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

I wouldn't be as harsh on Liggett and Sherwen as some others have been, but Boulting and Millar have been a revelation. Pro cycling must be one of the harder sports to commentate on, giving the closeness of the action, the speed of the action and the amount of crucial action that comes from a fore shortening head on camera angle, but Boulting has rarely put a foot wrong so far. 

They were OK the late 80s and early 90s when we didn't know any better.

They are woeful now....pointless drivel for hours on end...see the Tour Down Under for examples....thank God ITV have got rid of them.

Boulting and Millar are a vast improvement. All they need to do now is change that awful intro music. The final credit music on the highlights is allays brilliant, just change the beginning...please?

 Hurrah for progress !!

CyberTonTo - Are there adverts in the show? Surely that is what a digibox and fast forward button are for!

Phil and Paul's muppet show drove me to Eurosport and having sampled Ned and Dave I'm still happy paying my subscription for Carlton and Sean.

They're doing fine. Thank you for everything Phil and Paul. Much appreciated but every dog as it's day. 

As long as Ned mentions Charlemagne at some point, keeps dropping in the histories of chateaus then my annual TDF fix is complete.

Wow-  my belief in humanity is reaffirmed!  I was expecting knee jerk complaints and instead EVERYONE AGREES that P&P were beyond shite in every way and Ned and David are actually rather good already, with plenty of potential to improve.  Hurrah!

Ned and David actually commentate on the race rather than discussing the scenery.  You actually learn things listening to them .

Phil & Paul had become a steady stream of cliches. And their painting of certain cyclists as whiter than white didn't help. 

I think generally the new team has been good, but they do talk over each other quite often and there has been quite a lot of "Orica Green Bike" and other such team manglings so far!

I do like Ned's humour

not that fussed on who commentates on the race, the new guys sound like thry know their stuff, but the bloody ads are longer than what they are showing of parts of the race. 
And the skoda ad where the guy is riding past the truck is annoying as he needs to fix his straps 

Millar knows his stuff, and I can listen to him. Phil and Paul just never appealed to me. But if you grow up with them, then most people will feel attached to them, understandably. But they're not talent. Not by my yardstick. Throwbacks who've had their time. 

This country takes ages to move forward.

I thought millar worked well with hugh porter.  Murray walkeresque colour commentator to entertain the ear and dead pan ex pro actually explaining what's going on.

ned and Millars voices and tone are a bit too similar if being critical but they are miles better than Phil and Paul. Ligget could call a sprint but every single thing else he did was absolute rubbish.  Incidentally rob Hayles is pretty good on bbc radio. 

Rip sportofproffesionalbikeracing and suitcase of courage.

All of the above. Plus Phil's longstanding support of Lance Armstrong lost him a lot of credibility, necessary as it may have been for US viewers.

I think they've been great. Ned is spot on at explaining this beautifully weird sport to the layman (especially important during the Tour) and Millar is superb at fishing random stuff about châteaux out of the road book. 

I even like Friebe's little sections in the highlights. Although he needs to relax a touch. 

It is fantastic that Ned and David can recognise the riders, discuss the tactics and pronounce the names of the competitors, their teams and the towns they go through in something that sounds like French.    P&P were well past their usefulness date, even before remembering that Liggett spent most of the last decade licking a certain Texan's intestines from beneath.

This change is long, long overdue in my opinion. Commentators cannot be expected to be investigative journalists, nor to spend all their time declaiming the events they are describing as a sham, but Phil in particular went so far the other way it was nauseating. Anyone complaining now that Ned is talking too much (which he is, a bit) should realise that Phil and Paul only had so little to say in recent years because they could not think of anything to replace the Lance-fawning they had previously indulged in. What little they did say had become so clichéd and repetitive that ITV could have replaced them with a set of sound samples loaded on to a electic keyboard. And not a full-sized one either, a kiddie's one from Fisher-Price. In contrast, Ned is an educated man, with an appreciation for the cultures of many of the riders, and a genuine sense of humour. David is knowledgeable about contemporary racing (as Paul was about twenty-five years ago) and far from the dullest retired sportsperson to ever pick up a mircophone. I look forward to them improving this month and over the years to come.

I miss the old team, they were part of the summer, but nothing against Ned and David. Quite surprised to hear Thomas Voekler's name pronounced properly, though. Thought it was a new rider. 

Haven't missed Phil and Paul at all, they're undeniably experienced in their art, but their commentaries often consist of the same trite metaphors and jargon,  or their legendary gaffs and jumbled team names.

David Millar has been excellent. He offers genuine insight and knowledge of the peloton that only a recently retired pro could.  

I like Ned a lot, he's got a dry sense of humour and he appreciates that professional cycle racing is inherantly absurd. 

Ned needs to work on calling the sprint finishes. He's had some ropey moments in the first week. But Phil was also terrible in recent years, so all in all it a big, big improvement. 

ITVs coverage is generally excellent with the peerless Gary Imlach (why isn't he on TV more?) and Saint Chris doing the analysis. 

Even though Millar talks incredibly fast at times, he has some wonderful tactical insights. I much prefer Ned and him.