I must be unlucky, every time I switch when Eurosport goes on a break, ITV 4 is on a break and their breaks last way too long compared to ES

that is true.......ITV4 ad breaks do seem to go on forever.....

Even worse when they're followed by the wretched competition!

Switching between the two probably gives a false impression but it appears that ITV4 is stuck in the traditional broadcast mind-set of having ads every 12 or 15 minutes whatever........whereas ES have developed a strategy for cycling which involves packing the ad breaks at the start of the coverage to leave a clear run for the last half hour or so, depending on the race.........if it's a long climb to a mountain top finish they might not have any ads for an hour

though obviously ES show a lot more ads (plus those annoying 'features during the Tour than they would for their regular season long coverage of other races......I guess they have to cash in on the premium rate product

Not so bad on the ITV I player (compared to some of their rivals!)

And don't forget that S4C (166 on Virgin) are on a different ad schedule as well, so the action is often on there even when both the others are on breaks.

I would rather watch it on France TV, I can understand more French than Welsh :P

Steele von Hoff wins Stage 1 of the Sibiu Cycling Tour, which means One Pro Cycling's win tally for the season has gone into double digits. Not bad for a first-year ProConti team.

Cav yes!!!!! Saw him get onto Kittel's wheel about 750m out. Daniel McClay third!!!!!!

Wow......Chapeau Cav !

moves into 2nd on the all time Tour stage wins........

McLay looks the real deal........

Yeah, this is way higher than he has ever competed before.

Interesting thing, Kittel & Coquard really competed hard in the intermediate sprint today, Cav kind of bluffed, looked like he was going to ride it, then backed off.

Could Cav break the record this tour or are there not many sprint stages left?

Not really enough stages left. Another couple of chances at most.

Considering how fast the mighty German powerhouses have been these last few years (seriously, the difference between Kittel and the other sprinters in the two Giro stages he won this year was astonishing), I don't think many people - myself included - expected Cav to win three TdF stages this year - let alone in the first freaking week! (That's a first for him too, BTW)

In any case, I'd say the chances of him riding to Paris this year are less than 50% - he still needs a bit of fine-tuning for the Olympic track programme (a la 2008) and lugging himself through the Pyrénées and Alps won't help at all.

Gotta say though, that was some sprint by McLay - the sprint trains were somewhat disorganised towards the end, which helped him, but all the same...damn. Third in a TdF stage behind two of the pre-eminent sprinters (and ahead of the other) this last decade is no joke. At all.

In fact, ITV count three more potential sprint stages - which is no guarantee, because the longer the Tour goes on, the more the odds favour the breakaways, except for the Paris stage. Assuming he stays, another two would be an incredible achievement.

Just realised Cav has now accrued 140 pro wins on the road since becoming a fully fledged pro in 2007 (plus another the year before). In terms of Grand Tour stage wins, he's 4th all-time (1 win behind Alessandro Petacchi).

trouble with ES though is that they sometimes cut off the finish off the race with 3 km to go which is infuriating - it has happened 3 times this year in other races

Not to sure what you mean, ES always show the finish uninterrupted

A group of 12 including Sagan and Cavendish have a 40" lead on the peloton right now, Etixx are trying to chase it down

Edit: gap 30" now, lotto joined the chase

have they got to the intermediate sprint yet ?

they're probably going for that.......then they'll sit up

I think they have past it, when I tuned into race radio they were reading out the points, Sagan was the first name I heard followed by Cav but it was in French and rattled off to quick for me to work out the numbers.

Some good riders in the breakaway, CAVENDISH, Mark (DDD), PANTANO GOMEZ, Jarlinson (IAM), SANCHEZ GIL, Luis-Leon (AST), COSTA, Rui Alberto (LAM), SORENSEN, Chris Anker (FVC), ROY, Jérémy (FDJ), SAGAN, Peter (TNK), IZAGIRRE INSAUSTI, Gorka (MOV), NAVARDAUSKAS, Ramunas (CDT), SOUPE, GEOFFREY (COF)

Looks like they sat up, just watching on France TV and lots jumping off the front now to get away

No wonder Cav was peed off when he stuck behind on the stage Kittel won.
He was probably ready to win that one too.

I still think his best win was that final stage in Paris when he just rode away from them.

Wouldn't it be great to see him beat Mercks' record. I can see that happening now.

A new break has been established and is pulling away.........over 3 minutes now

It's a big group of 20-odd.......all of them 11 minutes plus down except for one man.......the yellow jersey ........

Yes, Van Avermaet has got into the break........great to see !

I wonder how long before they start attacking in the group, it's way too big, there will be some who do little or no work.