Have you signed the Bikebiz petition against the Channel 4
coverage of the Tour de France?



We announced it on this site last week – industry magazine Bikebiz is collecting
signatures (or e-mail addresses) of people who were hacked off at Channel 4s coverage
of the Tour de France.



Now you’ll be in even better company if you want to add your name to the list, as
TdF stars David Millar, Gary Imlach and Paul Sherwen have signed the petition to
impress on Channel 4 that the broadcaster’s Tour de France coverage should be scheduled
for prime-time in 2001



The next on their shopping list is Phil Liggett. Bikebiz failed to catch up with
him at yesterday’s centre of Paris finish of the Tour (too busy nearly getting run
over by Lance Armstrong on his victory salute to photographers) but will ask him
this week.



David Millar was well up for the petition. When told what it was about at the Village
Depart underneath the Eiffel Tower he said: "Aaah, right. Yeh!"



Channel 4 presenter Gary Imlach, and his French girlfriend Natasha Vanoz, were also
happy to sign, as was the Channel 4 race commentator, Paul Sherwen. When asked if
he would go on record and add his voice to the growing clamour against the dodgy
scheduling, he was emphatic: "’Course I will!"



This week we’ll also start chasing Tour de France celeb fans such as Jon Snow, the
newsreader; Simon O’Brien, the former Brookside star, holiday programme presenter
and co-owner of the Liverpool Cycle Centre; and Freya North, author of a Tour de
France novel.



The petition also has to have a strong non-cycling element so we’ll be ramping up
our efforts to get lots of Francophiles to sign to prove to Channel 4 that the programme
has a much wider constituency than they think. It’s not just a programme for enthusiast
roadies, it has a wide appeal both as coverage of a dynamic multi-faceted sport and
a day-by-day travelogue of the best of France.



And why would any broadcaster worth its salt not exploit the rights it has to the
biggest annual sporting event in the world?



Sign the petition now, and let’s see if we can get a consistent schedule next year

http://www.bikebiz.co.uk/petition_form.php3

Gary Imlach and his Mrs sign up to complain about his employers…







David Millar does likewise… Good lad