General Race Thread 2024 **spoilers**

mewso

1 second better than Carapaz in the end

dahat

Dillan Corkerry having an excellent week at the Tour De Bretagne, 5th & 8th in the first two stages.

retalivity

Queen stage mountain racing so much better when there's no Pog/Jonas/Remco

Dodge

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122070379#Comment_122070379

yeah. Enjoyable race. Always liked Carapaz. Darren Rafferty was his last domestique too.

G1032

Who is the female commentator that was commentating on Tour of Turkey with Pippa York? Appalling commentator. I know a lot of you here don't like Carlton (don't mind him myself tbh) but he's a million times better than this woman, whoever she is. Is this really the best that they can come up with for 2nd tier races. Her commentary makes the races almost unwatchable.

Dodge

Jose Been. She’s Dutch. Been on with them for a few years now. I like her normally. Wasn’t listening today but never had an issue with her myself

G1032

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122070675#Comment_122070675

She's just so boring to listen to. Lifeless. She'd put you to sleep. I've come across her alright before on Twitter. Name is familiar. Don't think she's cut out to be a commentator though.

G1032

Manuel Penalver's tan lines 🤣🤣🤣

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122070729#Comment_122070729

"Lifeless"

Probably just grew up listening to Sean Kelly and thought that's what Eurosport are looking for 🤣

mewso

Jose Been is fine bar one issue for me. She misses a lot of whats happening on the road. Like today there was a bit of a kerfuffle over the sprint for points between a couple of the lower teams which she didn't comment on at all. Pippa York had to mention it. To me Jose comes across as a nice person just doesn't pay attention. Nothing will ever be as bad as Jez Cox for me so all other commentators are a blessed relief. I'll grant Jez that he has been a bit more bearable than usual on Romandie.

G1032

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122070961#Comment_122070961

Ya. He's not great either. Carlton and Hatch have their faults but for the most part I don't really mind them. Jose Been would just bore you to death. Pippa York as a co commentator isn't exactly too excitable either although does provide good insight.

Dodge

18 year old Seth Dunwoody won the e3 saxo classic junior race in Belgium. Looks like he won a sprint ahead of about 40 others in the leading group

His one day races on the continent this year; 2nd in Kuurne Brussels Kuurne, 15th in a similar Belgian classic style race, 12th in Paris Roubaix, winner today.

eagle eye

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122070797#Comment_122070797

Kirby and Kelly are the most enjoyable pairing to listen to.

retalivity

Hatch seems to be doing a lot more 'content' stuff for eurosport, he's presenting a few weekly recap shows for them on youtube, in-depth interviews with riders etc., and less commentating. Kirby seems to be entering semi-retiremen, his commentating duties seem to have reduced lot this year. Jez cox & Jose been have always done the tier 2 races, Dan lloyd seemed to fill the gap betweek hatch & kirby on the GT stages last year, wonder will we hear more of him. Declan Quigley seems to get no work from ES at all anymore

retalivity

Bit of disaster in Turkey

Dodge

Eddie Dunbar is a DNS in Romandie. Don’t know why. Team haven’t posted anything

retalivity

Rafferty in the break at Romandie

retalivity

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122072265#Comment_122072265

Has this video randomnly suggested to me on youtube this evening, has the start/finish of the race and a few interviews. He came 2nd in another race in the Netherlands today as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDEXKnJFmj4

Macy0161

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122072417#Comment_122072417

Don't like Kirby at all tbh. I don't mind Jose, but my main experience of her is the semi-classics where she has more insight maybe. Going by the Cycling Podcast guest appearances, Hatch seems to do a fair amount on the World Feed* too.

*I am kinda surprised, given the cost savings we've seen, discovery haven't gone down the road of using this more for races.

Paddigol

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122072284#Comment_122072284

Ah, the annual Carlton Kirby debate 😂

I don't mind Kirby either. For me, a pairing needs to have one natural broadcaster and one to provide nuanced analysis. There's so much dead time to kill in most races these days - I prefer Kirby's entertainment style than Hatch's hyperbole. I also find Kirby much more authentic as a broadcaster - I can't get past Hatch's fake accent and over-pronunciation of every foreign name. That's before we get to how hysterical he gets at the slightest hint of any bit of action/ a crash… "of no, no NO NO!!!". Kirby doesn't take himself too seriously at all and does a better job of bringing the likes of Kelly/ Brian Smith into the conversation to expand on some point of relevance. Hatch makes it a bit too much about himself.

Granted, he can be a bit hard to take on sprint finishes, especially where there's a certain Manx man involved!

griffin100

My favourite pairing is Kelly and Robbie McEwen on commentary at the same time. It doesn’t seem to happen too often but they’ve good chemistry between them and you can tell there’s a lot of mutual respect between them and Kelly seems to open up more about his racing when he’s on with Robbie.

Dodge

they all have their moments. Kirby can waffle but he seems a decent sort. The cheerleading of Cav and others can grate. I find his mistakes (names etc) more funny than annoying.

Hatch’s biggest issue is trying to make everything “THE BEST!” or record breaking but overall I think he’s the better of the two. He’s defo the best for calling tight finishes

I kinda like the GT set up they use. Splitting up the race with Lloyd and Blythe in to give the others a rest. Even better when Kelly and McEwan are on too

Macy0161

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122077137#Comment_122077137

Brit/ INEOS cheerleading would be my main issue with him tbh. That, and "he's having a toot"

Mefistofelino

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122076328#Comment_122076328

Kelly, McEwen and Jens Voigt on the Giro last year was, for me, pretty much as good as it got. Great knowledge, chemistry and humour, but without the old-boys club / in-joke thang that goes on with Blythe, Lloyd and whichever retired British rider is the latest addition to their community employment scheme.

Junior

I just can't stand Jens at all, all the ex-pros they have on the motorbike bar Blythe seem to be out of their depth and incapable of race analysis..

Dodge

in race news, Dunbar and Mullen both confirmed for the Giro

Bora selection causing quite a stir as Buchmann has posted that he was promised co-leader role and now isn’t selected. Either is Welsford. So they have a sprint train and no sprinter

eagle eye

Mistake.

Mefistofelino

Sam Bennett and Ben Healy are back in action tomorrow at the Eschborn-Frankfurt.

odyssey06

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122080029#Comment_122080029

Eurosport on TV don't seem to have live coverage, highlights on Thursday :(

iirc from previous years there's a live stream

https://www.eschborn-frankfurt.de/en/home/live-im-tv#:~:text=Eschborn%2DFrankfurt%20live%20on%20TV,broadcasts%20from%20previous%20years%20here.

Macy0161

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122078502#Comment_122078502

Bora very poor at managing their riders as it turns out - both told to build for the Giro and then dropped from the team at short notice (in the context of a training programme). It's either their management or coaching, but turns out the problem probably wasn't Sam!