The Tour de France has begun and, as usual, Australian broadcaster SBS will be beaming footage into loungerooms and bars across Australia with their fabulous coverage.
SBS’s coverage of cycling has increased over the years, from just the Tour de France to all Grand Tours and major WorldTour events.
And if the event is not picked up by SBS, a quick switch to channel 511 on Foxtel will see expanded coverage on the home of cycling – Eurosport.
While we are lucky to have expanded access to cycling events on TV, the opposite is true with print media, as local newspapers are seemingly relying more on syndicates or news agencies for their stories.
Even Australia’s longstanding cycling journalist, Rupert Guinness, has left Fairfax.
This has left a huge hole in coverage, leaving difficult questions unanswered and weak analysis, with Australians needing to scour international publications and the web for news stories and analysis.
Australian supporters now rely largely on the SBS coverage for news, discussion and analysis.
Unfortunately, SBS’s TV coverage sometimes falls down in providing this type of analysis. They seem to get caught in the performance of local riders and the Australian team, Orica-BikeExchange.
For example, during SBS’s telecast of the Giro d’Italia, I was left with the impression that the station was an extension of Orica-BikeExchange, with the experts failing to probe and question the direction of Orica machine.
While we all want to see Australian teams and Aussie cyclists do well, we also want our media agencies to be balanced and critical. With Esteban Chaves finally in pink, SBS presenters spent the next stage talking up Chaves’ performance as if he was a certainty of winning the Giro.
There was very limited questioning of Orica’s race tactics, or whether it had the riders capable of protecting Chaves in his quest to win.
From where I was sitting the SBS team never asked the hard questions or pressed for more detail. This was highlighted with the reporting of Orica dropping its sponsorship from Orica-GreenEDGE. There was no Australian exclusive, rather I first saw the story on the British website Cycling Weekly.
SBS had team owner Gerry Ryan on the telephone during the last stage of the Giro. Ryan indicated that the team was looking for more sponsors, but he was not pressed as to what that statement meant, or if Orica were pulling their sponsorship.
Rather the discussion continued to be a lovefest of how good the team had performed over the three weeks.
Ryan may not have disclosed the loss of the main sponsor, but it should not have dissuaded SBS commentators from investigating the comments further.
In contrast, the SBS presenters challenged the Italian media’s tactics of putting Vincenzo Nibali’s performance under the microscope. Italian journalists spent days analysing the reason behind his drop in form.
Surely, this is what we expect from Australian journalists. Anyone scanning the papers over the last six to eight weeks has seen Richmond’s performance dissected in the press from all angles. But not cycling. We don’t seem to get that level of analysis or assessment of Orica-BikeExchange or Australian cyclists.
Over the next three weeks, Australians will be glued to the TV set, crossing their fingers for an overall Australian win or at least a stage win or two.
I am also hoping that the coverage of the Tour de France remains balanced and the reporting of the performance of Australian riders and Orica-BikeExchange is analysed in-depth without any favouritism.
scotty
Guest
Eurosport commentator is terrible, always predicts someone will stay away even though there is no hope.
Jono
Guest
During the live interviews I agree they tend to play it safe, but during the Giro there was plenty of talk about how OGE's team wasn't strong enough (particularly the climbing support), that it wasn't doing well in managing Caleb for the sprints, and when Chaves donned the pink they were upbeat about his chances, but were still positive on Nibili could win it. OBE isn't beyond criticism from the SBS cycling team. Could it be better? Sure, but I don't think it is quite as bad as made out. One thing is there is a definite different feel between the TdF and Giro due to the team being in France rather than in the studio. So far they seem a bit more caught up in the festival of the Tour. Also by the fact during the Giro by the fact they were in a studio together you had more interaction between Matt & Robbie and the two or three guys on the hosting panel. I think that added something to that particular coverage.
Christine
Guest
I know little about cycling & am not a cyclist but I do look forward to & love watching the TdeF. However, I am missing the full commentary of Phil and Paul. Their comments about & knowledge of the teams' tactics & big names is fantastic & can't wait for the 50km when they take over from Matt & Robbie. M & R are good (fantastic Giro commentary) & no doubt appeal to seasoned cyclists, but I'm not warming to their TdeF efforts. I want to hear more about the race while it is happening.
13th man
Guest
I am actually a bit annoyed as I am in the UK and Phil Liggett isn't the commentator here which is surprising considering he is English...
Dimethoate
Roar Rookie
Agree with your general sentiments. I am often caught changing between Eurosport and SBS. However, I think that the SBS cycling team has a better relationship with its stakeholders than the SBS football team which leads to better outcomes for all concerned. I do suggest SBS bring in a third member to join the commentary team to lead an occasional contrarian discussion to bring some balance to the coverage. Anthony Tan?
PB
Guest
Well I've just gone onto Foxtel's website, looked up the guide and the only channel carrying any TdF coverage I can find is SBS. I preferred the Eurosport coverage of the Giro, Tour de Suisse, Daupiné etc especially the commentary of Matt Stephens as he's actually been there at that level. If you're a keen cycling fan, watch Euro, but SBS have stated that they are there not just for cycling fans but to attract other viewers as well. That's why they have Gabriel Gaté and the historical interest segments. They're also trying to attract more female viewers.
josh
Roar Rookie
If you want SBS to rival what you get on Eurosport; don't hold your breath. As others have noted. Most Australians (myself included to a degree) only really watch the Le Tour, due in part to it's prestige and romanticism of the French countryside. Many wouldn't the riders or teams, and i don't think they'd care. The hardcore cycling fans,wouldn't rely solely on SBS for coverage or insight.
Alistair Nitz
Roar Rookie
It is not up to SBS to protect the Orica-BikeExchange brand. As an independent media outlet it is responsibility is to provide the facts to viewers not favourable commentary that may benefit Orica-BikeExchange. I would see that as a conflict of Interest. I agree that SBS's role is to grow its audience and to make it product attractive to viewers. Part of that may consist of discussing Australian teams, but also if things don't go right I would hope they would put their performance under the microscope. I wonder if SBS is critical of Orica than it would lose access to Orica and its personnel. I would hope that this is not the case.
delbeato
Roar Guru
SBS's viewers - Aussies - are not very mature cycling fans. the sport doesn't have a high profile in Australia and a lot of viewers are not tuning in to hear detailed critiques of team tactics, etc. By contrast, Italy has a long tradition of success in pro cycling, their fans have a deep understanding of tactics and race craft, so their commentators cater for that. One person who tells it like it is on SBS is Robbie McEwen - he doesn't pull punches.
BrainsTrust
Guest
Fix the rest of Australian sports coverage before worrying about SBS. The coverage is there to form your own opinion, the nationality of the riders plays a big part in determining how much commercial support in sponsorship which pays for both the quality and how commited their team mates are.
Dean
Guest
As the only outlet for cycling, SBS has a responsibility to protect the brand. They don't do in-depth stories or mention doping much either because it will take away from the sport and therefore hurt SBS. Asking hard questions or being critical of Orica is only going to result in less sponsorship and support of Australian cycling. It's sport, not politics. They're selling a product and want to keep the value high so it's all promotion, promotion, promotion. If you want to find analysis or criticism, that's what the internet's for (true for politics too, if you want to find balanced analysis anyway).
Freycinet1803
Roar Rookie
I must admit I much prefer Eurosport's coverage and commentators (although sometimes the two do overlap)