Cavendish the classic winner!

13

Comments

  • zammmmo
    zammmmo Posts: 315
    I suspect the reason why the MSR result and other road events (unlike track) are not covered properly on the BBC, lack of popularity with, and knowledge by, the average UK person aside, is because of the doping issue. This is such a shame when we have a GENUINE world beater on our hands.
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,666
    Managed to avoid temptation to look at the websites/news since yesterday, got out of hospital this afternoon and put on the old sky+.

    Wow!

    I'm still stunned and shaking 20 mins after seeing it.

    Well done Mark!
  • mgcycleguy
    mgcycleguy Posts: 292
    The coverage in the news is simply a disgrace... I watched the BBC news channel (or whatever they call it these days)... and in the sports section, they spoke about the Rugby, the Football (only premiiership mind), then the criicket (mens cricket, note, England havent won a match since August but never mind)... then they spoke about that huge participation sport, Womens cricket... then just to cap it off, they mentioned some second rate tennis tournement that Andy Murray might get to the semi final of !!.... My God I give up

    ... whilst on the subject of tennis... how many people play it in this country ?... compared to how many people do you see out on their bikes at the weekend ?

    ... Im going to email the BBC and complain for the first time in my life... I've finnally had enough, they should fairly represent important sporting role models
  • iainf72
    iainf72 Posts: 15,784
    mgcycleguy wrote:
    ... whilst on the subject of tennis... how many people play it in this country ?... compared to how many people do you see out on their bikes at the weekend ?

    Many people will have a lot of interest in tennis yet never take part themselves.

    By the same measure, many people who cycle will not give a hoot about Milan - San Remo.

    Most people go swimming from time to time, does that mean there should be wall to wall coverage of swimming events on telly?

    The lack of coverage is not that surprising. Track cycling, which may as well be a different sport, gets covered because they can win Olympic medals and that's what people understand. In order to get massive coverage you'd need a huge culture shift with the public in the UK and it's not likely to happen.
    Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
  • mgcycleguy
    mgcycleguy Posts: 292
    ... well lets start the shift here then....

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/newswatch/ukfs/hi ... 959111.stm

    ... thats the link to complain to the BBC
  • phil s
    phil s Posts: 1,128
    The BBC ran it on Five Live yesterday, within half an hour of Cav winning (which was during live football commentary). It was also on the BBC News channel. Now if you're going to bitch and moan about something at least get your facts straight. As for the "second rate tennis tournament" it's a Masters Series event. If you're going to complain to the BBC I suggest you ask them for more consistency in covering cyclesport, don't just rant at them with incorrect facts. It's a turn-off.
    -- Dirk Hofman Motorhomes --
  • mgcycleguy
    mgcycleguy Posts: 292
    Phil... I quoted the exact broadcast in which it didnt appear... which was the long sunday morning sports broadcast... and my actual complaint was with reference to the opportunity to promote good British sporting role models to the youth of the country.

    In my complaint I havent mentioned any other sports... however as far as I'm concerned the masters series is second rate...
  • phil s
    phil s Posts: 1,128
    And as far as many people are concerned road cycling is second rate. The fact is that's your opinion, not apparently the opinion of the massive sponsors and TV companies that cover the Series. The reason the pics of Cav's win might not have run on a Sunday may lie in the Domestic News Access Agreement, whereby broadcasters can use up to 60 seconds of footage from a rival broadcaster for reporting purposes up to six times in a 24hr period.
    -- Dirk Hofman Motorhomes --
  • pottssteve
    pottssteve Posts: 4,069
    It was on the Telegraph.co.uk website - report plus a picture.

    I was AMAZED to see the report on the Women's ICC World Cup win on the BBC international channel over here, but nothing about Cavendish. I mean, congratulations to the team and all that, but who in the world watches women's cricket other than their relations?! And after the great news about a UK road team aiming to win the TdF in the next 10 years...
    I'm thinking or resurrecting my O Level French and moving back to the Continent!
    Head Hands Heart Lungs Legs
  • FJS
    FJS Posts: 4,820
    It's interesting. In Flanders Cavendish' win is on the front pages of the sports sections, in his own country he gets a column or so tucked away towards the end (Observer).
    The British sports pages seem very inflexible; even if well-known British stars from say athetics do something amazing, it's mostly still the football, rugby or cricket that gets the headlines.

    But I do think there is hope. A couple of days ago BBC Breakfast reported (a whole 5 seconds or so, but still) on Cavendish' Tirreno stage win. Not bad. Of course there was no context or race report of mentioning of the actual winner of the Tirreno, but still. These things need time. Or a Tour de France win...
  • jimmythecuckoo
    jimmythecuckoo Posts: 4,719
    bucketbanger wrote:
    yeah id love to know what he's on
    booooooo
    http://fendrieneu.home.blog
    My blog and pod...
    Beers of Belgium Cycling Club UK
  • andyrac
    andyrac Posts: 1,205
    After the win I went on a few of the Continental papers websites, and as you'd expect it was one of, if not the main story. Is anybody really surprised at lack of coverage? Doesn't make it right, but it will take a lot to get people to take the road seriously, especially as the track is a big success for Britain.
    It wil be interesting to see if anything is mentioned during the World Tracks - as Cav is there.
    All Road/ Gravel: tbcWinter: tbcMTB: tbcRoad: tbc"Look at the time...." "he's fallen like an old lady on a cruise ship..."
  • graeme_s-2
    graeme_s-2 Posts: 3,382
    AndyRAC wrote:
    It wil be interesting to see if anything is mentioned during the World Tracks - as Cav is there.

    I'd be surprised if Hugh Porter doesn't mention it at the very least.
  • iainf72
    iainf72 Posts: 15,784
    Pretty good blog entry on the Torygraph site

    http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/jeremywils ... st_cyclist
    Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
  • graeme_s-2
    graeme_s-2 Posts: 3,382
    iainf72 wrote:
    Pretty good blog entry on the Torygraph site

    http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/jeremywils ... st_cyclist

    Seems pretty fair and even handed. Doesn't take anything away from what the track team have achieved, but puts it into a more international context.
  • Nelson Longflap
    Nelson Longflap Posts: 129
    It's always intrigued me why the Telegraph has always had the best extensive sports coverage of all the broadsheets, and the best for cycling. Perhaps something to do with personal endeavour, competitiveness and struggle being associated with right-wing values?
  • wimbledon wheeler
    wimbledon wheeler Posts: 185
    the telegraph blog is pretty spot on for my money. Cuts to the heart of the way mainstream media tends to portray the sport of cycling: "drugs", "easily packaged hero we saw on tv", "more drugs" ad nauseum. Cavendish is clearly a major star already and is likely to get even better with the right management etc Sooner the UK media latches onto that fact, the better, especially in terms of a long term raise in the (positive) profile of the sport.

    Also, on the Robert Millar issue. Yes! Still the best british cyclist ever in terms of results, and frankly moody behaviour. Although, maybe not for long.... :lol:
    keep it wheel
  • The Kennington Kaiser
    The Kennington Kaiser Posts: 406
    Good blog that in the Telegraph, especially given that it comes from one of their football reporters! It's good to have a little balance and understanding of the European professional cycling scene in the mainstream.
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,262
    There was a decent write up in the Times today as well - almost a full page by one of their chief reporters.

    Opening line: There are surely contenders out there, so let the debate begin, but I put it to you that, right now, there is no British sportsperson performing at a higher level and more consistently than Mark Cavendish.

    http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/more_sport/cycling/article5956522.ece

    You'll never see anything in the tabloids, but the broadsheets give cycling a go usually.
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • moray_gub
    moray_gub Posts: 3,328
    RichN95 wrote:
    Opening line: There are surely contenders out there, so let the debate begin, but I put it to you that, right now, there is no British sportsperson performing at a higher level and more consistently than Mark Cavendish.
    .

    Good article that other than arguably Andy Murray hes probably right about Cav being top British sportsperson at the moment.
    Gasping - but somehow still alive !
  • robmanic1
    robmanic1 Posts: 2,150
    Moray Gub wrote:

    Good article that other than arguably Andy Murray hes probably right about Cav being top British sportsperson at the moment.

    No argument from me :wink:
    Pictures are better than words because some words are big and hard to understand.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/34335188@N07/3336802663/
  • marinerrr
    marinerrr Posts: 81
    The coverage has been very poor. What I don't get is why Murdoch's outlets haven't latched onto it, because I don't know how they're expecting the cycling knowledge and interest to be there to get much attention out of it any time other than July. Because whilst yes, no-one knows what Milan San-Remo is, how are they going to if it's not reported on well? It's BSkyB/Murdoch etc's role to put the foundations there.

    The Guardian's cycling coverage is poor, despite doing a Tour preview supplement before it started last year, and having Cav on their front page after his first stage win, the other stage wins got less and less coverage until it was just a tiny bit on page 13 of the Sports supplement or something for number 3 and 4, very poor.

    The Sun reported his first stage win last year, but it was right at the back and they said he was doing it 'as preparation for the Olympics' which made me laugh, but really shows how people don't understand it at all.

    I hope it increases and gets better but it won't change until people know more races than just the Tour and more cyclists than just Armstrong. I think it's a crying shame we have someone performing at the very top level in a massive sport worldwide, and no-one in his own country knows who he even is. I think it slowly has to change though, and with any luck it will.
  • Bhima
    Bhima Posts: 2,145
    He just got a mention in the North-West regional BBC News. Must have been 4 seconds. No clips. :|
  • Kléber
    Kléber Posts: 6,842
    Radio 4 news, a long feature with fashion designer Paul Smith on why he "merited barely a mention":
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0 ... 3_03_2009/ (fast forward to 25m07s)
  • leguape
    leguape Posts: 986
    Graeme_S wrote:
    iainf72 wrote:
    Pretty good blog entry on the Torygraph site

    http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/jeremywils ... st_cyclist

    Seems pretty fair and even handed. Doesn't take anything away from what the track team have achieved, but puts it into a more international context.

    It's also makes it pretty easy to see why Nicole Cooke is so sniffy about the British press when her vastly superior palmares only gets a mention in passing. How many riders are there who have won World and Olympic titles in the same year, plus pretty much every GT and all the significant one-day races?
    http://www.atomicecho.com/cycling
  • Chip \'oyler
    Chip \'oyler Posts: 2,323
    iainf72 wrote:
    Pretty good blog entry on the Torygraph site

    http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/jeremywils ... st_cyclist

    Good blog - but he forgot to mention Robert Millar coming second overall in the Giro and Vuelta.
    Expertly coached by http://www.vitessecyclecoaching.co.uk/

    http://vineristi.wordpress.com - the blog for Viner owners and lovers!
  • camerone
    camerone Posts: 1,232
    Moray Gub wrote:
    RichN95 wrote:
    Opening line: There are surely contenders out there, so let the debate begin, but I put it to you that, right now, there is no British sportsperson performing at a higher level and more consistently than Mark Cavendish.
    .

    Good article that other than arguably Andy Murray hes probably right about Cav being top British sportsperson at the moment.

    except Murray is Scottish not British I think you'll find.................. :wink:
  • graeme_s-2
    graeme_s-2 Posts: 3,382
    leguape wrote:
    It's also makes it pretty easy to see why Nicole Cooke is so sniffy about the British press when her vastly superior palmares only gets a mention in passing. How many riders are there who have won World and Olympic titles in the same year
    Just the 1. Nicole's the only cyclist (male or female) ever to have achieved that on the road isn't she?
  • Kléber
    Kléber Posts: 6,842
    She was also crowned national champion too. She can wear the Olympic rings, the rainbow stripes and the blue, white and red bands all in one go 8)
  • Philip S
    Philip S Posts: 398
    Don't know if this is in the print edition as well (I assume it is, given that it was posted on the website at 00.05 GMT), but today's Guardian website has a Richard Williams piece on Cav joining the sport's greats:
    http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2009/mar/24/richard-williams-column-mark-cavendish

    Lance gets a mention in the first line, but he's there to set the context for the layman - Cav is getting recognition from the one cyclist that everyone's heard of...

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