Michael Taylor

This is not good news for cycling in the UK. Firstly, I'd like to say that there are a lot of passionate cycling fans working at WBD, in front of and behind the scenes. The company is automatically 'disliked' by a cohort of the general public because it's a huge international conglomerate, but Eurosport have been showcasing cycling since 1991. They have, and continue to do a hell of a lot for our sport. On the flip side, exclusivity on the biggest race in the world, the ONLY race where non-cycling fans might tune is, is very worrying. It's a significant barrier to entry into what is already a relatively niche sport in the UK. ITV not only do a fantastic job themselves of broadcasting the race, live and with easily accessible highlights, they provide a gateway to WBD. The fans they 'convert' each July are more likely to subscribe to Discovery+/Max/Eurosport once they've realised how amazing our sport is. They must have made lifelong cycling fans of millions of people over the last few decades (including me). Anyway, I really feel for Ned, Dave, Pete, Matt, Daniel, Gary and all the others behind the ITV production - thank you for all you've done for the sport.