Cycling commentators on TV often come under criticism from fans, for instance when they misidentify a rider, and plenty of people seem to think they can do better. Well, Eurosport is giving fans a chance to do just that and commentate on races themselves, with a prize of a VIP trip to Paris for the final day of this year’s Tour de France on offer.
The competition has been launched to celebrate the channel’s 25th birthday, and cycling fans have three short clips to choose from, all from 2013. First is Paris-Roubaix, where Zdenek Stybar’s chance of contesting the finish with Fabian Cancellara and Sep Vanmarcke was ended by an overenthusiastic fan taking a picture.
There are also two clips from the Tour de France – Chris Froome’s victory on Mont Ventoux, and the last stage in Paris where Marcel Kittel became the first man ever to outsprint Mark Cavendish on the Champs-Elysées.
There are also competitions running for motorsport and tennis, with the sport you commentate on determining which prizes you would be eligible for if your entry is one of the top ten in that category.
You can listen to other people’s efforts in a variety of languages, and record, upload and share your own, with the number of “likes” that individual commentaries receive determining the ten videos that will make the shortlist for each sport, with the winner chosen by a panel comprising Eurosport staff and commentators.
According to Eurosport, “the panel’s choice will be based on qualitative and subjective criteria (relevance of the subject, quality of the commentary, emotion in the voice, etc.).”
While for cycling you can record your commentary now, according to the terms and conditions, only “likes” from 24 May to 28 June will count, with winners announced on 30 June.
The overall winner in the cycling category will win two VIP tickets to the arrival of the Tour de France in Paris plus a VIP “behind the scenes” experience with Eurosport on the final stage. The prize includes travel and two nights’ hotel accommodation.
There are also runners-up prizes of 10 Tour de France official t-shirts, 10 Tour de France official caps and 10 Tour de France official bottles.
Entrants must be aged 18 years or over and resident in one of the following countries: Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Kazakhstan, Liechtenstein, Macedonia, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom.
To get started, visit the Eurosport 25 Live website here.
Finally, here's a behind-the-scenes video in which ex-pro Daniel Lloyd takes us inside the commentary box.
Help us to bring you the best cycling content
If you’ve enjoyed this article, then please consider subscribing to road.cc from as little as £2.49. Our mission is to bring you all the news that’s relevant to you as a cyclist, independent reviews, impartial buying advice and more. Your subscription will help us to do more.
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.
@mitsky I've had a number of those letters from Arriva, I've been informed by somebody who used to work for them in a clerical capacity that the "incident discussed and appropriate action taken", if there is no police action, generally amounts to the shift manager saying, "Oi Fred, some bloody cyclist has been complaining about you again, watch yourself, will ya?"
@chrisonabikeSomeone should check on wtjs…
Not sure what CoaB is implying here- is it that I have a secret Aston Martin, or that my stories about HN21 VXB and BF64 TGE can't have been properly presented to the Kickass Enforcers at DVLA, the body which, in real life, makes Border Force look like the Swiss Railways. I don't have any vehicle on the road at present, for the simple reason that I know that the vindictive b******s at LancsFilth would be out to nail me if they could. Apologists for DVLA should know that it's impossible to report a vehicle to them if you don't have the location where it 'lives', and I first reported BF64 TGE to them in May 2022, because I accidentally do know where it lives. It will soon achieve the landmark '5 years without VED' so they haven't exactly leapt into action. It was reported to DVLA by my MP a year ago, so it's encouraging to know that MPs are fobbed-off with complete bollocks from ministers just like the rest of us. There are loads more of them around here: I haven't seen PO64 AUR for a year but that will soon achieve a prizewinning 10 years without VED. DVLA already knows about these millions of vehicles on the road without VED, because many of them keep getting MOT and are easily identifiable from DVLA's own database anyway- such as HY66 ZZB, which I last saw about 3 months ago. Or, a recent discovery where I also know the address, MM10 EOG. I haven't reported that to DVLA, because I know the reports go straight in the bin along with all the others marked 'can't be bothered', and it's only 3 years without VED which would entitle you to a Good Citizenship Medal in Lancashire
@chrisonabike I wonder if like when HMRC has to make cuts the first thing it does is lose compliance officers that the DVLA is the same, and without sufficient compliance officers all they can do is pursue a small number of high profile cases to get headlines like this one regardless of the actual individual merit of each case?
In the BBC article the last line is "He was among 1,451 people across England and Wales to be convicted last week of failing to insure their vehicles.". Given that there are 43 million+ registered vehicles in the UK this seems to be an incredibly small number ie 0.0033% considering how often cars without tax and/or MOT I find when looking up a registration on the DVLA reg check website.
For an indication of how we arrived at such driving behaviour - and the appeasement thereof - you just need to look at the Aug 4th edition of the Daily Mail (which I have to fetch for an elderly person who should know better) - the front page banner and full page story on page 11 defies belief, with respect to the entitlement and total lack of responsibility involved.
On second thoughts, don't go looking for it, as it will just spoil your day.
Back to News
Reckon you can commentate? Eurosport competition will see someone win VIP trip to Paris (+ video)
Add as a preferred source on Google
Cycling commentators on TV often come under criticism from fans, for instance when they misidentify a rider, and plenty of people seem to think they can do better. Well, Eurosport is giving fans a chance to do just that and commentate on races themselves, with a prize of a VIP trip to Paris for the final day of this year’s Tour de France on offer.
The competition has been launched to celebrate the channel’s 25th birthday, and cycling fans have three short clips to choose from, all from 2013. First is Paris-Roubaix, where Zdenek Stybar’s chance of contesting the finish with Fabian Cancellara and Sep Vanmarcke was ended by an overenthusiastic fan taking a picture.
There are also two clips from the Tour de France – Chris Froome’s victory on Mont Ventoux, and the last stage in Paris where Marcel Kittel became the first man ever to outsprint Mark Cavendish on the Champs-Elysées.
There are also competitions running for motorsport and tennis, with the sport you commentate on determining which prizes you would be eligible for if your entry is one of the top ten in that category.
You can listen to other people’s efforts in a variety of languages, and record, upload and share your own, with the number of “likes” that individual commentaries receive determining the ten videos that will make the shortlist for each sport, with the winner chosen by a panel comprising Eurosport staff and commentators.
According to Eurosport, “the panel’s choice will be based on qualitative and subjective criteria (relevance of the subject, quality of the commentary, emotion in the voice, etc.).”
While for cycling you can record your commentary now, according to the terms and conditions, only “likes” from 24 May to 28 June will count, with winners announced on 30 June.
The overall winner in the cycling category will win two VIP tickets to the arrival of the Tour de France in Paris plus a VIP “behind the scenes” experience with Eurosport on the final stage. The prize includes travel and two nights’ hotel accommodation.
There are also runners-up prizes of 10 Tour de France official t-shirts, 10 Tour de France official caps and 10 Tour de France official bottles.
Entrants must be aged 18 years or over and resident in one of the following countries: Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Kazakhstan, Liechtenstein, Macedonia, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom.
To get started, visit the Eurosport 25 Live website here.
Finally, here's a behind-the-scenes video in which ex-pro Daniel Lloyd takes us inside the commentary box.
Help us to bring you the best cycling content
If you’ve enjoyed this article, then please consider subscribing to road.cc from as little as £2.49. Our mission is to bring you all the news that’s relevant to you as a cyclist, independent reviews, impartial buying advice and more. Your subscription will help us to do more.
Simon_MacMichael
No Comments
Read more...
Read more...
Read more...
Latest Comments
@mitsky I've had a number of those letters from Arriva, I've been informed by somebody who used to work for them in a clerical capacity that the "incident discussed and appropriate action taken", if there is no police action, generally amounts to the shift manager saying, "Oi Fred, some bloody cyclist has been complaining about you again, watch yourself, will ya?"
@belugabob I did. Lynda La Plante's list of excuses for her 24 points is pathetic. As is her engagement of the lawyer Mr Poophole.
The bus driver cannot slow down and stop behind the cyclist, and yet she has plenty of time for an argument.
No, I only have experience with cotton Corsas. A 300 tpi Challenge is only slightly less supple than those.
@chrisonabike Someone should check on wtjs… Not sure what CoaB is implying here- is it that I have a secret Aston Martin, or that my stories about HN21 VXB and BF64 TGE can't have been properly presented to the Kickass Enforcers at DVLA, the body which, in real life, makes Border Force look like the Swiss Railways. I don't have any vehicle on the road at present, for the simple reason that I know that the vindictive b******s at LancsFilth would be out to nail me if they could. Apologists for DVLA should know that it's impossible to report a vehicle to them if you don't have the location where it 'lives', and I first reported BF64 TGE to them in May 2022, because I accidentally do know where it lives. It will soon achieve the landmark '5 years without VED' so they haven't exactly leapt into action. It was reported to DVLA by my MP a year ago, so it's encouraging to know that MPs are fobbed-off with complete bollocks from ministers just like the rest of us. There are loads more of them around here: I haven't seen PO64 AUR for a year but that will soon achieve a prizewinning 10 years without VED. DVLA already knows about these millions of vehicles on the road without VED, because many of them keep getting MOT and are easily identifiable from DVLA's own database anyway- such as HY66 ZZB, which I last saw about 3 months ago. Or, a recent discovery where I also know the address, MM10 EOG. I haven't reported that to DVLA, because I know the reports go straight in the bin along with all the others marked 'can't be bothered', and it's only 3 years without VED which would entitle you to a Good Citizenship Medal in Lancashire
@chrisonabike I wonder if like when HMRC has to make cuts the first thing it does is lose compliance officers that the DVLA is the same, and without sufficient compliance officers all they can do is pursue a small number of high profile cases to get headlines like this one regardless of the actual individual merit of each case? In the BBC article the last line is "He was among 1,451 people across England and Wales to be convicted last week of failing to insure their vehicles.". Given that there are 43 million+ registered vehicles in the UK this seems to be an incredibly small number ie 0.0033% considering how often cars without tax and/or MOT I find when looking up a registration on the DVLA reg check website.
For an indication of how we arrived at such driving behaviour - and the appeasement thereof - you just need to look at the Aug 4th edition of the Daily Mail (which I have to fetch for an elderly person who should know better) - the front page banner and full page story on page 11 defies belief, with respect to the entitlement and total lack of responsibility involved. On second thoughts, don't go looking for it, as it will just spoil your day.
I couldn't say ... but hopefully some other road.cc posters will be along to explain.
@hawkinspeter - nice try I'm not that easily fooled, there's no light sabre.
@andystow I guess it's good that you can wear these mid-bike without necessarily having to wear them at the end when it gets dark?
Most Popular News
1. “ASO, what are you doing?” TNT Sports host Orla Chennaoui “pissed off” at Tour de France Femmes organisers over TV coverage branded a “disservice to women’s racing”
2. “Corporate litter strikes again”: Cyclists frustrated by e-hire bikes blocking pavement; Bus driver criticised for impatiently tailgating cyclist before bus stop; Men’s Tour of Britain teams announced; TT at the TdF Femmes + more on the live blog
3. Fake bra size aero gains row prompts UCI to carry out extra clothing checks before Tour de France Femmes time trial
4. Man who found it “funny” to push woman off bike avoids jail; Unqualified, unfit driver on wrong side of road jailed for 7 years for killing cyclist; 10 years prison for driver who killed cyclist then drove in 100mph chase: road.cc sentencing round-up
5. “Don’t upset the cycling community!” Driving instructor insists he was teaching pupil to give cyclists space after “painfully slow” 15mph advice backlash; Pogačar beaten by an amateur (again); Tour de France Femmes: UAE Blasi drama + more on the live blog
6. Tadej Pogačar to ride the Vuelta a España, ending weeks of speculation
7. Man arrested after stolen Unibet Rose Rockets bikes recovered by French police
8. Primož Roglič injured after being hit by driver during training ride, faces race against time for Vuelta a España