The best BBC sports podcast by a mile.
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“The grand tour reporting is world class. Ditto the world champs. After one full year since its improvement at the Giro 2018, it has maintained its high standards with only a few glitches (some tiny, one big) along the way. And it has also managed to evolve beyond the painful 'bants' and blokeiness it was sometimes guilty of in the past (and which still afflicts most other BBC sports podcasts).
Tom and Gareth both make excellent hosts, but with the latter perhaps....over...emphasising...his...diction. I noticed this happened a lot in the early to mid stages of the Giro 2019 when nothing much happened and it's maybe due to his desire to make the racing sound more dramatic than it was. He doesn't need to worry. Listners will, most likely, be cyclists who follow the sport and understand the cadence of a grand tour. It also means Gareth sounds like he's giving more weight to speculation (even conspiracy theories) than he probably intends. Unfortunate, but, like I said, a very minor glitch.
The big glitch? It's cycling's Achille's Heel: doping. Bespoke covers the factual news reporting of the story very well but it was painful to hear Jonathan Vaughters involved in some episodes—even though he talked sense about doping—but with no mention of his use of EPO on US Postal. You have to be upfront about these things or else it sounds like you're whitewashing history. There's also an interesting but lazy groupthink emerging amongst journalists that drug doping isn't as serious as mechanical. It was epitomised by Laura Winter and Jeremy Whittle on the Stage 18 Giro episode, Presenting mechanical versus chemical doping as a binary choice with the former (almost no evidence) being more serious than the latter (wrecked the sport, perhaps for ever) is ridiculous. it's perhaps testament to the fact that most British cycling jouralists are also committed fans of the sport and, for example, prone to give sympathetic hearings to Lance Armstrong's attempt to present himself as the victim. The BBC needs to remember its shameful reporting of cycling during the LA era. Bespoke's producer could perhaps think more carefully about how such the discussions are framed and, if necessary, step into segment to insist the host does not let the groupthink dominate.”Read full review »
MBelderson via Apple Podcasts ·
Great Britain ·
05/31/19
More reviews of BeSpoke: at the Tour de France
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“It has been that extra dimension to the race. Loved the banter, three different characters. Thank you”
nkjnjw via Apple Podcasts ·
Great Britain ·
07/29/18
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“There's great content but I can only download 35% of the episodes. Please fix the download problem!!!”Read full review »
mommamsms via Apple Podcasts ·
United States of America ·
07/10/17
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“Over the past three weeks Bespoke has been a good listen. Particularly enjoy Rob Hayles input.
It has been a pleasure to listen to the trials & tribulations over the various municipal buildings & the constant reminders of the special status of the press pass.”
Wozzaman1965 via Apple Podcasts ·
Great Britain ·
07/27/18
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