"Oh! And then on day one on Utah beach..boom..Cavendish stuns the previously unbeatable German racer. Twaddle. I just wish we had Liggett and Kelly doing the Grand Tours. I have - again - sent this to Eurosport (23/2/23, with 1,871 signatures - and 1,400 people taking the time to comment!). Driver escapes punishment for alleged hit-and-run on cyclist, as victim blasts police inaction and barriers to justice. Maybe it's because he doesn't ride a bike himself? It is all clearly not set in stone at the moment, and I hope that I'm not going to have some sharp intake of breath moments on commentary just because bikes are needlessly endangering the lives of cyclists. On the last Vuelta a Espaa, Tinkhoff threatened to pull his team out because two of his riders - one of whom is Peter Sagan - were hit by vehicles. 26/8/22: Stage 6 of the Vuelta, Kirby informs us (clearly based on nothing) that Mark Padun is 'a master' at descending in the wet (at that precise moment, Padun is descending very gingerly, taking pretty poor lines). It is amusing that explaining this is futile, he remarks. As a small example, he started talking to Magnus Backstedt about tyre widths the other day ("weren't you the 27 mm guy?") ). March 2, 2022 . VN:Whats it like calling a race from back home at the studio? There are people who love what I do, and others who hate it, he admits. Helen Blackman (@HelenBlackman) March 24, 2019. But it was here he developed the ability to call a sprint. CK:As a commentator, you dont have a great deal of contact with the riders. They have produced some merchandise like cycling caps and badges, they get together at Carltons events. And he has outthought Marcel Kittel here. Whether they be dusty in the summer or wet in the winter, motorcycles are far too dangerous and get far too close to the bikes. Theres so much stuff going on because in front of us for starters, we have live timing, results sheets, stage profiles, live pictures, alternative live pictures and a sub-monitor with the schedule. He also never tells you who the riders on screen are - and if he does, he's usually wrong. Plus security bikes, plus rolling paramedics. American racers headed to Italy chime in. We have to get him off eurosport. Set the scene for us. Help us to make it better. It is not general knowledge, and it should be. This afternoon, I yet again, tolerated his insulting drivel on the Dauphine. Apologies it's in super annoying meme form (we couldn't find the originalsource) but this is too good not too share! #cycling @carltonkirby whatsonreading.com Carlton Kirby True Tales of the Tour de France | What's On Reading As for Kirby - its the arrogance of the bloke - does he think his viewers are 10 year olds who know NOTHING about cycling. All crescendo sports deserve to be treated as such. You can't work commentating on it for as long as he has next to informative ex-pros without some of it getting in through osmosis at the least. Carlton's voice is familiar to fans of Motorsports and Cycling both on British Television and throughout the world. That doesnt portend his job has not become a whole lot harder. Tony Martin scared everybody with his breakaway, says Etixx chief. wow, all the power to you man! You don't need to be that close to the riders to get snaps. He has to engage with the directors in the ear, guarantee that innumerable hours of gaps are filled in suitably, deal with incoming radio announcements, all the while tackling an uproar of a different kind with the action around him. There's also his lack of knowledge. Id love to see this Eurosport commentator substantiate even 1% of the outrageous claims he makes. As we reported at the time, the six-time Olympic champion tweeted that he had been on a Sunday bike ride with his son when they were almost run over by a van driver who drove at us, then proceeded to angrily inform me it was my fault we nearly died.. Eurosport's Carlton Kirby. As is seen in most cases, the primary action of any game takes place during the outset and ending parts. When youre part of the race caravan, all you talk about is the race. Carlton Kirby brings his True Tales of the Tour de France to Reading on Weds June 21, a little over a week before #TDF2023 , as he launches his new @BloomsburySport book, Sticky Bottle . I comfort myself with the fact that there are people out there who actually hate Terry Wogan. You have engineers popping in and out, you have guests from the different languages, and the only thing separating us from the Germans, on our left, and the French, on our right, are thin sound walls its completely open at the back, he says. I've just discovered, after following a tweet that Orla Chennaoui had re-tweeted, that the esteemed Mr Kirby has blocked me on Twitter. Fantasy Cycling: game [at] road.cc Yates was obviously cooked - why else would anyone work for dozens of kilometres and then give up in the final 2km? One thing Ive always been able to do is, I believe, see a very wide picture and a lot of different movement, and call those fast and accurately. Eurosport's lead cycling commentator Carlton Kirby presents a weekly guide to everything that's NOT happening in the sport this year, with stories and reflections from his 25 years in the gantry. De Gendt, Volta 2019 Stage 1 winner. Once they pass by, they have to repass the peloton to get the shots they want later on. #GPDenain pic.twitter.com/2DsagK73lS, Wanty-Gobert Cycling Team (@TeamWantyGobert) March 24, 2019. CK:Ive been doing bike races live and on-site since 1996. All of that is avoidable if you have the right distance and the right protocol in place. PLEASE CONTACT EUROSPORT/GCN INDIVIDUALLY AS WELL AS SIGNING, BECAUSE THAT WILL PROBABLY HAVE A GREATER EFFECT. We usually have to drive to the finish line, which is where the commentary positions normally are theyre like double-decker coaches all lined up there, Kirby sayd. A mile from home, looked behind me, moved to the centre of the lane, stuck my arm out to turn right, got Editorial, general: info [at] road.cc but the bike was nowhere to be found!" Eurosport commentator. Carlton Kirby: 'Yates is the heart and mind of this breakaway group'. UPDATE: New online Zoomcast show, July 16, click through for tickets. I don't know the guy but I wish in netherlands we would do it with mart smeets, danny nelissen and herbert dijkstra, who are complete idiots. Jason Kenny has recounted to the BBC the near miss he and his infant son Albie encountered while out cycling last month. It is really sad when you see the consequences of that. Absolutely mad. And then, of course, there are the flat stages and the sprint finishes. And we have managed to cover his view on it. Thomas De Gendt launched a solo attack from the break with 60 kilometres remaining of todays opening stage of the Volta a Catalunya, covering 163 kilometres and starting and finishing in Calella and the Lotto-Soudal rider now finds himself with a lead of almost three minutes on his rivals. If its one of those days where its going to end in a sprint and you need to cover 240km, then its gonna be a bit of a drag. A football match lasts for hardly ninety minutes, a rugby match is over in eighty minutes, whilst a basketball game takes only thirty-eight minutes to finish. But I do allow people to believe Im always on-site. According to the Telegraph, cyclists and joggers could be targeted as part ofa new Government initiative to work out who is leaving waste behind in countryside. If you're after one, guess that does makethe two grand plus 40 quid a month price tag seem a little fairer A mother from London has launched a petition calling for a second coroner's inquest into the death of her daughter, who passed away at nine years of age in what was originally believed to be an asthma-related case. There is no editing process, except between the brain and the larynx. Carlton Kirby Kirby is the most marmite commentator there is. Anyone but dreary Declan Quigley please! And then, you hang a look at anyone who is there to find out if theyre going to listen to you. The races are only on GCN/Eurosport. You get a sense of the weather a bright morning, going up this morning in a hail storm, and the hailstones are this big. At least he can string a sentence together and he seems to bring good comments out of Backstedt. Owned by Warner Bros. Such things impact ones reputation a lot, and there is no way around it. pic.twitter.com/fFcEf0AgHK, Volta a Catalunya (@VoltaCatalunya) March 25, 2019. 14 Aug 2020. They basically work on the principle that people watching cycling in english are only interested in english speaking riders. Among an awful lot of distractions, as Carlton Kirby explains, commentating on cycling is an arduous process. Some of which have been admitted, some of which weren't. See the recording of the last Carlton Kirby Zoomcast hereEnjoy our vintage/summer Parisian Spotify playlist (plus Little Italy by Stephen Bishop, not French, don't write in) hereSee Carlton's It's garnering quite a few sarcastic responses on Twitter Yep, I regularly cycle to MacDonalds, get a load of food, then cycle to the off license, get some beer, and then cycle to a lay by or car park and spread it around the place. Commentating during the 2022 Ronde with 222km to go, Kirby says: Aranburu could have finished as high as 5th in Milan-Sanremo, but didnt think it was worth his while so he eased off at the end and came in 13th. There are some other sports, like cycling, where the commentary has to be complete. Not that itsa straightforward drive to the finish at the Tour, as Kirby explains. I quite like Kirby. Get rid. Tech, reviews: tech [at] road.cc You can also sometimes find your hotel is one or two hours away. Nobody but nobody doesnt sprint for 5th at the end of a Monument. 2008present unless otherwise stated. The road curved, but it was nothing to concern one's self with. Its a case of trying to keep everybody amused. At the moment I turn up to a large building that has been stripped of staff, and there are just 16 people in the building. Even my partner, who doesn't watch cycling, could tell who had won. There used to be a 35 metre rule which seems to be flouted these days. When we drive to the finish well usually get on the course, because were badged up to do it, and then make notes. Colnago is using social media to tease the arrival of its new E64 Performance, which well go out on a limb and guess is the companys attempt to tap into the rapidly growing e-bike market. The breaks going to go up the road, theyre going to be allowed anything up to 15 minutes of an advantage and everyone else is just having a chat including us., All the other commentators from all the other nations and all their information are in the same room, so you often get people saying: Have you heard this?, with loads of things to share. theres nowhere like ENOUGH cycling on tv. It's their commentators or silence. Eurosport have a lot of these, so theres a lot of conversation going on in your ear [between producers] and its quite a task trying to keep the flow of what you are saying, Kirby says. His knowledge of most non-english speaking riders can be written on the back of a postage stamp, with the exception of 'famous' foreigners like the Schlecks, Dertie Cont, Cancellera and after this spring Gilbert. The very aspect of commentating that requires filling the gaps spanning hours of no action is the reason. Wow, all this over a commentator, so Kirby sees a Quickstep rider and mistakes it for Voeckler - that's funny, it's engaging! When youre on-site, even though youre there, youre still watching a monitor, Kirby says. The actual bones of the job are quite similar. pic.twitter.com/bcRWeK1p3o, just merder. I could paint the Galibier and Ventoux and even some of the rarer mountains by memory. I think you need to be a specialist to be a cycling commentator, yet he covers several sports on Eurosport. CK:Its pretty bleak. From wrestling with sound walls, coping with dropped audio, working with Sean Kelly and deciphering the Kirby CODEC, we caught up with Kirby midway through the raceto getan insight into life on Tour as a commentator. I have been speaking to (former cyclist and Eurosport expert) Sean Kelly about it at various races, and we have both had hold your breath moments. Simon Yates drops back to the Peloton in the last 2km - Carlton Kirby: 'Yates has decided this isn't worth the candle' - i.e. I've decided and bought a '21 Revolt which is nigh on identical in stack and reach to the Defy, only differences being a slacker front end and Well if you ever go to Chesterfield you will be called "youth" however old you are. pic.twitter.com/TkvUUUeBXs. Eurosport's lead cycling commentator Carlton Kirby has called for action to regulate the role of motor vehicles in the sport following the tragic death of Belgium's Antoine Demoitie, who was. Eurosport will never get rid of Carlton Kirby, he receives so much fan-mail that it will far out way any negative feedback they get from him. What blasphemy is this? Kirby remarks, Its not like a written press where you can write something out and finesse it and shave it. For all those who can't stand Kirby's 'commentary' (must be everyone on Bikeradar? Please enter your email so we can keep you updated with news, features and the latest offers. Partly, of course, that's his job - but if you give it out, you have to take it. I changed to German commentary on eurosport international today I was so mad. Kittel did win stage four, but then Cavendish beat him again on stage six. You must invest in an alarm upgrade to BT Redcare. Next time you watch, ask yourself how many of his critiques are aimed against non-Anglophone riders. That should have been alarm bells for everyone. And anybody who has watched one unfold on TV will recognise the frantic speed of the commentary as the race reaches its climax. Even once the race itself is over, and the post-analysis is done, theres a second race to get away from the finish line. I would rather have the sound off than listen to his pathetic attempts to link words and phrases together rather than comment on the racing (as opposed to being able to identify riders) about which he knows precious little. Kirbys Knowledge and Enthusiasm on the Mic is Unparalleled, When Kirby explains the difficult process of commentating on cycling, Michael Matthews powers to Bretagne Classic victory, Bora-hansgrohe riders false positive raises new doubts over accuracy of COVID-19 testing, Giro dItalia, Milan-San Remo under threat of cancellation due to coronavirus, Ewan storms to victory on stage 2 of UAE Tour. During a long interview, the legendary veteran commentator of Eurosports shares some of his knowledge about the job. Kirby has more than two decades as a commentatorbehind him and, alongside Irish legend Sean Kelly, has been back at the Tour de France this year calling the action from Utrecht through to Paris. @DeGendtThomas, guanyador de la primera etapa de la #VoltaCatalunya 2019. Get access to more than 30 brands, premium video, exclusive content, events, mapping, and more. Can you at least extend our premium subscriptions so we can play all races, until you fix the issue? He came off the corner leading, it was a right hand to the finish in Villars-les-Dombes. Mark Cavendish crossed the line first, and said Kittel came up to slap him in the back. They race ahead, dismount to get the tracking shots they need of the riders. Carlton Kirby: What inspired Chris Froome's golden era Eurosport's voice of cycling Carlton Kirby analyses Chris Froome's performance in winning a fourth Tour de France. No ! They will tell you, Yes, so-and-so is looking really mentally fatigued, or, they are saying, Hes getting very aggressive in the peloton and weve had a word with the team, that is all great information. All material FarrellyAtkinson (F-At) Limited, Unit 7b Green Park Station BA11JB. It just stays online forever. if many people would do this via twitter it could at least give a sign. Without any editing, moderation, or credibility, it is all out in the name of fate. Yeah he does. If you are not interested you can unsubscribe at any time. He is thinking Champs Elysees. It easy to forget that before this tour Mark Cavendish, the greatest of all great sprinters, had never beaten Marcel Kittel in a head-to-head. Star names like Sagan getting knocked off and knocked out of races. Thanks to all who have signed. You have a sound wall battle, where theyre shoving one way and were shoving the other while trying to sound calm and interesting on the commentary when actually what you want to do is knock someone out! I am having this problem too. (PS If there's anything here about donating, that's the website host - nothing to do with this petition - there is nothing to donate to. It is irretrievable. Eurosport cant get away with this !! Without wishing to be too disparaging to Mr. Kirby, I dont have Eurosport or the ability to watch cycling live, so I have to make do with highlights.