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Formula 1 host Jake Humphrey to front BBC's London 2012 track cycling coverage

Consternation on Twitter as Jill Douglas misses out, though she will be reporting from technical area

Jake Humphrey, best known for fronting BBC1’s Formula 1 coverage, will be the Olympic host broadcaster’s main presenter from the Olympic Velodrome at London 2012 next summer.

Following today’s announcement of the main presenters of the BBC’s coverage of London 2012, initial reaction on Twitter from both those within the sport and fans alike focused on why Jill Douglas had not been selected for the role.

The Scot has regularly hosted cycling coverage on both the BBC and ITV4, giving her solid experience in and knowledge of the sport.

It is understood that Douglas, who moved back to the BBC from Sky Sports in 2003 and also specialises in rugby union, will still be part of the BBC’s Olympic team, including reporting from within the technical area at the Velodrome.

Humphrey, aged 33, has been a rising star within BBC Sport for several years, having moved across from CBBC, via a stint on Radio 5 Live, to presenting shows including Football Focus and Match of the Day.

He has also hosted the BBC’s Superbowl coverage and co-presents the annual Sports Personality of the Year show, as well as working on the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and Commonwealth Games in 2010.

However, it is through anchoring BBC’s Formula 1 coverage over the past three seasons that Humphrey has become a household name as one of its star sports presenters.

After presenting coverage of the Singapore Grand Prix in September, he did find time to check up on events in Copenhagen the same day, teasing the thousands of Formula 1 fans who follow him on Twitter by tweeting, “And the World Champion is crowned. SO well deserved. Dominant, talented, hard working and THE BEST IN THE WORLD. His name? @MarkCavendish.”

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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7 comments

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FMOAB | 12 years ago
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Humphrey should be a great host, I personally find Boardman insufferably smug and hope that he doesn't feature at all.

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TheHatter replied to FMOAB | 12 years ago
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FMOAB wrote:

I personally find Boardman insufferably smug and hope that he doesn't feature at all.

+1
how about giving Obree a go and Malcolm Elliot or some of the other ex racers a chance plus Michael Hutchinson is a great pundit for the road TT? Would much rather here their views on the racing than Boardman's drone.

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chris75018 | 12 years ago
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I'll take that as a good sign - As the article mentions, he seems to be the Beeb's rising star on the sports front - so I'm guessing he'll be fronting the sports they've earmarked as priorities - which hopefully equates to lots of airtime and lots of cameras?

And I'd echo Cat1commuter - Boardman would be a great choice as ex-pro sidekick.

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Simon_MacMichael | 12 years ago
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It would be cruel to remind the world that the third step gave Mr B himself somewhere to stand when he won bronze at Atlanta in 1996, so I won't  3

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cat1commuter | 12 years ago
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Hope they've got Chris Boardman on the team too. He's matured into a top pundit.

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Simon_MacMichael replied to cat1commuter | 12 years ago
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cat1commuter wrote:

Hope they've got Chris Boardman on the team too. He's matured into a top pundit.

He's been busy helping LOCOG design the podiums - taking a while cos they're not happy with his revolutionary "top step only" design  3

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cat1commuter replied to Simon_MacMichael | 12 years ago
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Simon_MacMichael wrote:

He's been busy helping LOCOG design the podiums - taking a while cos they're not happy with his revolutionary "top step only" design  3

Ugh, yes. Those adverts began to grate the second time I heard them. After three weeks TdF coverage…

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