who are the sbs tour de france commentators

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Behind the scenes of SBS’s Tour de France coverage

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SBS TV has been beaming images from the Tour de France into Australian homes for 23 years now and plenty has changed in that time. We went behind-the-scenes with the team at SBS to find out how the Tour de France broadcast is put together and more.

Somewhere in the rabbit warren of the Tour de France technical zone sits a van that SBS hires for the duration of the Tour. It’s a mobile HQ for the network’s on-the-ground crew and by all accounts it’s a considerable upgrade on what they’ve had in previous years. For a start, the whole team can actually fit inside the van at one time — no-one has to sit in the marquee outside because there’s not enough room.

You’d recognise many of the people who are in France for SBS: host Mike “Tommo” Tomalaris, presenters Dave McKenzie and Kate Bates and guest analysts Anthony Tan (from Cycling Central) and Scott McGrory (who’s currently embedded with Orica-GreenEDGE). But these familiar faces are only part of the equation.

Behind the scenes are a handful of folks that you don’t see but that are vital to the operation. There’s cameraman Ollie who works with Kate, and cameraman Ryan, who’s paired with Dave. There’s producer Stuart Randall, video editor Mark and a few French technicians who manage SBS’s satellite connections.

Together they produce the daily content that’s broadcast before and after the live coverage of the race, giving SBS’s Tour coverage an Australian flavour.

How the broadcast actually works

SBS doesn’t have its own cameras out on course — imagine how many helicopters and motorbikes would be following the race if every country’s host broadcaster had their own. Instead SBS and broadcasters in other countries take a feed provided by the host broadcaster, France Télévisions.

This live feed combines vision from all the cameras out on course and overlay graphics (time checks, riders names and so on), all mixed by France Télévisions in the technical zone at the finish line of each day’s stage. And then there’s the commentary to consider.

Every night SBS viewers get an hour or so of Matt Keenan before industry stalwarts Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen take over. At the Tour de France Matt actually works for the ASO, the race organiser, and his commentary can be heard in many countries around the world. Phil and Paul, too, have their commentary heard around the world, but they have an exclusive contract with US broadcaster NBC.

Every night NBC has exclusive access to Paul and Phil’s commentary until a certain time, depending on how they’ve got their broadcast structured. While Paul and Phil are commentating exclusively for NBC Matt is playing warm-up act in Australia and other countries. And when NBC decides they don’t need exclusive use of Paul and Phil for the rest of the evening, the pair starts commentating for other networks, including SBS, while Matt Keenan signs off.

With the audio commentary added to the video feed, the whole packaged is then sent by satellite to SBS headquarters in Sydney, via London and Los Angeles. It’s back in Sydney that the broadcast is put together and then put to air.

Each day video editor Mark, who’s with the team in France, creates a teaser montage for the start of the evening’s broadcast using vision from a France Télévisions feed which comes directly into the SBS van at the finish line. This is combined with Tommo’s daily introduction piece which is filmed a couple hours before SBS’s coverage starts in Australia. The pieces are bundled together and sent back to Sydney via satellite.

Throughout the day the two camera teams — Dave & Ryan and Kate & Ollie — are out getting interviews with riders and other content, to be incorporated into the pre-recorded coverage, or shown live (in the case of post-race interviews, for example). And after every stage Tommo hosts a half-hour stage recap with a guest host, filmed at the finish line and beamed back to Sydney live via satellite.

Back in Sydney

There’s a team of half a dozen working back in the Sydney studio, late at night, to put the broadcast to air. At the start of the broadcast they play the pre-recorded package sent by the team in France before switching over to the live coverage when it becomes available through France Télévisions.

Throughout the night it’s the team in Sydney that controls the ad breaks, which music plays before and after the ad breaks (courtesy of the infamous but entertaining Troll DJ ), when to cut between the podium presentations and Tommo’s live post-race analysis, and so on.

Behind the team of six in Sydney working on the broadcast itself, there’s another 15 to 20 people involved in SBS’s Tour de France coverage on a nightly basis, from editors of the Cycling Central website, to journalists, to Troll DJ, to the people who keep the Tour Tracker working.

The team has grown substantially since the early 2000s when it was just Tommo, a cameraman and an editor. That growth has brought with it a number of logistical challenges.

A day in the life

With the Tour de France starting in a new town virtually every day, the SBS team needs to do a lot of moving around. Here’s how producer Stu Randall described an average day for the team:

“Normally we stay at a hotel nearer the previous day’s finish than the next day’s start. Tommo, myself and Mark will leave the hotel about 7 in the morning and we’ll drive straight to that day’s finish. Usually we have about a two to two and a half hour drive each morning to get there. When we get there we set up what we’re going to do for the top of the pre-race show, we record that, we edit that, then we send that back to Sydney.”

While Tommo, Stu and Mark head straight to the stage finish, the camera teams of Kate & Ollie and Dave & Ryan split up and seek out whatever content the team needs for the day.

Normally one of the pairs will head to the stage start to get rider interviews, vision for montages and any other content that they need. From there both camera teams head to the stage finish where they watch the rest of the race in the SBS truck before filming post-race interviews.

Before packing up for the day they film segments for the daily highlights show, SBS’s online show and the post-race analysis by Tommo and a guest. Stu told us:

“We generally pack up at the finish about 7pm and it’s probably about an hour to an hour and a half that night to get to our next hotel. And that’s the easy stages.”

The big mountain-top-finish stages might look impressive on TV but they’re a nightmare for the thousands of people that work behind the scenes to keep the Tour de France running and shared with the masses.

“Two years ago we were trying to get off Alpe d’Huez and Tommo was staying in Grenoble”, Stu told us. “He left at 10pm and it took him 4 hours to drive to Grenoble [roughly 50km away]”.

The team had a similar difficulty on stage 15 of this year’s Tour when it took them 95 minutes to drive the 20km from the base of Mont Ventoux to the summit, thanks to all the riders on the road trying to get up the mountain to watch the race.

And while rest days give viewers in the Australian time zones a chance to catch up on much needed sleep, they’re hardly restful for the SBS team.

“Our editor spends that time compiling vision and going through what we’ve seen so far, editing montage material for the next day”, Stu said. “It’s a really good opportunity for some housekeeping for him.”

For Stu and the camera crews the rest days are all about heading to press conferences and getting interviews.

Tour de France broadcast rights

While SBS now broadcasts every stage of the Tour de France live, that wasn’t always the case. It was in 1991 that the station first beamed the race into Australian living rooms and at that time it was a simple half-hour highlights package they bought the rights to and broadcast at 6 o’clock every evening.

As SBS’s Head of Sport, Ken Shipp, told me, it was the presence of Australians in the race that saw SBS ramp up its coverage in the years after that.

“Thereafter we actually sent a small team to the Tour de France each year … to provide an Australian perspective and to give essentially a hosting top and tail around that program.”

From a highlights package to a highlight package with an on-the-ground “top and tail” the coverage started including live stages as well. It started off small with only a handful of stages broadcast live, but these days all 21 stages are broadcast live on SBS.

As you might expect, going from broadcasting a highlights package to broadcasting the race live adds a significant financial cost.

Ken estimated that it costs roughly 10 times more to broadcast a stage live than it does as highlights, due to the cost of having a team on the ground to provide an Australian context, and the fact live broadcast rights cost more than highlights rights.

SBS is currently in the middle of a seven-year contract to broadcast the Tour de France in Australia, a contract that runs out in 2017. And this year, for the first time, SBS has the exclusive live and highlights rights for Australia, meaning Eurosport, on pay TV network Foxtel, isn’t able to broadcast more than a couple of minutes of race footage per day.

( UPDATE: An hour after this piece was published SBS announced that they’d extended their rights deal with ASO until 2023.)

Ken told me that SBS commits $4-5 million a year to cycling but was reluctant (and legally unable) to say how much of that is made up of the network’s rights agreement for the Tour de France. He also made it clear that he didn’t want the dollar figure “to be out there in the market”, for fear of giving SBS’s rivals a competitive advantage.

“I do expect there will be some competition [when the contract ends] because now that [rival networks] have multiple digital platforms like Go, and Gem and 7Mate, they’re looking for content”, Ken said. “There’s no question there’s going to be competition.”

Perhaps the biggest competition will come from the Nine Network who have showed a renewed interest in cycling in recent years and have bought the rights to the Tour Down Under.

The 2013 Tour de France might still be in progress but the team at SBS is already thinking about the 2014 edition and considering the improvements they can make. Indeed, planning for the Tour de France is a year-round exercise.

The next year’s route is announced in October and the team books accommodation and transport shortly afterwards. Rider interviews are filmed at the Tour Down Under and the months leading up to the Tour de France are always filled with preparation.

And it’s no wonder SBS invests so much time and money into the Tour de France. The race is one of the network’s most prized assets and one of its best-rating offerings. Ken Shipp told me that mountain stages late in the Tour often attract double or triple the ratings SBS would normally receive for that particular time slot.

So as you settle in to watch tonight’s stage of Le Tour, take a moment to think about all the work and planning that goes on behind the scenes to deliver coverage of the race to your lounge room. It’s a combined effort by teams working on opposite sides of the globe to ensure that Australian cycling fans get an Australian perspective on the biggest annual sporting event in the world.

Further reading:

• How the Tour de France is broadcast to the world
• A brief history of Australian race coverage

Thanks very much to Ken Shipp and Stu Randall for taking the time to speak with me. Thanks too to Matt, Mike, Scott, Dave, Ollie, Kate, Mark, Anthony and Ryan for letting me hang out and take photos of them at work.

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New SBS Cycling Commentary Team

SBS has unveiled its new team of cycling commentators comprising Matthew Keenan, Bridie O’Donnell and Simon Gerrans alongside David McKenzie, Christophe Mallet, Kate Bates, Gracie Elvin and Mark Renshaw.

The cycling calendar begins on SBS with the Tour of Italy tomorrow, followed by Vuelta of Spain, Tour de France and Tour de France Women with Zwift – over 810 hours of live cycling content in 2022.

SBS Sporting Director Ken Shipp said: “SBS is incredibly passionate about our commitment to cycling – we’ve been giving Australians a front row seat at the world’s biggest events for over 30 years, and our goal continues. to be to deliver the best of cycling to the Australian public.We are delighted to have a trusted team of presenters and experts at the forefront of our coverage, bringing a range of perspectives and providing entertaining analysis and complete.

“The T our of France, Tour de France Women with Zwift, Tour of Italy and Vuelta of Spain are among the biggest annual sporting events in the world. They are at the heart of SBS’s sports programming and each year we provide extensive coverage to millions of fans across Australia. As Australia’s cycling network, we look forward to investing more in the sport to further expand our coverage in the years to come.

The new team follows the exit of former commentators Robbie McEwen and Michael Tomalaris who left in recent months with few details from SBS, raising some concerns among sports fans.

Matthew Keenan, known for his encyclopaedic knowledge of world cycling, world hour record holder and Australian time trial champion, Dr Bridie O’Donnell and Simon Gerrans, whose illustrious cycling career includes victories in Liège, provide expert commentary and reliable analysis on SBS cycling coverage. -Bastogne-Liège, Milan-San Remo and stage victories in the three Grand Tours, plus a stint in the leader’s yellow jersey at the Tour de France. Former Giro d’Italia stage winner and longtime SBS presenter David McKenzie and SBS French Radio’s Christophe Mallet will continue to provide highlights and fan engagement with the popular ZWIFT SBS Cycling podcast. A multiple national track and road champion, Kate Bates brings extensive racing experience and a talent for broadcasting to the team. And rounding out the SBS cycling presentation team are Gracie Elvin, two-time national road champion and founding member of the first-ever independent international women’s cycling union, and Mark Renshaw, internationally renowned sprinter and training specialist.

The Giro d’Italia is “the toughest race in the most beautiful place in the world” and the 105th edition of the magnificent Italian race will be no exception. Starting tomorrow until Sunday May 29, the 2022 Giro d’Italia kicks off in Hungary, with the picturesque Lake Balaton as a backdrop.

Australian stars Richie Porte and Caleb Ewan are set to feature with Porte looking to contest the battle for the overall win, while Ewan will be looking for stages in a race where he already has five stage wins in his career.

All 21 stages of the Giro d’Italia will be broadcast live on SBS On Demand with television coverage on SBS beginning at the crucial stage moment later each evening. There are two linear opportunities to catch the daily one-hour show on SBS: 7:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. AEST (4:30 p.m. on weekends).

With catch-up replays as well as extended previews and analysis videos via SBS On Demand throughout the three-week race, SBS is home for all things Giro d’Italia.

In July, the Tour de France and Tour de France Women with Zwift come to SBS for a jam-packed month of cycling encompassing the biggest and best races in the world. The 21 stages of the Tour de France and the eight stages of the Tour de France Women with Zwift will be broadcast live and for free on SBS and SBS On Demand, with daily highlights and much more. More details on the SBS broadcast schedule will be revealed soon.

Dr. Bridie O’Donnell Dr Bridie O’Donnell graduated valedictorian from the University of Queensland Medical School. Between 2000 and 2006 she was a rower and competed in the Ironman triathlon, finishing the Ironman Hawaii World Championships in 2006. In 2007 she started road cycling and in 2008 after winning the national time trial title she raced for the Australian national team, and then professional Italian teams in Europe and the United States, representing Australia at three world championships between 2008 and 2012. From 2013 to 2017, Bridie managed and raced for the team Women’s Rush in the Cycling Australia National Road Series. In 2016, she broke the UCI hour world record. In 2017 she was appointed as the first Director of the Office for Women in Sport and Leisure by the Government of Victoria and in 2018 her memoir Cycling: ‘Life and Death’ was published, detailing her experiences as a professional cyclist in Europe.

Christophe Mallet Christophe is a long-time television presenter, podcast host and executive producer of the French program for SBS Radio. In 2017 he was awarded the National Order of Merit – he was incredibly honored to be presented as Chevalier de l’Ordre du Mérite in France. During his more than 10 years at SBS, Christophe has been involved in numerous projects, including hosting the Tour de France highlights show alongside Kate Bates, and has been heavily involved in coverage of the Dakar Rally. by SBS. He was also responsible for producing over 4,200 radio shows on the SBS radio network.

David McKenzie David McKenzie brings nine years of experience as a professional cyclist to SBS, providing in-depth analysis of the race, the riders and everything viewers need to know about road racing. Beginning his career on the track, David made his first appearance for Australia aged just 16. He joined his first professional cycling team in 1997 after a stint at the Australian Institute of Sport and in 1998 won the Australian National Road Championship. On the professional cycling circuit, David has competed in Australia and across Europe for various teams, winning stages at several events including the Giro d’Italia, Tour of Japan and Tour Down Under.

Gracie Elvin Gracie is a two-time national road cycling champion. She represented Australia at the Rio Olympics in 2016, competed in two Commonwealth Games and competed in eight separate road and mountain bike world championships. Gracie was part of the GreenEDGE pro team for eight years. She won UCI races in Europe, finished second in the Tour of Flanders and was team captain in numerous team victories. She is also a co-founder of the first-ever international women’s cycling union – the Cyclists’ Alliance – and cares deeply about gender equality and ensuring that she leaves the sport in a better place than when she started. .

Kate Bates Kate Bates is a world track champion, two-time road and track Olympian, Commonwealth Games track gold medalist, national road champion and World Cup winner on the road. It has a track record and distinctions worthy of a racing team. For this, she was inducted into the Cycling Australia Hall of Fame. One of the best cyclists in the world in the 2000s, Bates represented Australia on the track at the Athens Olympics in 2004 in the individual pursuit, and on road and track at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. Bates has made the points race his own, winning double Commonwealth Games gold in the discipline in 2002 and 2006, a host of World Cup and national victories while also reaching the world title in 2007.

Marc Renshaw Mark Renshaw is a retired Australian cyclist, who raced professionally between 2004 and 2019 for teams Française des Jeux, Crédit Agricole, HTC–Highroad, Belkin Pro Cycling, Etixx–Quick-Step and Team Dimension Data. During his 16-year career, he was best known as the main point guard for fellow countryman Mark Cavendish, helping him win more than 20 Tour de France stages. His most notable victories are the overall overall victory in the 2011 Tour of Qatar, the stages of the Tour Down Under, the stages of the Tour of Britain and the stage victory of the Tour of Turkey, and the race of a Clásica de Almería day. He participated 10 times in the Tour de France and in 2004 he also participated in the Athens Olympics in the track points race.

Matthew Keenan 2022 will be Matt’s 16th year commentating on cycling’s biggest event, the Tour de France. After two seasons of amateur racing in Europe, Matt turned to commentary, having since commentated on the Commonwealth Games, Tour of Spain, Paris-Nice, Giro d’Italia and Tour of Qatar. Known for his supreme cycling knowledge and ability to recall detailed information about individual cyclists, Matt is internationally recognized as one of the industry’s leading commentators.

Simon Gerrans Simon Gerrans holds the unique position of being the first Australian to win a stage in all three Grand Tours – the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a Espana. He discovered competitive cycling as a teenager at the suggestion of Australian cycling legend Phil Anderson, who was then living on a property near the farm of Gerrans parents in country Victoria. Anderson, who viewed Gerrans’ cycling as rehabilitation from a serious knee injury after a motorcycle racing accident, encouraged him to pursue the sport competitively. Simon has been a proud ambassador and active fundraiser for the Chain Reaction Challenge Foundation since 2010 and was the founder of the Victorian Inter-School Cycling Series.

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SBS announces cycling and commentary team for grand tours

• The Giro d’Italia, the Vuelta a España, and the Tour de France and Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift will all be broadcast live on SBS

The three biggest Grand Tours in professional cycling take will be broadcast live and exclusively free on SBS and SBS on Demand – Australia’s cycling network.

With more than 810 hours of cycling content across 2022, the Giro d’Italia, the Vuelta a España, and two of the biggest sporting events in the world – the Tour de France and Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift – will all be broadcast live on SBS.

The Giro d’Italia will click into gear from Friday 6 May until Sunday 29 May, while the Tour de France a nd Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift will commence in July.

All 21 stages of the Giro d’Italia will be live in full on SBS On Demand with television coverage on SBS starting at the crucial time in the stage later each night. There are two linear opportunities to catch the daily one-hour highlights show on SBS: at 7.00am and 5.00pm AEST (4.30pm on weekends).

 All 21 stages of the Tour de France and all eight stages of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift will be live and free on SBS and SBS On Demand.

Providing expert commentary and analysis across SBS’s cycling coverage are Matthew Keenan who’s known for his encyclopaedic knowledge of world cycling, Dr. Bridie O’Donnell, a world hour record holder and Australian Time Trial champion and Simon Gerrans, whose cycling career includes victories at Liege-Bastogne-Liege, Milan-San Remo and stage wins at all three Grand Tours, plus a stint in the leader’s yellow jersey at the Tour de France. 

Former Giro d’Italia stage winner and long-standing SBS presenter David McKenzie and SBS French Radio’s Christophe Mallet will continue to provide highlights and fan engagement with the popular ZWIFT SBS Cycling podcast.

Multiple national champion on the track and road, Kate Bates, brings a wealth of racing experience and broadcast talent to the team. And rounding out the SBS cycling presenting team is two-time national road champion and founding member of the first-ever independent international women’s cycling union, Gracie Elvin, as well as internationally renowned sprinter and lead-out specialist Mark Renshaw.

SBS director of sport, Ken Shipp, said, “SBS is incredibly passionate about our commitment to cycling — we’ve been giving Australians a front row seat to the world’s greatest events for more than 30 years, and our goal continues to be to deliver the very best of cycling to Australian audiences. We are excited to have a team of trusted presenters and experts fronting our coverage, bringing a range of perspectives and providing entertaining and comprehensive analysis.

“The Tour de France, Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, Giro d’Italia, and Vuelta a España are some of the world’s biggest annual sporting events. They’re at the heart of SBS’s sporting line-up and, every year, we provide extensive coverage for millions of fans across Australia. As Australia’s cycling network, we look forward to investing further in the sport to make our coverage even bigger over the years to come.”

The Giro d’Italia is ‘the toughest race in the world’s most beautiful place’ and the 105th edition of the magnificent Italian race will be no exception. 

Australian stars Richie Porte and Caleb Ewan are set to feature with Porte looking to contest the battle for the overall win, while Ewan will be on the hunt for stages in a race where he has five stage victories already in his career.

For more information, visit the new SBS Sport website: sbs.com.au/sport

Top image: L to R – Christophe Mallet, Mark Renshaw, Simon Gerrans, Kate Bates, Dr Bridie O’Donnell, Matthew Keenan, David Mckenzie, Gracie Elvin

New-look SBS cycling commentary team

Sbs unveils its 2022 cycling commentators ahead of the giro d’italia..

• Published by David Knox
• on May 5, 2022
• Filed under News , Video

SBS has unveiled its new-look cycling commentary team including Matthew Keenan, Bridie O’Donnell and Simon Gerrans alongside David McKenzie, Christophe Mallet, Kate Bates, Gracie Elvin, and Mark Renshaw.

The cycling calendar begins on SBS with the Giro d’Italia tomorrow, followed by the Vuelta a España, Tour de France and Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift – more than 810 hours of Live cycling content across 2022.

SBS Director of Sport, Ken Shipp, said: “SBS is incredibly passionate about our commitment to cycling — we’ve been giving Australians a front row seat to the world’s greatest events for more than 30 years, and our goal continues to be to deliver the very best of cycling to Australian audiences. We are excited to have a team of trusted presenters and experts fronting our coverage, bringing a range of perspectives and providing entertaining and comprehensive analysis.”

“The T our de France, Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, Giro d’Italia , and Vuelta a España are some of the world’s biggest annual sporting events. They’re at the heart of SBS’s sporting line-up and, every year, we provide extensive coverage for millions of fans across Australia. As Australia’s cycling network, we look forward to investing further in the sport to make our coverage even bigger over the years to come.”

The new team follows the exit of former commentators Robbie McEwen and Michael Tomalaris departed in recent months with little detail from SBS, prompting some concerns amongst fans of the sport.

Providing expert commentary and trusted analysis across SBS’s cycling coverage are Matthew Keenan who’s known for his encyclopaedic knowledge of world cycling, world hour record holder and Australian Time Trial champion Dr. Bridie O’Donnell and Simon Gerrans, whose illustrious cycling career includes victories at Liege-Bastogne-Liege, Milan-San Remo and stage wins at all three Grand Tours, plus a stint in the leader’s yellow jersey at the Tour de France. Former Giro d’Italia stage winner and long-standing SBS presenter David McKenzie and SBS French Radio’s Christophe Mallet will continue to provide highlights and fan engagement with the popular ZWIFT SBS Cycling podcast. Multiple national champion on the track and road, Kate Bates, brings a wealth of racing experience and broadcast talent to the team. And rounding out the SBS cycling presenting team is two-time national road champion and founding member of the first-ever independent international women’s cycling union, Gracie Elvin, and internationally renowned sprinter and lead-out specialist Mark Renshaw.

The Giro d’Italia is ‘the toughest race in the world’s most beautiful place’ and the 105th edition of the magnificent Italian race will be no exception. Clicking into gear tomorrow until Sunday 29 May, the 2022 Giro d’Italia starts in Hungary, with the picturesque Lake Balaton as the backdrop.

Australian stars Richie Porte and Caleb Ewan are set to feature with Porte looking to contest the battle for the overall win, while Ewan will be on the hunt for stages in a race where he has five stage victories already in his career.

All 21 stages of the Giro d’Italia will be live in full on SBS On Demand with television coverage on SBS starting at the crucial time in the stage later each night. There are two linear opportunities to catch the daily one-hour highlights show on SBS: at 7.00am and 5.00pm AEST (4.30pm on weekends).

With catch-up replays as well as extended highlights and analysis videos via SBS On Demand throughout the three-week race, SBS is the home for all things Giro d’Italia.

In July, the Tour de France and Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift are coming to SBS for a cycling-packed month encompassing the biggest and best races in the world. All 21 stages of the Tour de France and all eight stages of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift will be live and free on SBS and SBS On Demand, with daily highlights and much more. More details about SBS”s broadcast schedule will be revealed soon.

Dr Bridie O’Donnell Dr Bridie O’Donnell graduated as Valedictorian from the University of Queensland Medical School. Between 2000 and 2006 she was a rower and competed in Ironman triathlon, finishing the Ironman Hawaii World Championships in 2006. In 2007, she began road cycling and in 2008 after winning the National Time Trial title, she raced in the Australian National Team, and then Professional Italian teams in Europe and the United States, representing Australia at three World Championships between 2008-2012. From 2013-2017, Bridie managed and raced for Rush Women’s Team in the Cycling Australia National Road Series. In 2016, she broke the UCI Hour World Record. In 2017, she was appointed the inaugural Head of the Office for Women in Sport and Recreation by the Victorian Government and in 2018, her cycling memoir: “Life and Death” was published, detailing her experiences as a professional cyclist in Europe.

Christophe Mallet Christophe is a television presenter, podcast host and long-time Executive Producer of SBS Radio’s French program. In 2017 he was awarded a National Order of Merit – he was incredibly honoured to be introduced as a Knight of the Order of Merit in France. Over the course of his 10+ years at SBS, Christophe has been involved in many projects including hosting the Tour de France highlights show alongside Kate Bates, and has been heavily involved in SBS’s coverage of the Dakar Rally. He’s also been responsible for producing more than 4,200 radio shows across the SBS radio network.

David McKenzie David McKenzie brings nine years’ experience as a professional cyclist to SBS, providing in-depth analysis of the race, the riders and everything viewers need to know about road racing. Starting his career on the track, David made his first appearance for Australia at just 16. He joined his first professional cycling team in 1997 after a stint at the Australian Institute of Sport and in 1998 won the Australian National Road Championship. On the pro-cycling circuit David has competed in Australia and throughout Europe for various teams, winning stages at a number of events including the Giro d’Italia, Tour of Japan and Tour Down Under.

Gracie Elvin Gracie is a two time national road cycling champion. She represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, has been to two Commonwealth Games, and competed in eight separate world championships in road cycling and mountain biking. Gracie was a member of the GreenEDGE professional team for eight years. She won UCI races in Europe, took second at the Tour of Flanders, and was team captain at many team victories. She is also a co-founder of the first ever international women’s cycling union – The Cyclists’ Alliance – and cares deeply about gender equality and making sure she left the sport in a better place than when she started in it.

Kate Bates Kate Bates is a track world champion, dual Olympian on the road and track, Commonwealth Games track gold medallist, road national champion, and road World Cup winner. She boasts a list of achievements and accolades worthy of a team of riders. For this she has been inducted into the Cycling Australia Hall of Fame. One of the world’s premier cyclists in the 2000s, Bates represented Australia on the track at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games in the individual pursuit, and on the road and track at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. Bates made the points race her own claiming dual Commonwealth Games gold in the discipline in 2002 and 2006, a host of World Cup and national victories while also surging to the 2007 world title.

Mark Renshaw Mark Renshaw is a retired Australian racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2004 and 2019 for the Française des Jeux, Crédit Agricole, HTC–Highroad, Belkin Pro Cycling, Etixx–Quick-Step and Team Dimension Data teams. During his 16-year career, he was most well known as the main lead-out man for fellow sprinter Mark Cavendish, helping him win more than 20 Tour de France stages. His most notable wins are the overall general victory in the 2011 Tour of Qatar, Tour Down Under Stages, Tour of Britain Stages and Tour of Turkey stage victory, and the one-day race Clásica de Almería. He raced in the Tour de France 10 times and in 2004, he also raced in the Olympic Games in Athens in the track cycling points race.

Matthew Keenan 2022 will be Matt’s 16th year commentating cycling’s biggest event, the Tour de France. After two seasons of amateur racing in Europe, Matt turned to commentary, having since commentated on the Commonwealth Games, Tour of Spain, Paris-Nice, Giro d’Italia and Tour of Qatar. Known for his supreme cycling knowledge and ability to recall detailed information about individual cyclists, Matt is recognised internationally as one of the leading commentators in the business.

Simon Gerrans Simon Gerrans holds the unique position of being the first Australian to have won a stage in all three Grand Tours – the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a Espana. He found competitive cycling as a teenager on the suggestion of Australian cycling legend Phil Anderson, who then lived on a property nearby Gerrans’ parents farm in country Victoria. Anderson, who saw Gerrans cycling as rehabilitation from a serious knee injury after a motor bike racing crash, encouraged him to take up the sport competitively. Simon has been a proud ambassador and active fundraiser of the Chain Reaction Challenge Foundation since 2010 and was the founder of the Victorian Inter-School Cycling Series.

• Tagged with Giro D’Italia , Tour de France , Tour de France Femmes , Vuelta a Espana

5 Responses

Wont be the same without Robbie McEwen and Michael Tomalaris… I am not a cyclist…watch for presenters I like who inform me and the glorious scenery….If I watch will probably just mute….unless something tweaks my interest 😞

I agree Maev ,I’ll mainly miss the voice of cycling Mr Phil Liggett and the wonderful Gabriel Gat`e with his French outings and cooking.

Yes….those also….

Hi David, that is lots of detail that SBS has provided about their team… what seems to be lacking is any details about the programming. Stage start times, what time on On Demand what time it starts on TV etc. They normally release a list, but I have not seen it. Perhaps they are a bit under-the-pump at SBS, the Giro starts tomorrow, I would expect that this would normal be out sooner then the day before. Thanks

It wasn’t posted under Programming, but I have added in for you.

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• Giro d'Italia stage 5 Live - Will Jonathan Milan win again?

Robbie McEwen dropped from SBS television commentary team

Australian broadcaster tells Cyclingnews it is ‘exploring a different approach in 2022’

Robbie McEwen will no longer be a part of the SBS television cycling commentary team, with the three-time winner of the Tour de France green jersey saying he was axed without a valid explanation. The Australian broadcaster's response to explain why his contract wasn't renewed is that they are “exploring a different approach in 2022”.

The sprinter, who retired from racing at the end of 2012, has been a popular regular in the SBS cycling commentary line-up for six years, delivering insight from his extensive experience across a number of events, including the Tour de France.

He was in the commentary booth for the Australian Road National Championships on Sunday, alongside Matthew Keenan and another former Australian champion, Bridie O’Donnell. However, not long after the racing was over, McEwen turned to Twitter to first congratulate the riders for delivering a great race before delivering the news that the broadcast was his last with the station.

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“You’ll no longer hear me on comms on any @sbs cycling broadcast. They have axed me from the team to “deliver their broadcast differently,” McEwen said.

He later added: “I didn’t get a valid explanation and I’m assuming someone is pushing their own agenda in axing me. I loved doing it & I’m really disappointed.”

The Tweets drew a flood of responses from viewers, riders and those within the industry who were disappointed they wouldn’t get to hear McEwen any more on SBS, which has long been a key source for free-to-air television cycling broadcasts in Australia. 

The news about McEwen came soon after Michael Tomalaris was dropped by the network after 30 years of presenting SBS cycling and other sports.

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“Robbie has been a valued member of our cycling commentary line-up for a number of events over the last six years, but we’re exploring a different approach in 2022,” an SBS spokesperson said when contacted by Cyclingnews . 

“While his contract has come to an end, we thank Robbie for all that he’s brought to the role during his time with us.”

McEwen – who said on Twitter that he found out that he’d no longer be on SBS two weeks before Christmas – added that he will, however, be on the commentary team for the Santos Festival of Cycling on Channel 7 alongside Keenan and Anna Meares later this month.

Great #roadnats22 National Champs road races. Congrats to the riders who gave us the spectacle. You’ll no longer hear me on comms on any @sbs cycling broadcast. They have axed me from the team to “deliver their broadcast differently”. 🤷🏽‍♂️ January 16, 2022

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Simone is a degree-qualified journalist that has accumulated decades of wide-ranging experience while working across a variety of leading media organisations. She joined Cyclingnews as a Production Editor at the start of the 2021 season and has now moved into the role of Australia Editor. Previously she worked as a freelance writer, Australian Editor at Ella CyclingTips and as a correspondent for Reuters and Bloomberg . Cycling was initially purely a leisure pursuit for Simone, who started out as a business journalist, but in 2015 her career focus also shifted to the sport.

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This Former Pro Cyclist Is Commentating the Tour de France Femmes and She’s Crushing It

Hannah Walker is bringing a lifelong passion for the sport plus in-depth knowledge and experience to this year’s race.

No offense to Phil Liggett and Bob Roll and their disappointing performance as commentators for NBC/Peacock during Stage 1 of this year’s Tour de France Femmes, but Walker is such a refreshing voice in the mix. She and McCrossen regularly commentate together on pro women’s races, and the duo bring a professional tone backed up by a depth of knowledge.

In an interview for SBS Sport , about commentating the Tour de France Femmes, Walker said, “It’s been such a wonderful experience to see where the sport has come over the last 10 years, and to be at this moment now and see these riders making history, and to be be able to commentate on this and be on the ground and see the atmosphere that builds during the day and at the finish line…it’s incredible to be a part of.”

Just like in pro cycling, where women have had to fight their way in, the same has been true for commentating.

Walker says she grew up watching the men’s Tour de France and other world tours, and always wanted to watch women, but the coverage was never available. “It was very rare that we could even see the women’s side on television, and look at where we are now. You can see every world tour and women’s race live on television.”

Walker’s first Grand Tour coverage was for La Vuelta a España in 2020. Since then she’s covered numerous races and tours on the men’s side and the women’s side. We look forward to more sharp insights from Walker on everything from team dynamics to technical logistics throughout the week!

Micah Ling is a freelance writer who lives in the mountains of Colorado. She splits her free time between mountain biking and trail running.

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Fan fury at Phil Liggett’s axing from SBS’ Tour de France commentary team

It’s the Tour de France commentary decision that, like a tyre puncture, has left viewers flat.

SBS’ decision to axe legendary caller Phil Liggett from its main Tour calling tandem has drawn the ire of many readers, with outrage over a reduced role for the ‘Voice of Cycling’.

The broadcaster announced Liggett and long-time partner Paul Sherwen would no longer call the blow-by-blow action of the race, but feature ‘contributing analysis and insights’.

Matthew Keenan and Robbie McEwen will take over the main call.

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The change led to a massive response from cycling fans on Facebook, with many upset about Liggett’s absence for the first time since 1991.

Below is a sample of some of those irked by the decision.

RobandLiz Weir

Was always the best voice of the tour with plenty of insight to what the riders are doing and general knowledge of the area they are riding in. Pity SBS has no idea about cycling. Will be missed Phil.

I love watching Le Tour and a major part of it is not for the race but for his knowledge and commentary of the beautiful regions that the race goes through. Sadly I don't think I will be tuning in this year. Thank you Phil for allowing me to enjoy some beautiful parts of the world that I will probably never be able to visit however my life is richer for it because of you.

Won't be the same without his voice, I compare it to Cricket being without Richie Benaud!

Maurice Legg

PHIL LIGGETT was always on track he will be greatly missed SBS has gone off track and punctured,what a blowout,love you PHIL an icon .Maurie & Family.

Nicholas Fardell

Sad not sure what was controversial, one of the great parts about the coverage in WA is it on at a reasonable hour and you get to listen to the great commentary. Other sports have so much to learn from that parts about actually calling what we see. Aka AFL.

Phil has been synonymous with cycling as long as I can remember. But there one thing that always happens and that is change. You will be sorely missed Phil

Chris Thorno

Phil Liggett is cycling. Without him I won't even watch the highlights let alone any stage

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You have to be kidding. Phil is the main reason I watch the tour. Brilliant cycling commentator.

Shayne Dimmer

Will be missed but understand the decision. Keenan and McEwan lot more switched on. Good to see Liggett and Sherwen still guest commentators for sbs.

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Tour de France Commentary: A Change Of The Guard

Several years on from major generational change, Matthew Keenan, Bridie O’Donnell and Robbie McEwen are again providing the call for not just Aussie audiences – but the English language world feed of the Tour de France.

In 2017 Keenan & McEwen replaced the highly-respected commentary team of Phil Liggett, known around the world as ‘the voice of cycling’, and his long-time friend and co-commentator, Paul Sherwen. Sadly Paul Sherwen passed away in December 2018 – you can read our tribute to Paul here.

“Matthew Keenan and Robbie McEwen are at the helm of SBS’s commentary and Australian voices will call every stage from start to finish,” SBS said at the time.

Keenan & McEwen Go Global

“Three-time green jersey winner Robbie McEwen and renowned cycling commentator Matthew Keenan also take up the new role as commentators for the Tour de France’s official world feed, broadcast in over 50 territories.”

Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen continue to offer analysis and insight into stages, regions and individuals. The pair will also continue to provide Tour de France commentary for the American NBC network.

Following last year’s announcement Matt Keenan told AAP he was ‘pinching himself’. “Phil is an iconic figure in sports broadcasting,” Keenan said. “You don’t try to replace him — you can’t.”

Your Thoughts?

Over on the Bicycling Australia Facebook page many continue to have their say on the change of guard. Responses have been mixed, with many saying Liggett and Sherwen are, and will always be,  the voices of the tour.

“Going to miss Phil and Paul. What they do well is capture the romance of the Tour,” wrote Ben Kingsbury.

“For me The Tour is not all about the cycling. It’s about the food and the chateaus and the landmarks and the spectacle. Matt and Robbie are excellent with dealing with the technicalities of racing but struggle with the rest. It is wonderful to watch as the cyclists pass a 16th century monastery, the camera pans back and Paul gives the perfect French pronunciation and proceeds to explain from personal experience details of what we are looking at. I understand Phil in particular is a little past it and mixes up the cyclists names, and uses his usual phrases such as “going into the red zone” but for me he will be sadly missed. The Tour won’t be the same without the duo.”

Karyn McDonald wrote “As much as I love Robbie McEwen and Matthew Keenan, Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen are THE voices of Le Tour de France as they have been for many years. Won’t be quite the same without them…their dulcet tones of commentary will be sorely missed.”

Many have expressed bitter disapointed, a stream of followers clearly upset with the SBS decision.

Michael Begley: “Nooooooo!! Big mistake SBS. Phil and Paul capture the beauty of the whole tour. Not just the cycling.”

Peter Signorini: “Keenan and McEwan are competent enough, but just boring in comparison to Ligget and Sherwin.”

Shaun Walford: “Phil Liggett is the best commentator in the world for cycling, what’s the point in getting rid of him?”

We are keen to hear your thoughts, have your say in comments below.


bicycling australia will provide a detailed report of every stage of this year’s tour de france – check our website each morning for the latest., have your say cancel reply.

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One Comment

Take a leaf from Sean Kelly’s commentary……. I’ve actually had to mute the tv so I can enjoy the racing without hearing the continuous dribble.

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