Brian Cookson
Chair @ActiveLancs. Former President of @UCI_cycling and @BritishCycling. Retired urban regenerationist. For more info, see my website www.briancookson.com. Opinions personal.
- Hang on @tntsports you’re promising we won’t miss a minute of live coverage of @LeTour but now you’re treating us to repetitive ad breaks every few minutes, after previously providing ad-free streaming to subscribers. Maybe change your name to @pricegougingexperts?
- Why on earth would Netflix release the latest series of their Tour de France Unchained, based on the 2024 race, a couple of days before the 2025 race starts? Literally a spoiler.
- Excellent coverage of Simon Yates’ win in the Giro d’Italia.
- Please will someone ask Cycling Up To Date website to stop sending out notifications that are spoilers, even when you’re watching with a few minutes delay.
- Tree of the Day? Maybe. Goat of the Day? Definitely. Photo taken at Pollença, Mallorca today.
- Reposted by Brian CooksonNew AIRmail pro cycling newsletter out today …. theouterline.substack.com/p/pogacar-cont… …. Pogacar continues his dominant run; “The Athletic” weighs in on cycling’s future; Uno-X’s clever use of jerseys; Women’s cycling is more exciting these days; Cycling TV is still stuck in the past ….
- I never cease to be amazed by the people who discover cycle racing, fall in love with its unique nature, its heritage, its history, its complexity and its unpredictability, then decide it should be changed to be more like other sports. It shouldn't. It isn't like other sports. Stop this nonsense.
- I'm supporting this petition, and I've also emailed Ofcom Chair Lord Grade about the issue of the apparent broadcasting monopoly position of WBD/Discovery regarding cycling and other sports in the UK. petition.parliament.uk/petitions/71...
- It's exactly ten years ago since @UCI_cycling published the report of the Cycling Independent Reform Commission. Not everyone was happy with all of it, but I believe it significantly helped change the sport for better. Here's a link to the report. www.sportsintegrityinitiative.com/wp-content/u...
- I heard one of the executives of @WBDsports was out shopping the other day. Went in to a department store, took a t-shirt and a pair of jeans to the till, but the assistant said "Yes, sir, fine, but you'll also have to buy an Armani suit as well. That's company policy".....
- The death of Eurosport was debated in Parliament today www.cyclingweekly.com/news/eurospo...
- Of course this is not a true story, but I don't see how this is in any way different from what WBD / TNT have done.
- Great to see a full house at the @BritishCycling National Track Championships at @N_CyclingCentre aka Manchester Velodrome last night.
- For me, Geraint Thomas represents all the best things about the golden era of British Cycling. A talented athlete spotted at an early age and given all the right support at every stage of his career, certainly. But...1/3
- But to achieve what he has achieved over his long career has taken incredible qualities of hard work, dedication, commitment and strength of personality. And all of this combined with being such a nice guy, reliable and approachable, has made him a unique figure in our sport. To sum him up...2/3
- To sum him up - the bike rider’s bike rider. Chapeau, G, and good luck with the rest of your final season and everything you do in future!
- Looking forward to the BBC investigation into how many other people’s CVs on LinkedIn have been, er, updated today. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
- If you’re upset about WBD's decision to scrap Eurosport in the UK and Ireland, and incorporate cycling and several other sports into TNT channels, it’s quite a simple matter to make a complaint to the Competition and Markets Authority here; www.gov.uk/government/o...
- Following controversy over WBD's decision to scrap Eurosport in the UK and Ireland, and incorporate cycling and several other sports into TNT channels, at a 400% price increase, I wrote an op-ed piece for the Escape Collective. You can read it here;
- Brian Cookson: Why isn’t buying cycling TV coverage just like buying beans? escapecollective.com/brian-cookso...
- This is worth a listen if you are interested in understanding how cycling came to be dominated by the Tour de France and its owner ASO. open.spotify.com/episode/4TEm...
- I’ve been thinking more about the WBD decision to incorporate Eurosport and Discovery+ coverage of sports including cycling, in the UK and Ireland, into new TNT channels, with a massive price increase. Here’s an alternative way to look at this. 🧵
- I like a particular brand of baked beans, which I can buy at a number of different supermarkets at a reasonable price. I don’t like any other beans or any other sort of canned vegetables.
- Now I find that in future I am only going to be able to buy these beans from one particular supermarket, and I will have to buy several other brands of beans and canned vegetables that I don’t like and don’t ever eat.
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View full thread….. whilst hiking up the price for this combination by a ridiculous amount, well, I think we understand it very well indeed. And we don’t like it.
- What's most disappointing about this is the total misunderstanding of the asset that WBD/Disney/Eurosport have had in broadcasting/ streaming cycling. Packaging it in with other bigger sports in a "Premium" package is completely the wrong thing to do. 1/2. escapecollective.com/tnt-blows-up...
- 2/2 The loyal cycling fans who have subscribed to Eurosport/GCN/Discovery+ over the years have done so because they don't really have much interest in those other sports, and have no wish to pay for them. One can expect the corporate drivel from the WBD guy, but....I'll leave it at that.
- I invite any of the employees of WBD/Eurosport/Discovery+ to come here on Bluesky to explain how this really is a good thing.
- This Tree of the Day is from my walk along the River Calder at Whalley in Lancashire, UK. It’s a hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) that’s clearly seen better days, but is determinedly hanging on to the riverbank.
- Some important news. Today I made a Burnt Basque Cheesecake. I just thought you’d like to know. 😉
- Reposted by Brian CooksonIn prepration for the announcement of this years event, we’ve moved over from X and will be deleting our account there. Please help us spread the word we’re here!🥴😂
