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Mike Tomalaris
Mike Tomalaris is SBS's cycling presenter, who has covered the Tour de France for 15 years. Mike is a keen cyclist himself, and covers a few hundred kilometres a week in a social weekend bunch ride. For cycling fans around Australia, Mike Tomalaris is cycling.
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Enlarge textIt's the Mark Cavendish show over here in the Tour de France and I must say the folk who have crossed the Channel are becoming quite unbearable at the success of their British superstar.
Team Columbia's Mark Cavendish (AAP)
- 9 Comments | Join the discussion
It's the Mark Cavendish show over here in the Tour de France and I must
say the folk who have crossed the Channel are becoming quite unbearable
at the success of their British superstar.
Don't get me wrong, they have every right to be cocky given it's been more than a decade since Chris Boardman ruled the roads and dominated the sports pages in the Fleet Street press.
I've
never been able to work out why Britain hasn't produced more champions
given the country's close proximity to continental Europe.
Even their Irish neighbours have enjoyed more success with Stephen Roche and Sean Kelly lighting up the podium in the 1980s.
Britain's success on the track has been well documented at all international levels - from the Olympic Games to the World Championships, the Brits are almost second-to-none.
I'm
sure I'll attract a wave of criticism when I suggest cycling's
environment has shifted from the track to the road in the last decade.
I feel there is less interest in racing on the velodrome to what we're seeing on the road with events such as the Tour de France, the Giro d'Italia and the Tour Down Under.
I mean the anticipation
for the Tour begins weeks and months in advance, while few people would
even remotely know when and where the track cycling world titles are
held every year, even when are taking place.
The track scene is dominated by few nations, but it's a different situation on the professional road scene.
I'm personally wrapped to see Japanese rider Yukiya Arashiro crack it for a top five finish in the stage two sprint won by Cav.
In
fact, I'd welcome a new generation of cyclists from Japan in the Tour
in coming years, similar to the Aussie invasion of the late 90s and
early 2000s as there is a great deal of media interest from that part
of the world here in France.
For now I'm loving the Cav show. He's a great sportsman, a terrific showman and has got some mongrel to boot.
I have no doubt we're seeing a legend in the making.
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Comments (9)
Brothers Alike
I believe that Mark Cavendish is very similar to Robbie McEwen in his prime, also Cacendish is easerly the fastest person in this years tour!
16 Jul 2009 2:31 AEST
From: tasmania
ITS Exciting to watch
Mike All these riders put their all into the final sprints ,and should be rewarded for their efforts in the great race ,champions always come to the front ,because thats what they are ,Champions and the young BRIt seems to be one of them Good Luck
10 Jul 2009 14:21 AEST
From: Perth
Bias
On day 2 of the TDF my husband and I played a game of counting how many times the name MC was mentioned by PL & PS during the coverage - would you believe in excess of 40 to an average of half a dozen times for the likes of Armstong, Contador et al. As we were in France last year following the Tour, as we do most years, I would like to know if the problem existed then. I heard PL say last night, when reporting on Millar's attempt: "We musn't be biased"!!! Has somebody had a word to them after all, or is there less reason to 'brag'?
09 Jul 2009 22:35 AEST
From: Melburn
Cavendish - arrogant pratt
SBS showed Cav whinging that none of the other teams helped them catch the breakaway. He won the sprint and is miles ahead in the points race, still finds a way to whine. It's a race Cav, 180 other riders are on other teams. Why should they help you win? Next time, maybe they should form a guard of honour for your sprint.
08 Jul 2009 11:58 AEST
From: Sydney
Sporting relations
It's true the brit style of celebrating their sporting heros can be tough to deal with for everyone else (and I just lived there for 10 years so I'm well aware!). But isn't it the same with every nation? As a kiwi on foreign ground, I already know the answer ;) But fans and traditions aside, isn't it great to see the sporting characters the UK is producing right now? The stuffy well bred professional old guard is gone. Cav's the real deal, and so are all the UK riders. It shows in the good relationships they obviously have with the oz riders, Cav and Renshaw, Matt White with Brad Wiggins and Dave Millar, @CadelOfficial and @wegelius. I think (for better or worse!) you'll be seeing a lot more brit pro riders coming over here to avoid the winter too - Tom Southam and UK National RR champ Kristian House are already doing it.
07 Jul 2009 21:35 AEST
From: Canberra
Brits, Armstrong & Coverage
Good to see Cavendish winning the sprints, and lets not get into bashing the Brits, after all an Australian is his lead out- so do we bash him too? Although I haven't noticed Mike bashing Cavendish. Pre day 1 there was much talk about who is Astarna riding for. All now refer to "Armstrong's team". Will Leipheimer never the chance to have others ride for him and isn't it a bit of an insult to Contador?
07 Jul 2009 11:43 AEST
From: Nunawading
Wait until the ashes
I agree with Paul of Brisbane - lets not bash the Brits in the Tour. Wait until the Ashes start on Wednesday night ;) Great coverage SBS as usual.
07 Jul 2009 8:57 AEST
From: Brisbane
The Brits and cycling.
Brilliant coverage Mike, as always with anything SBS does. As an ex-pat Brit I'm feeling pretty damn proud of Cav and Wiggo. Our sport has never really enjoyed the financial backing or exposure in the main press until now. All the fantastic work started by the academies a few years ago is now paying off with fantastic young talent coming through. Next year will see the first Britiush pro team (Sky) so there will be more of us over there next year (me included). One thing though Mike, plaease don't ever follow the old commercial networks' boring and biased 'bash the Poms if they are successful' type coverage. That is one of SBS's great strengths: being fair and respectful = great coverage. Finally, we may even see a Brit in yellow after the TTT. Wiggo is sitting very nicely indeed. Allthe best
07 Jul 2009 7:44 AEST
From: Sydney
Great Coverage
Hi Mike, Loving the coverage and the unpredictability of last night's stage. This should really get the teams fired up for tonight's TTT. Can't wait to see that. One question - where's Rupert and those shirts ? Best Regards Paul
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Mike Tomalaris is SBS's cycling presenter, who has covered the Tour de France for 15 years. Mike is a keen cyclist himself, and covers a few hundred kilometres a week in a social weekend bunch ride. For cycling fans around Australia, Mike Tomalaris is cycling.
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