Magnus Backstedt

shipley

I think his commentary is fantastic. He and Harmon make a great team but the insight Magnus has into the equipment, the riders and his 'tips from the top' really give an additional insight into the sport from a riders perspective.

I do hope Eurosport use him as much as possible

cogidubnus

+1 Maggy is brilliant.

Dare I say it but I prefer him to Sean

dreamlx10

Dare I say it but I prefer him to Sean

Totally disagree, Sean Kelly has forgotten more about bike racing than Backstedt will ever know.

RichN95.

dreamlx10 wrote:

Dare I say it but I prefer him to Sean

Totally disagree, Sean Kelly has forgotten more about bike racing than Backstedt will ever know.

Why do think that? Because Kelly won more races? That's more down to his superior physical talents. They both know an awful lot, and Backstedt has an advantage of being more contemporary. And being a good commentator is more to do with communication skills than raw knowledge.

ms_tree

I like the way they both 'spot' things and can tell what's happening at a moment. I also like the way Magnus corrects Harmon!

dreamlx10

Backstedt has an advantage of being more contemporary

Winning is winning whenever you did it, and Kelly did it a lot more often than Backstedt. Kelly knows what's going on now, just because he raced years ago doesn't mean he hasn't kept up with what's going on.

dreamlx10

Why do think that? Because Kelly won more races?

Yes.

RichN95.

dreamlx10 wrote:

Why do think that? Because Kelly won more races?

Yes.

By that standard, Kauto Star knows more about horse racing than Claire Balding.

Garry H

I find Backstedt a lot easier to understand than Kelly.

dougzz

I like Kelly a lot, but at times it feels that Harmon has to repeatedly set him up to get him to comment. I don't know whether he's checking stats or just tuning out, but Kelly does seem to drift off. I don't mind either of them, both add a lot to the commentary.

cogidubnus

dreamlx10 wrote:

Dare I say it but I prefer him to Sean

Totally disagree, Sean Kelly has forgotten more about bike racing than Backstedt will ever know.

This may be true, but I just feel there is a better rapport between Mags and Harmon. Also Maggy will add comment without Harmon having to keep bringing him into the conversation. What you have won has nothing to do with if you are a good commentator or not.

Martin Brundle is a fine F1 commentator but didnt win many races

calvjones

Cogidubnus wrote:

dreamlx10 wrote:

Dare I say it but I prefer him to Sean

Totally disagree, Sean Kelly has forgotten more about bike racing than Backstedt will ever know.

This may be true, but I just feel there is a better rapport between Mags and Harmon. Also Maggy will add comment without Harmon having to keep bringing him into the conversation. What you have won has nothing to do with if you are a good commentator or not.

Martin Brundle is a fine F1 commentator but didnt win many races

+1.

They're both good, but Kelly took al looonng time to become good. Maggie is just naturally more articulate; but then I suppose he is Welsh so has a head-start over the taciturn Oirish lad.

Tom Butcher

Prefer Kelly - don't think it's necessarily got anything to do with how many races he won - I just prefer him as a co-commentator. I know some claim he's hard to understand or that he isn't garrulous enough but I like the accent and the understated dry humour - each to their own I suppose. Come to that I prefer Brian (or is it Bryan?) Smith too though Maggy is pretty good - whoever picks the co-commentators for Eurosport must have a good eye for it.

As for reading a race - Kelly is incredible at that and appears to have as much knowledge of the modern peloton and the gossip as any recently retired rider so I wouldn't say Maggy has the advantage there.

alanjay

Give me Backstedt anyday - Kelly for all his experience and knowledge is so monotone I find myself drifitng off somewhere else..

dreamlx10

I find myself drifitng off somewhere else..

To the land of "Sportives" perhaps ?

mattsy666

I find that MB talks like he was a an expert at every facet of cycling, yet he never seemed to win that many races with all these 'skills' ... he was a pro so aboviously has a very high skill level but he talks like he was an ace sprinter, tt'er, descending genius ... i never saw that at any point ...

he does know about modern racing though which is a better insight than Kelly but for reading what is actually happening in the race Kelly is king ... If we could get all 3 commentating at the GT's we'd be onto a winner ...

andyrr

Personally much prefer Kelly - he was pretty reticent in his early races but he is insightfuk now, Backstedt doesn't seem to 'know' what he is talking about sometimes although his race knowledge will be in there somewhere. Recently was talking about carbon frame and how after a while (can't remember exactly how long - season or 2 I think) they were worn out by pro-racers. Just seemed to spout off on somethings he doesn't know enough about.

curium

I like both tbh, I do really appreciate Sean Kelly's dry humour though.

A lot of valid points above but I think both have their place and it's good that they are both used.

senoj

Kelly as a commentator reminds me of the vicar in Father Ted, who had "a very boring voice"
I prefer Magnuss for that reason only,I find him easier to understand.
Saw him on the Dragon ride once,not as slim as he is now,looked like a bloody wrestler on the bike,didnt know if he was going to ride or body slam someone.

deejay

And now for the opposite view.
Magnus Backstedt is a BORE with his eye, eye, eye's. (as in me, me, me)

I do this
I did this
I wouldn't do that
I go round corners like etc. and more I's, in fact it's all I

Kelly needs prompting because he is so bored with Harmon asking the same questions and sometimes repeated the same day.
Kelly has tried so often to educate Harmon about Cycle racing both on air and off while Harmon tails Kelly like a lapdog through the race village.

Now Harmon has Maggie to suck knowlege and learn about cycle racing.
I did like the Swede telling Harmon that (??word??) is not in the English language and the peloton is wary of Cadel Evans as he had a tendency to fall off a lot.
Maggie has fallen into the same trap with Harmon of continuing his reply (next story) when there is action on screen.
Then at times that Maggie makes a comment on the race you find the the Parrott repeating every word in his own (now he knows) knowlegeable style. (who's a clever boy then)

Brian Smith can work with anyone and still keep his eye on the race to tell you the exact rider that has just made a move.

Harmon, Duffield (in his later yers) and Kirby all seem to be standing at the bar having a chat with a cycle race going on in the background.

Through the years with German TV covering the Giro (and other races) my wife has said to me "you can't speak German" and it dosn't matter as they name riders that come on the screen and the pictures say the rest.
So Harmon gets Muted with a flick into audio to see if the race is being discussed.
I put up with Kiby because of Smithy being on the ball but Kirby and Backstedt is an 80% mute again.

Wouldn't it be nice to have Smithy and Backstedt doing the commentry or Kelly with one of them.
Now that would be a commentary team and leave the whimps in Paris for Highlight Programes.

Super Domestique

alanjay wrote:

Give me Backstedt anyday - Kelly for all his experience and knowledge is so monotone I find myself drifitng off somewhere else..

Exactly the same for me. I do also enjoy the David and Magnus banter more too if honest.

P_Tucker

I think we can all agree that they both know enough about pro racing to know whats going on in a race. After this it's personal preference - I vote for Kelly. Why not add a poll to this thread?

frenchfighter

Haha nice post DJ! I haven't heard much of MB at all but shall try and watch a race on ES next time he is on if he is that good.

The French commentators always seem pretty pro and are excellent at picking out riders. Having Fignon commentate on the Tour was a joy to listen to.

dougzz

@deejay.

I think you're harsh on Harmon. It's a TdF transition day what do you talk about, you've got to dribble on a bit, you can't just name riders, can you? I suspect if you had Smithy and Backstedt you'd find out that the lead commentator is actually a lot tougher role than the colour man that just has to make a point or explain an action from a particular rider. Maybe they could do it, but it was a constant theme of Howard Cosell, and one I agree with, that people that are good at something are frequently not the best to describe it or commentate on it.

iainf72

Kelly and Magnus are not natural commentators. So Harmon asks questions which he knows the answer to in order to make it interesting for the audience. Surely everyone has been in meetings in a work situation where you use questions to lead a discussion even though you know the answer?

I don't need to have what's happening on screen described to me - I can see that. It's the commentary teams job to add some colour around that (IMO)

BrianS

Tom Butcher wrote:

Prefer Kelly - don't think it's necessarily got anything to do with how many races he won - I just prefer him as a co-commentator. I know some claim he's hard to understand or that he isn't garrulous enough but I like the accent and the understated dry humour - each to their own I suppose. Come to that I prefer Brian (or is it Bryan?) Smith too though Maggy is pretty good - whoever picks the co-commentators for Eurosport must have a good eye for it.

As for reading a race - Kelly is incredible at that and appears to have as much knowledge of the modern peloton and the gossip as any recently retired rider so I wouldn't say Maggy has the advantage there.

its Brian

Cleat Eastwood

I like the fact his wife's called Meg.

Mag and Meg

Magnus and Megnus.

Yin and Yang.

What a well balanced guy.

Turfle

No love for Carlton Kirby?

I actually really like Harmon with any of Sean, Magnus, or BrianS. Like any commentators there are elements that annoy after 2 hours, but on the whole they fill the time very well imo. I also like Ant McCrossan cos he's just so enthusiastic.

BrianS, next time you're on with Carlton please don't let him talk.

dave milne

I hate ant mccrossan.

deejay

BrianS wrote:

Tom Butcher wrote:

Come to that I prefer Brian (or is it Bryan?) Smith too
As for reading a race - Kelly is incredible at that and appears to have as much knowledge of the modern peloton and the gossip as any recently retired rider so I wouldn't say Maggy has the advantage there.

its Brian

Hi There and a very interesting link you have - www.cyclevox.com/speakers.
Harmon would be on there to talk about Motorbikes, Cameras or Ancient Architecture but not for cycle racing. (except in a capacity for name dropping)

I see I'm not being contradicted very much with my post either and expected much more.

They keep quoting long boring GT stages where waffle is needed for the Layman but Harmon keeps doing it and even with the Classics.
Who cares about those long TDF stages because real cyclists will be asleep or doing other things. (perhaps being out on their bikes) and then watch a Highlight program that evening.


Shut Kirby up (chuckles you mean), now that would be something.
Smithy wants the work and as a guest commentator cannot do that or say anything here on Bike Radar.

Hope to hear more from you and I like your style.

Just one thing.
Who appoints the ES team
Is it Paris or London. ??

dougzz

^^^
You understand the commentary is for the entire audience not just for you? Why not just mute the sound the whole time and solve your problem?