Philip Gomes

Philip Gomes is the editor of SBS's Cycling Central. Phil is always the first to be seated for the post ride coffee.

Now for this commercial break

21 July 2009 | 0:00 - By Philip Gomes

We've been keenly reading all your comments here at the Tour de France site and on Twitter about the stage 15 ad-break and the Tour Tracker cut-off, here's what happened, writes Philip Gomes.

stage15_montage_304x171_365321554

Stage fifteen was filled with drama and intrigue (Getty)

Talk about bad timing. There we were at the most crucial part of the Tour de France to date - the 207.5km 15th stage which culminated in an 8.8 summit to Verbier that was sure to define the GC selection for the rest of the race.

And we went to an ad break.

You didn't miss Contador's eventual withering attack, nor did you miss the courageous response of Andy Schleck, seeing Cadel Evans in the hurt box and Lance Armstrong digging into his "suitcase of courage".

But you did miss the full narrative and context of the drama that was unfolding on the way to Verbier. You asked why. We figured we owed you an explanation.

Our on air prodcuers have informed us that the ad break was nothing more than a result of poor judgment,. No one regrets this more than we do.

We're flesh and blood here at SBS and I can tell you that a seriously dedicated sport-loving crew are working through the night to bring you the best viewing experience of the Tour de France we can both in broadcast and online.

With regard to the downtime in the online Tour Tracker from 1.30am (AEST), which cut the race off at the knees for those watching on laptops and PC's, that was owed to a technical issue.

I'm sure you've all experienced technical gremlins of your own at home. We can only hope they don't visit us again.

We hope you'll agree we've succeeded in putting 14 stages to air without fault and revolutionised the way cycling is covered both on television and online through our Tour de France website

We value your input, and thank you for caring about the quality of sports events coverage as much as we do. Rest assured, we're listening, and always working to do the very best for our audience.

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Comments (88)

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27 Jul 2009 20:55 AEST

JD

From: Mt Nelson TAS

Well done!

TDF 2009 was a magnificent broadcast event. The commentary team worked well together and were well anchored by Mike Tomalaris. I was pleased to see Phil, Paul and Mike's gracious and complimentary comments to the ever growing in stature Matthew Keenan. In the follow up to this year's event is there any possibility of a program on the commercial background to the TDF - Who owns it? How much does it cost to run a team? How many people are involved behind the scenes at a team? etc etc Keep up the good work.

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27 Jul 2009 16:59 AEST

Theiron

From: Queensland

TDF Coverage

Once again "Le Tour" has been run and won, coverage by SBS is second to none, accolades to all who peservered with the broadcast, I'm wishing my life away till next year, Well Done Lads and Lassies.

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26 Jul 2009 22:43 AEST

Tony

From: 100 ks North of Ceduna SA

the tracker is not so good

I really appreciate the effort you mob put into streaming Le Tour this year but the tracker was a pain in le buttocks. Even tonight (final stage) I cant get past the buffering. Dont get SBS2, and didnt get the tracker much either. Ended up using an assortment of P2P streaming and the three weeks of very late nights were worth it but cost me about $150 in wireless data usage. Thanks anyway for the coverage,

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25 Jul 2009 21:30 AEST

Madeline

From: Melbourne

Updates updates and more updates

I'm grateful to SBS for the 9.30pm highlights from the previous day, but when the 10pm coverage begins, would it be possible to move on to the race rather than even more chat by Paul and associated guests, who once again go over and over what happened the day before. Meanwhile we are missing out on the real-time race. Other than that one problem, thank you SBS.

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24 Jul 2009 19:08 AEST

Matt

From: Palmwoods

Liggett and Sherwin

Nothing personal against phil Liggett and Paul Sherwin, but geez the commentary is getting bad. The constant appraisal of Armstrong is obviously appealing to an American audience, but at times its alittle over the top. More importantly are the constant mistakes made by Phil Liggett. I've been a constant follower of the SBS coverage of the Tour since its beginnings in 1991and phil and Paul have always been at the helm. But the wrong names given, the 'supposed' missing of riders in the breaks is getting worse and almost laughable. Those keen watchers would well have noticed and know what I mean. What a shame we cant have the Eurosport commentry of Sean Kelly instead. Maybe its time to give it away Phil??

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24 Jul 2009 11:35 AEST

Billy Higginson

From: Wagga Wagga

TDF

Keep up the great work. Without your coverage, we would not be watching one of the best shows on earth. Glitches and commercials, part of life.

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24 Jul 2009 9:42 AEST

carey goodall

From: Adelaide

ADS

Its not only the timing of the ads its the volume we have to put up with. I know its a commercial world but watching so many ads over and over again makes me want to puke > Dont your advertisers understand that people start to hate and reject their intended message/product by reason of this??

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23 Jul 2009 14:55 AEST

Chris

From: Perth

Commercial breaks

I wrote an e-mail to SBS complaining of the commercials on the crucial climb to Verbier and posted something similar. Obviously the hundreds of other complaints have had an effect. The last two nights' coverage have been much better with shorter breaks and at better times. Thanks for listening to your viewers and being man enough to apologise publicly.

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23 Jul 2009 14:55 AEST

Bilby

From: N.T

More... puff...pant

Note to SBS....are us cicling fans gonna get the rest of the season's races broadcast as well?????? I will bow in your humble presence...You cant leave us hanging after the "Le Tour ". Heck I wanna see more bitchin' and whinging and chest beating. Love that Thor. Cant stand Cav'. Cheeky pup thinking he could stick-it-up.the big fella'....

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23 Jul 2009 14:35 AEST

Marc

From: Sydney

commercial breaks

Thanks for the apology, but your crew doesn't learn fast. Because last night stage the same happened. The final two climbs of the day started and what happened: Commercial break! Another fault? It is so simple. No commercial breaks when cyclist are climbing and in the last 10 km or so of racing. And please do not show so much trailers for yourself during a life transmission. Thanks.

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