find proper coverage? Or is this poor showing all we can expect?

Just installed the app on the TV and can’t see it, suppose I’ll try again

Got bored trying to save a couple quid on some obscure route last night, so got the GCN+ app for a year for 40 quid – might make me watch more road stuff!

Footage pretty good, Gracia much better today than he was with the juniors last night, Ric has more energy today. It’s not Warner but it’s still good. App via Chromecast has been stable so far. Trickiest but was finding the payment option on the app haha

Women’s race was good!

We’ve  paid & subscribed for Eurosport through Amazon Prime – women’s Finals currently running with no commentary.

Same here,no commentary on the women’s finals.

There’s does seem to be some punditry going on ahead of the men’s race,so mayhe we’ll get some now

Edit : nope looks like the commentary has disappeared now the race is about to start, wtf! This is shite, is it because I’m subscribed via Amazon prime?

<p style=”text-align: left;”>A tip I’ve just seen on pb is YouTube lenzerheide and filter by live. Watching it now chromcasting to the tv.</p>

Edit. No idea why the forum has added extra bollox. CBA to fix my post.

£40 for the year doesn’t se too much, better coverage more cameras and the commentary not too bad. its no Warner but not bad at all.

enjoying it on Apple TV smooth and no stuttering.

Watching through the Discovery + app on Sky Q. Missing Rob Warner’s commentary though. Doesn’t bother me with the XC as Bart is still there but DH doesn’t seem right without Warner.

The sound is distorted for me on gcn+, especially the background noise

More punctures than an acupuncturist training course today!

it does sound like Rick has watched loads of Robs recordings to sound very similar!!!!

Stuttering like hell for me on Firestick.

Both commentators are trying to be Warner at different times, they just need to find their own voices.  They need a few more races to relax into it.

Youtube link

https://www.youtube.com/live/VxX3gWtAvz4?feature=share

So glad the racing is finnaly back on! that was great!

Boom, that was a great race.

But I did have to use crappy YouTube stream for commentary and Eurosport for video with sound muted.

Cedric is so much better this time and I think will settle in quite well, Ric seems to be trying too hard at times “darker than the inside of a cow” I mean wtf.

Post ride interview with Rachel is entertainment in itself 🙂

Great racing but the new coverage is absolutely awful.

I didn’t think it was terrible, but they do need to do better. The commentary barely seemed to register that Bruni was up 1/2 a second at the first split, nearly even at the 2nd, up again by half a second, then lost it again, instead they just seamed to have some pre written “waneresque” comments that they were desperate to throw in rather than just describing the race in their own style.

There have been quite a few races over the past few years where I thought the red bull coverage was more than lacking as well, so hopefully gcn/discovery can improve from their first outing and at least match what was done before.

But more importantly than that, what an incredible debut for Jordan Williams, 18 years old and smashed it on his first senior race.

Great racing but the new coverage is absolutely awful.

Really? In what way? I thought they had much more coverage, and loads more cameras. Ric’snot Rob (yet) but I thought he and Cedric did pretty good.

Aye I think that expecting them to be like Rob. & Red Bull is unrealistic and they’ve done it for how many years?

I thought it was pretty good for their first attempt but only caught the last hour of the men’s final.

Haven’t caught up yet as been out on the bike.

Sound issues aside, how was the format? Is it worth watching the heats or just go to the final runs?

I’d just go to the finals TBH, all the best riders, all the action.

Really? In what way? I thought they had much more coverage, and loads more cameras.

From my point of view though there were definitely more cameras they very rarely used them well. They seemed to like cutting between close ups so it was hard to pick out the riders lines, and for a lot of runs they mainly focused on the jumps rather than on the technical sections where the race is actually won and lost. The final seemed slightly better but the semi suffered from plenty of b-roll style shots rather actually showing what was happening.

But more importantly than that, what an incredible debut for Jordan Williams, 18 years old and smashed it on his first senior race.

This, big time! What a ride that lad had. Stunning.

They need to get right back to Freecsster style Warner – drunk. That’ll loosen em up

Just working through it but Kolb’s semi run was incredible- .425 down at the first, a second up at the second, down again then almost closed the gap in the final section with no chain, and it’s not like bruni was hanging around. But I only really saw one section where he really looked that fast. Not really a rider I’ve paid much attention to before tbh

I think Kolb is on record as being happy with the new format because he’s extremely consistent. He’s always up there.

will see that field reduced to 60 men and 50 women. These riders go on to the Semi-Final, which will then reduce the field to 30 men and 10 women, who will go on to the Final.

Great to see they have considered equity in the new format…. 🙄🙄🙄🙄

That aside –  so delighted for Rachel and Jordan.

Bloody enjoyed that, format seems decent and means we get to see more of the finals race runs. Plus over the year it’ll add extra elements as teams and riders gain points from any 3 of the sessions. Careful tactical plans will be needed to manage points Vs energy etc. And it’ll be very interesting seeing how it pans out. First effort from the new hosts and surely it can only get better as the whole process beds in.

Racing was brilliant and so many riders now capable of winning, chuffed to see the young gun do so well. Bring on leogang!

I thought it went pretty well, given that I was doubtful if anything would be broadcast at all.

They really should have a rethink about protected riders though.  Especially in the first round where, imo, everything should be reset and everyone who pitches up should be assumed to be equal.

I was listening to Tahnee Seagrave’s interview and she was talking about the strain the two races put on you.  The first thing she mentioned was the mental toll (it was only once she started calming down she noticed her legs were **** as well).

Being protected in both the qualis and the semis just seems like such a huge advantage that it really doesn’t seem fair on the majority of the riders.

I thought the coverage was good, hope they can keep improving it. Some graphics and course info like red bull had would be nice.

Protected riders makes sense, it’s based on previous performance so I don’t think it’s that unfair. Would be a shame not to see the best riders in the final because of a flat.

Nice one Rachel and Jordan…

Coverage was alright but why did they keep cutting back to Cedric during Bruni’s ‘let’s look at the course’ run. You missed half of the actual run looking at a bloke on his tablet.

The coverage was better than I thought it was going to be.

The woman doing the interviews was awful and the questions she asked were stupid.

The cutting out of people’s runs to look at their manager was also frustrating as sooner or later something will happen when they cut away.

The chap they cut to in the warm up area was also pointless. It’s not like they can interview anyone there and it’s going to be exactly the same at every race.

I missed the split time comparison graphic where you can see where people were quicker. The virtual straight was also missed.

Both commentators were knowledgeable but lacked excitement and often seemed to ignore the split times.

All that said it was the first time out so hopefully things will improve as the season goes on.

Protected riders makes sense, it’s based on previous performance so I don’t think it’s that unfair. Would be a shame not to see the best riders in the final because of a flat.

Let’s forget about the lower mental toll protected riders will experience (although I believe that could be a major factor for some riders).

I think you’re failing to take into account the fact that both the semi-finals and the finals earn you overall points (unless I’m misreading something).  It’s no longer a question of the riders who should have qualified anyway despite a crash/mechanical/act of god/etc getting on the live feed.  Now they are being artificially kept in the overall points competition purely because they are already in the overall points competition.

For example, Vali Holl should have left the race with no points from the finals because she shouldn’t have made the finals.  Anymore than a protected rider should be allowed to have another go if they have a mechanical or a crash in their race run.

Qualis was always about just sorting out who was good enough to be in the main race.  It made more sense to have protected riders there because the idea was the riders who were already in the top 10 had already proved they were fast enough to be there.

Now the ‘real’ racing starts with the semi-final, given the points awarded.  If you crash or have a mechanical you shouldn’t be allowed to get more points in the final anymore than you should be allowed a do-over if you have a crash in a race run.

Now protected riders are able to take more risks, both in terms of riding style and in terms of bike set up, because the risks are simply not as great for them.

I just don’t think the impact of this semi-final format was properly thought through and the risk is that you’re creating a two tier system where the ‘stars’ are given an easier ride than riders who are already struggling just to establish themselves.

Great to see they have considered equity in the new format…. 🙄🙄🙄🙄

10 Elite male riders would be slim pickings…

I just can’t stand anything GCN.. it’s just so shit ☹️

I’ll be watching everything midweek when Eurosport show it this year