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BBC Radio 5 Live launches dedicated cycle programme5live

BBC Radio 5 Live launches dedicated cycle programme

Hosted by Colin Murray - but the content's still a mystery...
by Sarah Barth
Sat, Oct 27, 2012 12:41
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BBC's Radio 5 Live is to begin broadcasting its first ever dedicated cycling programme, called BeSpoke, next month.

The programme, which will first air on the 2nd of November at 9pm, will be presented by Colin Murray, better known for his football coverage on the station.

There's a video clip from the first broadcast available here to whet your appetite; it features Liam Philips taking on the 'Chopper Challenge', the exact rules of which are not clear, but look like a timed chopper ride around an abandoned office building Manchester velodrome (thanks, commenters).

There's precious little information at the moment on what exactly will be on offer in the broadcast, but it's an encouraging development for cycling fans, and follows hot on the heels of the ITV4 The Cycle Show series, which a lot of you were rather unimpressed by.

We'll be back after the first installment to see what you - and the rest of the cycling community - think of it.

colin Murray
Bespoke
BBC
5 Live

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12 comments

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handlebarcam | 12 years ago
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They could have approached Jack Thurston of The Bike Show about transferring from the London-based Resonance FM to a wider audience. Perhaps they did and he turned them down, but it would have been better than some ex-footballer/football-pundit. Sure, Ned Boulting now does a good job at approximating a cycling expert, but when he started he made some rather big faux pas (including the now famous "Yellow Jumper" comment.)

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notfastenough | 12 years ago
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Porter managed to scramble his words at the Revolution Racing in Mcr on Saturday night, referring to two members of Rapha-Condor-Sharp as Tannant and Clency.

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BigBear63 | 12 years ago
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An out of season show? What's the point? 7

I'm not sure there are any footie shows on radio or TV during the summer break for the obvious reasons; there is nothing of great interest to talk about.
CX and winter sportives? 37

39 Now if it was to start in early spring as a lead up to the classics events and the Giro that would be a good idea.

ITV4s Cycle Show turned out to be a decent effort in the end but only because important events were still going on when it aired.

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bfslxo | 12 years ago
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I know lets get Jimmy Saville in to do it - he's a highly experienced tv presenter & well know cyclist supporter 4

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Gkam84 | 12 years ago
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I didn't even see the part in the article that said about the "abandoned office building" till now......... 19 19 19

It wasn't PhD style stuff to work out, how many building can you cycling round in an oval like that and with the couple of views of the track..... 39

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captain_slog | 12 years ago
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To be fair it's only for a split second that you can see it's actually happening in a velodrome.

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Some Fella | 12 years ago
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Erm - that 'abandoned office building' is the velodrome in Manchester.
You know - that place where all our Olympic track cyclists came from?
You may have heard of it?!?!?!?!
46

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stevebull-01 | 12 years ago
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Someone talking about cycling lifestyle? Sounds thrilling 37

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Karbon Kev | 12 years ago
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this will probably be crap as well, judging by previous efforts. As a silly football commentator, how on earth is he qualified as a voice on cycling ffs?

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Denzil Dexter replied to Karbon Kev | 12 years ago
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Karbon Kev wrote:

this will probably be crap as well, judging by previous efforts. As a silly football commentator, how on earth is he qualified as a voice on cycling ffs?

You'd prefer an expert like Hugh Porter would you?

Don't see why you have to be an expert on cycling to present a programme on it - surely you need to be an expert presenter first and foremost? Especially as this programme will be broadcast to an audience which I'd guess will be mainly non-cyclists and listening to him last night (I like football too) he was saying that it was going to be more cycling lifestyle than the sport. As far as I can see if you regularly ride a bike you're qualified to talk about that.

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BigBear63 replied to Denzil Dexter | 12 years ago
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Denzil Dexter wrote

Quote:

You'd prefer an expert like Hugh Porter would you?

Don't see why you have to be an expert on cycling to present a programme on it - surely you need to be an expert presenter first and foremost? Especially as this programme will be broadcast to an audience which I'd guess will be mainly non-cyclists and listening to him last night (I like football too) he was saying that it was going to be more cycling lifestyle than the sport. As far as I can see if you regularly ride a bike you're qualified to talk about that.

I tend to agree. It's the one of the key skills that we all learn at an early age; walking, running, swimming, cycling. So even a footy commentator will be a cyclist at heart, surely. 39

With the renewed interest in cycling generally, and not just the sports event aspect, a lifestyle programme may be a sound option. Problem is it's out of season so it may struggle to find an audience. Then again with the nights drawing in maybe it's a good time. I guess it will be available on iPlayer so maybe I'll catch it that way.

Hugh Porter? I hope not. Graham Little on ITV4's Cycling Show was a good choice; an avid enthusiast and sports show host.

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Gkam84 | 12 years ago
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That challenge looks fun, I can see some crashes on the tight "chicanes", other than that, its just the BBC jumping on the appetite for cycling at the moment.

As much as I like Colin Murray, he's a football guy, should have at least got someone from the world of cycling in to do it.

I expect the first program to follow on from the Peddlers program, all about doping, everyone is sick of hearing about it, but with no good news stories at the moment, there is not much to speak about. Especially through the winter 39

Will listen and give it a chance though.

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