TdF 2014 - End of Year Report

[siadwell]

Liggett certainly is, the amount of times he repeated what Sherwen said as if Sherwen hadn't just said it was dumbfounding.

I've read somewhere (Ned Boulting's yellow jumper book?) that the pair of them are actually doing simultaneous coverage for UK, Australian and US channels. So while one of them is babbling specific stuff for a British audience, the other one may be giving the Aussie audience something tailored to them. That could explain the repeats. Although Phil did seem to fluff his lines (particularly names) more than usual.

 

[Hont]

Liggett certainly is, the amount of times he repeated what Sherwen said as if Sherwen hadn't just said it was dumbfounding.

He was probably just correcting him.

PS: "And that's Raimondas Rumsas launching an attack."
PL: "And here comes an attack from Navardauskas."

I was playing a drinking game whereby I took a swig every time either of them changed the pronunciation of a rider's name from one instance to the next, but my liver collapsed. So I tried to compensate by drinking water when they pronounced Jens Voigt's name as Voyt and I got hyponatremia.

 

[KennaughKickIt]

I'm pretty sure I read an article in which Liggett said he'd told his wife to tell him it was time to stop when he started talking rubbish. Something's gone wrong somewhere.

Keeps him out of the house.

I've read somewhere (Ned Boulting's yellow jumper book?) that the pair of them are actually doing simultaneous coverage for UK, Australian and US channels. So while one of them is babbling specific stuff for a British audience, the other one may be giving the Aussie audience something tailored to them. That could explain the repeats. Although Phil did seem to fluff his lines (particularly names) more than usual.

I guess that would explain the Aussie love-in, and how they made it seem like at least five of the first seven stages were Simon Gerrans' to lose.

 

[Hont]

A curate's egg of a GT for me.

Average Tour for me. Runaway winner. Too many sprint stages at the beginning. Battle for the podium was good. 5/10. Would have got 8/10 if the winner had been a brit and Cav had won all the stages that Kittel did.

<edit> Cav missing detracted from my personal enjoyment greatly too

+1. It reminded me how dull sprint stages are when you haven't got someone to cheer on in them. Suicide break for 5 hours and then the racing starts with ten minutes left. And then a massive German wins.

 

[Dogtrousers]

It reminded me how dull sprint stages are when you haven't got someone to cheer on in them. Suicide break for 5 hours and then the racing starts with ten minutes left. And then a massive German wins.

I was cheering for Renshaw. Obviously not loud enough.

 

[Pro Tour Punditry]

I've read somewhere (Ned Boulting's yellow jumper book?) that the pair of them are actually doing simultaneous coverage for UK, Australian and US channels. So while one of them is babbling specific stuff for a British audience, the other one may be giving the Aussie audience something tailored to them. That could explain the repeats. Although Phil did seem to fluff his lines (particularly names) more than usual.

You can usually tell what link they think they are on; it's quite amusing sometimes. They basically say the same (mostly wrong or badly read from a book) stuff over an over for different feeds and change the "spin", so can say "this stage is for Gerrans to lose" "this stage is for Van Garderen to lose" "this stage is for Thomas to lose" within the space of 30 seconds.

A few years ago they were obviously being used by African TV, when Barloworld were riding the Tour; it was hilarious.
They do save their best for the US audience tho; hence their association with Armstrong and fawning over him for years and ignoring his doping.

 

[Pro Tour Punditry]

The end is nigh for Team SKY

 

[Hont]

Sky's Plan B and Plan C

Those were not Plans. They were "Sh*t. What do we do now that Plan A has failed?"

 

[perplexed]

Give him a break, he is 145 years of age.

In that case he is about100 years older than me, and the bugger still rode past me up Holme Moss on the 'Phil and Friends Ride'... Damn.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Biggest and best mosque in the land, apparently.

Clearly you've not been to the right part of Morden then ....

 

[Fab Foodie]

Highs for me on what was I think a fairly unexciting tour by the time Froome, Cav and Contador went out.

Yorkshire stages
Cobbles
Boardman, Boulting, Imlach and Millar.
Short mountain stages.

I'm not sure about Nibali, it looked too easy up them hills.

Will we ever see the team TT return? Thought it was an exciting event and could be good near the end of the tour.

 

[MisterStan]

Highs for me on what was I think a fairly unexciting tour by the time Froome, Cav and Contador went out.

Yorkshire stages
Cobbles
Boardman, Boulting, Imlach and Millar.
Short mountain stages.

I'm not sure about Nibali, it looked too easy up them hills.

Will we ever see the team TT return? Thought it was an exciting event and could be good near the end of the tour.

I'll agree with you on all but the return of the TTT. IMHO they have no place in a stage race.

 

[Fab Foodie]

I'll agree with you on all but the return of the TTT. IMHO they have no place in a stage race.

Why not, the TdF is very much about teams ....

 

[Dogtrousers]

I like watching TTTs. I think the teamwork is fantastic. And hilarious sometimes when it goes wrong. And I don't see why they don't have a place, after all, apart from ITT, most wins result from the team working together to one degree or another.

Will we ever see another? Why not? There was one last year. They don't crop up every year. Has there been an announcement to the contrary?

 

[Pro Tour Punditry]

The TTT in this year's Giro was good. Unless you were Team Garmin-Sharp