ITV ditch Phil and Paul... so how’s the new line-up doing?

Who's this Tomma Vochhleurrre chappy?

From a tonal perspective, I think Phil Liggett's excited sprint finish voice is far superior to Ned's. 

I like Ned and David knows his stuff but I still shudder after reading Nicole Cookes autobiography. Miller nearly destroyed a generation of riders with his part in the cheating. Maybe I should move on like he seems to have done. I used to love P&P but I can never forgive their apologist attitude to Voldemort. 

I liked Phil, especially for the sprints but my feelings for Paul Sherwen bordered on hatred because of his list of sayings he would wheel out every year:

'Turning himself inside-out',

'ploughing that lonely furrow',

'when I was a pro bike rider...',

'impetus'.

i just couldn't stand him and do glad he's gone. Will miss Phil though, he's s nice guy too. Some years ago I spoke to him on his Phil & Friends CCC sportive and he was so friendly and approachable.

We are spoilt at the moment.

I tend to watch the Eurosport coverage (I have it in HD while ITV4 I do not).

We have the fantastic Ashley House anchoring the show with the ever improving Juan Antonio as his sidekick.

Greg LeMond is great too offering his insights (if you've not watched LeMond on Le Tour in the evening then please do, I could listen to Greg all day).

The commentary isn't bad either, Carlton Kirby and Sean (along with Declan) for the English feed. 

It has improved so much in the last 3 years. Plus Ashley House makes me want to have more yellow in my wardrobe.

Brian Smith for me. A brilliant commentator, insightful, unflappable. A good antidote to Calton Kirkby.

Miller is good, ditto Kelly, so I flip between itv4 and eurosport for tdf. Especially as you have decent punditry from Imlach and Boardman after. You dont actually get much cycling footage in the hour slot though compared to Eurosport.

As an aside, those who decry Ligget for being a doping apologist can't really support Miller though can they?

Amazing how the commentary accounts for a significant proportion of watching a race, and can even make or break it. 

I can't help thinking Ned was better (excellent in fact) as roving reporter, he seemed to get on well with the riders and had enough knowledge for them to engage with him.  However not yet sure he has the delivery to anchor hours of shots of a sand bagging peleton and castles with or without the slightly awkward Miller. Time will tell, they'll both loosen up and improve. For sure an improvement on the outgoing duo. 

Imlach and Boardman are great in their roles and make a solid team that will hopefully continue for years.  Imalch in particular could do with more air time. Agreed the music and title sequence is dreadful

I think Europsort have it locked down though with occasional buffoonary from Carlton, contrasting with Sean Kelly's sharp reading of the race.  Personally I really enjoy Carlton's musings and gentle self depreciation, he brings much life, humour and a light touch to hours of not much happening, punctuated by Sean's  dry observtions. Let Carlton love Froome, someone has to.  He holds the riders in genuine and infectious awe.

Declan and Brian Smith are also excellent, however the breathless Rob Hatch and lifeless Rob Hayles I find make poor commentators.  Matt Stephens is good but could talk a little less.

While I quite like David and Ned, this is yet another erosion of our charming and quaint Britishness. First we saw Murray Walker edged out from F1 by supposed experts Alain Prost and David Coulthard and now we have Ned, David and that Boardman bloke who apparently bring a different class of professionalism to the extensive cycling commentary we have on British TV.

I for one like to hear the little faux pas (that's French) we got from Paul and Phil as well as the rambling discussion during an edge of the seat sprint about a bottle of wine they shared in 1976. That's British commentary at its best. Who knows where this new world progression will end.

They'll be quoting distances in kilometres next . 

Daniel Friebe clearly knows what he is talking about, but you can tell his background is in the written word as seems a bit awkward on screen.  

Overall the ITV highlights are pretty good, just wish they could be on an hour earlier.

I find Ned 'n Dave quite refreshing, but am torn between them on ITV and Carlton Kirby and Sean 'Tour of France' Kelly on Eurosport.

Tbh it depends on the quality of the picture on the particular device I'm using at the time - the internet stream for ITV4 is quite poor, whereas the Eurosport player on me phone is crystal clear usually.

I quite liked the old descriptions of the scenery and trivia about the areas, even if it was verbatim from the tourist brochures! That said I haven't been able to watch any of it live so far this year, only the highlights, so there hasn't been so much need to fill the time.

I like Gary Imlach's humour too.

David Millar does talk a bit fast at times but he is improving all the time, as is the partnership between he and Ned. His insight in last year's Criterium de Dauphine opened my eyes to what happens in the peloton. He has continued to explain in detail ever since. A valuable edition. 

Phil and Paul have done very well out of commentating over the years and still have the NBC contract so I wouldn't weep too hard for them. I'll miss Phil's voice but I love the new insights offered by Millar and Ned.

Phil and Paul's departure is the end of an era for me and I can't help feeling a little saddened by it. They were the soundtrack to summer and I have fond memories of watching the highlights after riding home from school/work. 

That said, it was time, if not a few years overdue, for a change. I like Ned a lot: I don't think he's quite there yet for anchoring the commentary but no doubt he'll get into his groove a bit more. Same with Millar; once they both loosen up a bit I reckon they'll be a really good team. 

Part of the reason for change was that ITV4 didn't actually own the commentary. P&P were doing it for a number of different channels (all over the world) and ITV4 were simply buying it so they had no control over what was being said and the audience it was being aimed at.

It was why Paul Sherwen used to say:

"the yellow jersey, the maillot jaune, the leader of the race... is in trouble now" to explain it to 12 different countries.

Having your own specific commentary means the channel gets to put their own specific take on things, appeal to their own audience and ITV4 has actually done very well out of cycling and has a generally very knowledgable audience base who don't need to hear the repetitive crap of Paul describing a rider turning himself inside out, opening his suitcase of courage, rocking all over his machine and saying "bridge to engine room, more power please".

Honestly, you could have made a crib sheet of the 10 phrases most commonly employed, turned it into a drinking game and been hammered within an hour!

(that said, you still can't beat Sean Kelly "makin' de cal-cul-aation". Brilliant!)

Ned and David are excellent, they're getting into a good rapport, they know the current crop of riders and they both speak good French so know how to pronounce names and places. Good work from ITV4!

Not nearly enough chateau description for me.  I don't think I've heard a square keep mentioned once.

There's plenty of information about chateaux on this guide to the 2016 Tour de France, as well as the climbs, sprints, profiles etc.

I'm enjoying David Millare insights but am less impressed with Ned, who comes over as if he is pretending to know about cycling. All IMHO, of course.

I said during the Tour De Yorkshire that the Ned/David combo were good and that I could see no reason to pay, what I expect is a high fee, for Phil & Paul. Phil's cock ups have been getting more and more pronounced and as said, basically they just repeated the same old stuff. Sadly I think that since the Lance years and the need for English language race calling for US TV coverage, they've got a bit big for their boots.

The only downside I am experiencing is the Ned/Chris comedy technical slots.

Liggett needs to retire if only for one reason, Lance. Not only did he say that if it was every proven that Lance had doped he'd quit commentating but he also threw out all manner of conspiracy theories about USADA et al paying people to lie under oath to get a clean Armstrong booted from the sport. He's a moron and really good riddance from the UK airwaves but he needs to go, full stop.

Watched Cav win today on ITV & Eurosport, much more exiting with Carlton Kirby commentary !

I stopped listening to Phil Liggott after TdF 2014 when he spent most of the time rubbishing Yorkshire & bigging up Cambridgeshire.  He followed this up with comments rubbishing the proposed TdY. He wasn't neutral or pro-cycling, he was just bigoted even when an estimated 6 million people proved him wrong.

I swear, if I heard "Little Tommy Voyckler" one more time.......

Love Ned and Dave. Imlach great as ever. (Great book about his dad and football). I also miss the Ned and Chris comedy spots, but overall ITV have upped their game on the Tour.

Millar's insight is deep, really deep.  You think you know what is going on and then he gives angles of racecraft that are just not obvious at first.  He takes you into the minds of the teams, the cars and most importantly the riders.  Superb on the Dauphine and top drawer on Le Tour.

Ned is learning on the job, he's a good guy and has bags of enthusiasm so deserves some slack on the critique.  Bless him, he gets a few bits wrong but who cares.

All the best Paul & Phil, I did enjoy your commentary & local knowledge. Good luck David & Ned. 

To be honest I hadn't really noticed the change, but now thinking about it, in my view, the current arrangement is a definite improvement. Glad that Boardman no longer mis-reads the scripted descriptions of the many churches and chateaux that the Tour passes (although some of his mistakes were very amusing). Millar can sound a little monotone but this is overcome by his insight into what is actually happening in the peleton. Friebe is a good addition to the team with his intelligent questioning of the riders, and his presentation skills have improved greatly from the early "giggly" years of the wonderful Cycling Podcast.

The new team is gelling well together. David Millar is excellent in giving an insight into what is happening in the peloton and why some things are tatically happening or not. He has also done his homework on the places of interest shown from the helicoptor shots. My wife doesn't particlarly like the cycling but is quite happy to watch because of the scenery and places of interest!!

Yesterday, when Millar was explaining why breakaways fail if they are too big, and why there would be an attack by a few riders was revelatory.     You really couldn't see P&P sharing that level of insight could you?

One bit of advice I would give Millar is not to say anything in the last kilometre, it's really a time for commentating rather than punditry. But teething problems apart I think they're an improvement.

P&P commentary is a part of my 80s and 90s teenage years, I have great memories of watching the tour on Ch4 listening to them but their patter hasn't altered a bit since then. 30 years, the same script; change was needed.

Can't quite put my finger on what it is, but there is just something about Millar and Ned's voices that is not as captivating as the old two. I think Liggett sounded like he really LOVED what he was commentating on and had an infectious enthusiasm which I enjoyed. Boardman and imlach are perfect in there roles tho.