nbc commentators for tour de france

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, June 15th, 2023

PHIL LIGGETT LEADS COMMENTATORS FOR NBC SPORTS AND PEACOCK COVERAGE OF 110TH TOUR DE FRANCE, BEGINNING SATURDAY, JULY 1

Liggett (Play-by-Play) and Bob Roll (Analyst) Call the Tour de France On-Site with Reporters Steve Porino and Christian Vande Velde

Paul Burmeister Hosts Daily Live Studio Coverage Alongside Analysts Sam Bewley and Brent Bookwalter, Making Debuts as NBC Sports Cycling Analysts

Peacock to Stream Live Start-to-Finish Coverage of Every Stage

Live Coverage of All 21 Stages of Tour de France July 1-23 Across Peacock, NBC, and USA Network

STAMFORD, Conn. – June 15, 2023 – NBC Sports and Peacock today announced the commentating team for the 110 th Tour de France, beginning Saturday, July 1, across Peacock, NBC, and USA Network.

NBC Sports’ cycling play-by-play caller Phil Liggett , universally known as the ‘voice of cycling,’ will cover his 51 st Tour de France alongside analyst Bob Roll . Liggett and Roll will be on-site at each stage along with reporters Steve Porino and former professional cyclist Christian Vande Velde .

Paul Burmeister will host daily pre-race and post-race studio coverage alongside Sam Bewley and Brent Bookwalter , who make their NBC Sports debuts as cycling analysts .

Bewley, a native of Rotorua, New Zealand, retired from professional cycling at the end of 2022 after a 14-year career highlighted by nine Grand Tour starts. Bewley participated in the 2020 Tour de France as part of Orica–GreenEDGE and won bronze medals with the New Zealand men’s pursuit team at the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games. He currently hosts a cycling podcast, ‘The Social Distance Podcast,’ with George Bennett and Dan Jones, and is a team director for the Israel – Premier Tech cycling team.

Bookwalter, a Michigan native, had a 16-year professional cycling career which included 10 years with BMC Racing Team (2008-18) and three years with Mitchelton-Scott (2019-21). He raced in the 2016 Rio Olympics, participated in four Tour de France races – was part of Cadel Evans’ winning 2011 team – and earned podium finishes at numerous stage races.

NBC Sports and Peacock will present full live coverage of the 110 th Tour de France July 1-23, 2023. The full coverage schedule for the 2023 Tour de France will be announced soon.

In February, NBC Sports, Peacock and the Amaury Sport Organisation (A.S.O.) announced a six-year extension for exclusive U.S. media rights for the Tour de France. Comcast/NBC Sports has served as the U.S. home of the Tour de France since 2001.

Beginning with the 111 th Tour de France in June 2024, Peacock will become the exclusive home of the Tour de France in the United States through 2029 with live start-to-finish coverage of every stage . Select stages will also simulcast live on NBC throughout the three-week event. Daily coverage on Peacock will include NBC Sports-produced pre- and post-race studio shows, full-stage replays, highlights, stage recaps, rider interviews, and more.

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NBC Sports Presents Live Multi-Platform Coverage of 100th Tour de France

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New York, NY

All 21 stages of the 100th Tour de France will air live on NBC or NBC Sports Network, and digitally via the NBC Sports Tour de France Live app.

NBC Sports Group, the exclusive rights holder of Tour de France coverage in the U.S., will present live and primetime coverage of each stage of the 100th Tour de France, the world’s most prestigious and grueling cycling race, on NBC, NBC Sports Network, NBC Sports Tour de France Live online  and  NBC Sports Tour de France Live mobile apps . Live coverage of the Tour de France begins on NBC Sports Network Saturday, June 29, at 7:30 a.m. ET, and continues each night at 8 p.m. ET with the  Tour Primetime  show featuring a look at the day’s most compelling action with new analysis, interviews, enhanced perspectives and updates on ongoing stories.

New to the coverage is an unprecedented ‘Inside-the-Race’ commentator on motorcycle providing first-hand reports and insight from the course. 

NBC Sports Group’s coverage features:  

All 21 of the stages live on NBC or NBC Sports Network plus  NBC Sports Tour de France Live  online and  NBC Sports Tour de France Live  mobile apps;

NBC Sports Network as the primary home of the Tour de France, offering live coverage nearly every day of the race, and  Tour Primetime,  a nightly studio show from 8 p.m.-11 p.m. ET, through the race’s entirety;

The nightly studio show airing from 8 p.m. – 11 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network will take a look at the day’s stage with comprehensive analysis, insights and the most compelling storylines. Highlighting  Tour Primetime  will be a full replay of the day’s exciting race action complemented by fresh, post-race interviews with riders, telestrator analysis, and strategy segments.

NBC coverage of Stage 2 (Bastia to Ajaccio) on Sunday, June 30, and live coverage of Stage 8 (Castres to Ax 3 Domaines) on Saturday, July 6, plus a special show on Sunday, July 28 recapping the final stages of the epic race.

Commentators

For the first time, NBC Sports Group’s coverage will feature reporting from the road via ‘Inside-the-Race’ correspondent Steve Porino, who will report and offer updates on race situations from an unprecedented point of view aboard a motorcycle on the race course. ‘Inside-the-Race’ is an innovation from NBC Sports Group to bring fans closer to the action. This unique perspective debuted with NBC’s ‘Inside-the-Glass’ reporter on its NHL telecasts in 2006 and was followed by its ‘Between-the-Benches’ soccer coverage.

Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen, the voices of cycling, will call the race action for the live shows with reporters Steve Schlanger and Carolyn Manno. Todd Harris will host nightly studio coverage with analysts Bob Roll and Scott Moninger. 

Production  

NBC Sports Network will utilize several production features, including a pointer feature which will easily identify and focus on one rider in the peloton; exclusive, in-depth profiles and features on teams and riders; and an onscreen predicted time for the peloton riders who are trying to catch the leading riders. 

Digital Coverage

NBC Sports Group will surround its on-air coverage with the  NBC Sports Tour de France Live , cycling content online at NBCSports.com , and through the  NBC Sports Tour de France Live  mobile app. The network will offer users two premium-subscription products which will give fans a multi-platform, all-encompassing viewing experience to the Tour.  

NBC Sports Tour de France Live  offers live streaming video of every stage online in full HD, with the ability to pause, rewind and slow-mo the video. While watching live coverage, viewers will also have access to a live GPS tracking map to follow the riders’ progress or to see an enhanced interactive map for each stage. Also, subscribers can personalize their Tour experience by choosing their favorite riders and teams to track throughout the Tour. To experience the Tour de France on-the-go, fans can also separately purchase the  NBC Sports Tour de France Live  mobile app, which is available for iPhone and iPad, as well as Android devices.

(Photo: AP Images)

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Commentators for Tour De France 2024: Experience the Thrills with Phil Liggett and More!

The current commentators for Tour de France 2024 include Phil Liggett, Anthony McCrossan, Paul Burmeister, Bob Roll, Paul Sherwen, and Hannah Walker. NBC, ITV, Peacock, and Eurosport are some of the broadcasters for the event.

Credit: www.facebook.com

Profile Of Phil Liggett

Phil Liggett is a renowned commentator for the Tour De France 2024, along with Anthony McCrossan, Paul Burmeister, Bob Roll, Paul Sherwen, and Hannah Walker. Together, they provide expert analysis and captivating commentary for the prestigious cycling event.

Credit: fountain.fm

Other Tour De France Commentators

Phil Liggett, Anthony McCrossan, Paul Burmeister, Bob Roll, Paul Sherwen, and Hannah Walker are some of the other Tour De France commentators. These commentators provide live coverage and insights during the Tour De France 2024 race on various platforms such as NBC, USA Network, Peacock, and Eurosport.

Credit: www.cyclist.co.uk

Frequently Asked Questions For Commentators For Tour De France 2024

Who is broadcasting the tour de france this year.

NBC Sports is broadcasting the Tour de France this year, including coverage on NBC, USA Network, and Peacock. The commentators for the event include Phil Liggett, Anthony McCrossan, Paul Burmeister, Bob Roll, Paul Sherwen, and Hannah Walker.

Why Isn T Chris Horner On Tour De France?

Chris Horner is not participating in the Tour de France due to a crash that left him unable to compete.

Who Are The Commentators On Tour De France On Tg4?

The commentators on Tour de France on TG4 are Phil Liggett, Anthony McCrossan, Paul Burmeister, Bob Roll, Paul Sherwen, and Hannah Walker.

What Time Is The Tour De France Route Presentation 2024?

The Tour de France route presentation for 2024 is yet to be announced.

The current Tour de France commentators include Phil Liggett, Anthony McCrossan, Paul Burmeister, Bob Roll, Paul Sherwen, and Hannah Walker. Viewers can catch the race on NBC Sports, USA Network, and Peacock, with Peacock offering live and on-demand coverage of every stage.

As the competition intensifies and the cyclists conquer challenging routes, these commentators will provide valuable insights and analysis to enhance our viewing experience. They bring a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the table, ensuring we don’t miss a moment of the thrilling action.

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NBC Sports airs every stage of the 110th Tour de France, including live daily start-to-finish coverage on Peacock .

Additional encores of each stage air on USA at 2 a.m. ET most days. All NBC and USA Network coverage also streams on NBCSports.com/live and the NBC Sports app. Complete broadcast information is here .

Peacock will also air daily live pre-race shows setting up each stage.

The Tour began July 1 with the Grand Départ in Spain before crossing into France on the third stage.

The Tour covers France’s five biggest mountain ranges, including eight mountain stages and four summit finishes.

The Tour will not have a time trial on the penultimate day as it did the last three years. Instead, the 20th stage, usually the last competitive stage for the yellow jersey, includes five significant climbs.

This is the first Tour since 2009 to include the last three men to win a Tour. That’s Dane Jonas Vingegaard, who went from a fish-packing facility worker years ago to the top of pro cycling in 2022; Slovenian Tadej Pogacar, who in 2020 became at 21 the second-youngest winner in race history, then repeated in 2021, and Colombian Egan Bernal, who in 2019 became the first South American to win the Tour.

Mark Cavendish, a 38-year-old Brit aiming to break his tie for the career Tour de France stage wins record of 34, crashed out in the eighth stage of his final Tour.

2023 TOUR DE FRANCE LIVE BROADCAST SCHEDULE

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Tour de France

Brent bookwalter is joining nbc’s tour de france broadcast.

Recently retired pro Brent Bookwalter will join the production as a cycling analyst, alongside longtime broadcasters Phil Liggett, Bob Roll, Christian Vande Velde, and reporter Steve Porino.

Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members! >","name":"in-content-cta","type":"link"}}'>Download the app .

American cycling fans will see another familiar face on NBC’s Tour de France telecast this July.

Bookwalter is one of two new hires for the telecast. New Zealand’s Sam Bewley, who raced in the WorldTour for Team Radioshack and Orica-GreenEdge, is also making his debut in July.

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The broadcast addition marks the latest chapter in Bookwalter’s career. He raced professionally for 16 seasons, competing in the Tour on four occasions. He was a key member of BMC Racing’s 2011 Tour squad, which helped Cadel Evans capture the yellow jersey.

Bookwalter also competed in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. He ended his professional road cycling career after the 2021 season while racing for Mitchelton-Scott.

In 2022 Bookwalter worked as a broadcaster for the streaming service FloBikes and also raced some gravel events.

The Tour returns to NBC this July as part of a recently signed six-year broadcast extension with race organizer ASO to show the race in the United States.

NBC has yet to reveal the specific details of its 2023 live coverage plans. However, in previous years, the network has shown live coverage of the event on streaming platform Peacock, and on linear TV channels USA Network and NBC.

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NBC Sports, Peacock retain Tour de France broadcast rights in US through 2029 - North American roundup

Gavin Mannion joins Tanner Putt to lead US national road team, Athens Twilight tapped for American Crit Cup, Valley of the Sun opens early US road season

US homes will be able to view live Tour de France coverage for an additional six years thanks to a renewed deal between NBC Sports, its streaming service Peacock and Amaury Sport Organisation, which owns the Tour de France. 

The exclusive US broadcast rights, which will run 2024 to 2029, also include ASO’s Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, Vuelta a España, Paris-Roubaix , Paris-Roubaix Femmes avec Zwift and several other sporting events. This keeps the world’s most prestigious cycling stage race with NBC Sports and Comcast since 2001 for the US market. 

The current agreement with NBC Sports and ASO went through 2023 to broadcast the 110th Tour de France, July 1-23. In 2024, all stages of the Tour de France will be exclusively broadcast live in the US by Peacock, the video streaming service operated by NBCUniversal, with NBC Sports providing a simulcast for select stages and producing pre-race and post-race recap programming.

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"We are delighted to be able to extend our long-term partnership with the NBCU group, which promotes the Tour de France and all the major A.S.O. sporting events to the American public on a cross-platform basis, including women's cycling such as the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift,” said Yann Le Moënner, CEO of ASO. 

“The combined coverage via Peacock, which will show the entire races from the beginning to the end, and network television, will ensure everyone has access to the best of world cycling. NBC will remain the home of cycling in the United States for another six years, and in 2029 we will celebrate the 29th anniversary of a historic partnership.”

Gavin Mannion leads junior men with US National Team 

Former US pro cyclists Tanner Putt and Gavin Mannion have started new careers with the USA Cycling National Team. Putt serves as the Director of Road, while Mannion begins as the director of the junior men’s program. 

“After spending the majority of my junior and U23 career with the USA Cycling National Team, I’m looking forward to being back with the program that gave so many opportunities as a young racer and now working together to build for the future,” Putt said on his Instagram feed. 

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Putt, a two-time U23 national champion on the road, worked most recently as the team director for the US-based domestic elite CS Velo Racing team. He raced eight years in the pro peloton, his last year in 2019 with Arapahoe-Hincapie p/b BMC.

Mannion hung up his racing kit with Human Powered Health at the start of the calendar, having raced as a junior with the U23 national team and then 12 full seasons as a pro. He won the 2018 Colorado Classic after a runner-up position in the GC at the 2017 Tour of Utah and added a pair of stage wins at the Le Tour de Savoie Mnt Blanc in 2020, all showcasing his climbing ability. 

The US National Team will begin a European swing in June, looking to grab UCI points to earn spots for the World Championships. The first Nations Cup events on the schedule look to be Paris-Roubaix Juniors in April as well as Course de la Paix in early May.

Athens Twilight joins American Criterium Cup as series opener in April

One of the longest-running and most popular criterium events in the US, the Athens Orthopedic Clinic Twilight, has been added as the 10th race in the 2023 American Criterium Cup . The second-year series tapped the Athens, Georgia, race for its opening round Saturday, April 22.

The Athens Twilight, now in its 43rd year, also launches Speed Week, a series of seven criteriums contested in a span of nine days across the southeastern US. 

“This is a bedrock race for athletes, and this race highlights the deep history of criterium racing in the South. The competition level, the crowd’s excitement and the venue never disappoint,” ACC Administrator Peter Discoe said about the Athens Twilight.

Across the year-long points competitions for men and women, the American Criterium Cup offers a total prize purse of $100,000. Teams and riders are also eligible for an additional $400,000 in prize money and support provided by individual races. The ACC is considering revisions to the points system for 2023 so that it is less likely for a single rider to sweep both the overall and sprint competitions.

Across the seven races in Speed Week, $95,000 was up for grabs last year for pro men and women, which included a $15,000 bonus purse for overall Speed Week individuals and teams. Organisers are expected to match the same prize purse this season.

Valley of the Sun stage race returns

The opening stage race on the USA Cycling calendar takes place February 17-19 in the sun-baked southeastern United States. On the heels of Super Bowl LVII and a stop by the PGA TOUR, top amateur and pro cyclists from North America are next to migrate to the greater Phoenix, Arizona area for the 31st edition of the John  Earley Memorial Valley of the Sun stage race. 

The Landis Cyclery-Trek Time Trial opens competition on Friday, followed by a road race Saturday and a criterium on Sunday. The Valley of the Sun stage race serves as the state’s largest USAC development road race series for juniors.

The three-day event provides a way for teams to assess talent and get in some early-season racing among most training camps for domestic teams. 

Three UCI Continental women’s teams are on the start line this year - Virginia’s Blue Ridge TWENTY24, DNA Pro Cycling and Roxo Racing. Leading the way for the pro men’s field are Project Echelon Racing and L39ION of Los Angeles, both on the Continental level. 

To access the start list for the time trial and each day’s results, visit vosstagerace.com/race-results/ .

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Jackie has been involved in professional sports for more than 30 years in news reporting, sports marketing and public relations. She founded Peloton Sports in 1998, a sports marketing and public relations agency, which managed projects for Tour de Georgia, Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah and USA Cycling. She also founded Bike Alpharetta Inc, a Georgia non-profit to promote safe cycling. She is proud to have worked in professional baseball for six years - from selling advertising to pulling the tarp for several minor league teams. She has climbed l'Alpe d'Huez three times (not fast). Her favorite road and gravel rides are around horse farms in north Georgia (USA) and around lavender fields in Provence (France), and some mtb rides in Park City, Utah (USA).

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This Former Pro Cyclist Is Commentating the Tour de France Femmes and She’s Crushing It

Hannah Walker is bringing a lifelong passion for the sport plus in-depth knowledge and experience to this year’s race.

No offense to Phil Liggett and Bob Roll and their disappointing performance as commentators for NBC/Peacock during Stage 1 of this year’s Tour de France Femmes, but Walker is such a refreshing voice in the mix. She and McCrossen regularly commentate together on pro women’s races, and the duo bring a professional tone backed up by a depth of knowledge.

In an interview for SBS Sport , about commentating the Tour de France Femmes, Walker said, “It’s been such a wonderful experience to see where the sport has come over the last 10 years, and to be at this moment now and see these riders making history, and to be be able to commentate on this and be on the ground and see the atmosphere that builds during the day and at the finish line…it’s incredible to be a part of.”

Just like in pro cycling, where women have had to fight their way in, the same has been true for commentating.

Walker says she grew up watching the men’s Tour de France and other world tours, and always wanted to watch women, but the coverage was never available. “It was very rare that we could even see the women’s side on television, and look at where we are now. You can see every world tour and women’s race live on television.”

Walker’s first Grand Tour coverage was for La Vuelta a España in 2020. Since then she’s covered numerous races and tours on the men’s side and the women’s side. We look forward to more sharp insights from Walker on everything from team dynamics to technical logistics throughout the week!

Micah Ling is a freelance writer who lives in the mountains of Colorado. She splits her free time between mountain biking and trail running.

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The Transcendent Thrill of Watching the Tour de France

By Bill McKibben

I live in the mountains of the Northeast, and normally the last thing I want in the spacious days of summer is something to watch on TV. But this year we’ve had one flooding rain after another, and when the skies have cleared they really haven’t––the plume of smoke from Canada’s wildfires has hovered day after day, and many mornings, like this one, the roadside sign that usually offers up warnings about construction ahead has instead flashed this grim warning: “Air Quality Alert/Limit Outdoor Activity.” So I’ve been grateful for the daily distraction from climate dread provided by the Tour de France, arguably the world’s biggest annual sporting spectacle.

And in this case I come to praise not mainly the noble rivals Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogačar (more on them later) but the broadcast crew assembled by Peacock, the NBC streaming service, to cover the contest’s twenty-one days of racing. Since each broadcast lasts five or six hours (the daily stages are hundreds of kilometres long, and even at the astonishing pace of these cyclists it takes a while), that’s more than a hundred hours of coverage in a month—maybe equivalent to an N.F.L. season’s worth of broadcasting time. And yet it is a steady pleasure.

The coverage begins each morning in a Connecticut studio where a trio—Paul Burmeister, Sam Bewley, and Brent Bookwalter—stand quite formally behind a lectern, wearing suits, ties, and pocket squares. (I have no idea why—perhaps a contract with some haberdasher.) Burmeister is a TV guy—his smooth patter has graced everything from Notre Dame football to ski jumping. But his two partners are bike guys—Bewley, a former Olympic bronze medallist for New Zealand, and Bookwalter, a Michigan native and a veteran of the Grand Tour, in Europe. They begin by forecasting the day ahead, which is a more complicated task than you might think.

The Tour de France is famous for the yellow jersey that its over-all leader wears—when the race finally ends up on the Champs-Élysées, on Sunday, the Danish cyclist Vingegaard will almost certainly wear the maillot jaune for having made the 3,405-kilometre trip in the shortest elapsed time. But his duel with the Slovene Pogačar has been only part of the story. The race also features the polka-dot jersey, awarded to the man who wins the most summit climbs in the mountains of the Alps and Pyrenees, and the green jersey, which goes to the fastest of the sprinters. On “flat stages,” which avoid the mountains, those sprinters usually wind up in a chaotic dash to the line; on mountainous stages, the sprinters gather far behind the main peloton, willing their bodies slowly up the hills to meet the daily time cutoff and stay in the race. Meanwhile, each day’s stage is a race of its own, with glory to whoever manages to win; each rider, in turn, is a member of an eight-man team, and they can and do work together, breaking the headwinds for their stars. All in all, there’s plenty to talk about.

And the talk, after half an hour of studio preliminaries, moves to France, and the persons of Phil Liggett and Bob Roll, as natural a TV pair as I’ve ever seen. Liggett, an Englishman who will turn eighty shortly after this Tour concludes, has covered the Tour for more than fifty years, which is very nearly half of its hundred and ten renditions. Roll is merely in his sixties, and declares his youth by pre-riding many of the hill climbs on the morning of the stage, the better to describe the pain the racers are about to endure. He is, I think, the actual heart of the coverage. Liggett talks more, chattering happily away with many useful references to the long history of the race. But sometimes he gets a name or a team or a time wrong. (He occasionally conflates young riders with their fathers or even grandfathers, who raced before them.) Roll, like the patient wife of an endearingly addled older husband, offers a gentle correction, but mostly he provides strategic insight that comes from his own long career in the saddle; he has an almost preternatural instinct for the glorious moment each day when one of the leaders will launch a superhuman uphill “attack” to open a gap on his rivals.

When that happens, the other key member of the team—another former pro cyclist, Christian Vande Velde—is often on hand to commentate. He spends each race day on the back of a motorcycle, watching the action up close and chatting through car windows with the directors of the various teams who will share bits of strategy. This sounds like an easy enough job, until you remember that, much of the time, he’s whipping downhill at sixty miles per hour or more, following the racers through the harrowing descents. (In the Tour de Suisse, a warmup race for this year’s Tour, one rider died after a high-speed crash.) Oh, and then there’s also Steve Porino, a dead ringer in look and affect for the late Fred Willard in his role as the broadcaster in “Best in Show”; Porino ranges ahead of the riders, looking for people along the road to interview, often managing to find the stars’ parents, whom he coaxes from their camper vans to offer anecdotes about the athletic precociousness of their sons as small boys.

Even with all these voices, there’s a lot of air to fill, and so Roll often serves as tour guide: the broadcast feed, provided to TV channels around the world by the Tour organizers, features many long helicopter shots, and when nothing much is happening in the race the camera tends to linger on châteaux and churches, and so there’s an ongoing impromptu lesson in medieval history. All in all, a low-key way to pass the day, a gentle frame for the eventual injections of high drama.

And, oh, that drama! This year’s two stars are so evenly matched that two weeks into the race only ten seconds separated them. (Vingegaard finally surged ahead on Tuesday’s time trial.) Many of the stages end with massive ascents into the lunar landscape of high and treeless mountains, and sooner or later one of the two tries to shake the other with a massive acceleration; the tension hinges on whether his foe will be able to match the pace or will watch his rival disappear up the mountain. The commentators are fully up to the task of capturing the nobility of these painful assaults, coming after hours of fast pedalling. (Oh, how one hopes these two are not doping.) That catharsis—it often lasts just seconds—is the centerpiece of these long broadcasts, and a daily reminder of why sports are, in some way, a serious part of our lives: there are few other venues for such public displays of courage and resolve, and the resulting joy or despair.

That’s a point, perhaps, that’s less obvious now than it once was. The Times announced earlier this month that it was disbanding its sports department. It will now send its readers to a subscription service that it recently acquired, the Athletic. I read it, and it occasionally offers long and engaging features in the lineage of Sports Illustrated . But mainly it provides acres of words about the main team sports in the U.S., often to do with contracts and statistics. It is sports as business—the comments sections are filled with disgruntled fans moaning about the general managers of their local teams. (One suspects that its most devoted readers are the ever-growing ranks of sports gamblers.) Transcendence is rare, unless you find it in a spreadsheet.

Endurance sports such as the Tour de France, which traditionally receive little coverage in the U.S., are perhaps a more reliable vehicle for that transcendence, and Peacock deserves credit for covering them—Liggett and Roll have also worked the Grand Tours of Spain and Italy, and the network also offers up coverage of swimming and track and field. Doubtless this has something to do with NBC owning the rights to the Olympics; we are always on the Road to Someplace (at the moment Paris, next summer). And my plaudits have limits: the network recently stopped covering Nordic skiing, which means that the winter TV sports scene features very little long-distance agony.

Still, the Tour de France redeems much else. There’s no escaping reality entirely—the weather has been heating up in Europe as the Tour proceeds, and this is easy to see as the racers warm up in ice-filled vests. But, when the race finishes, the commentators help viewers wind down their heart rates with another half hour of commentary—Roll is even able to translate from most of the European languages that the racers use to offer their post-race clichés. England was wise enough to award Liggett an M.B.E. (Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire), some years ago; we have no such way to honor our broadcasters save devoting a few hours each day to listening and appreciating. ♦

An earlier version of this article misstated the location of NBC Sports’ studios.

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Jimmy Fallon, Mike Tirico, Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir to Team Up for Closing Ceremony at 2024 Paris Olympics

Fallon and Tirico will co-host the ceremony from the Stade de France, the country’s national stadium, on Aug. 11

Todd Owyoung/NBC via Getty; Michael Reaves/Getty

As the kickoff for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris grows nearer, NBC has unveiled its lineup of superstar talent that will host this year's Closing Ceremony.

On August 11, late-night host Jimmy Fallon will team up with NBC Olympics primetime host Mike Tirico for NBCUniversal's coverage of the Closing Ceremony of the Games.

The ceremony will mark Fallon's debut as an Olympic commentator.

PEOPLE can also confirm that former Olympic skaters Johnny Weir and Tara Lipinski, as well as NBC Sports commentator Terry Gannon will return to call the Ceremony alongside Fallon and Tirico.

In a statement to PEOPLE, Weir, 39, said, "I have looked forward to the Closing Ceremony of every Olympics as a fan, then as an Olympian and now as a broadcaster. It is such a wonderful celebration of triumph and achieving one’s dreams."

He added, "Now, I am just hunting down enough weave to build my Marie Antoinette hairstyle!"

Lipinski, 41, said she's thrilled to return to the Closing Ceremony with Weir and Gannon in a statement to PEOPLE. “I am so excited to work another Closing Ceremony with Johnny and Terry, and interacting with Jimmy and Mike will make it even more of a party," she said.

"The Olympic Games will always have my heart and to be part of such a wonderful portion of it fills me with so much joy," Lipinski continued.

"The Closing Ceremony is one of my favorite Olympic events that happen during a Games, it was when I participated as an athlete and still is today as a broadcaster and fan. To be in Paris looking ahead for the L.A. Games in 2028 makes it even more special!” she concluded.

NBC and Peacock will present live coverage of the Closing Ceremony from the Stade de France, the country’s national stadium, on Sunday, August 11, beginning at 2 p.m. ET. Primetime coverage will begin at 7 p.m. ET/PT on NBC and Peacock.

President of NBC Olympics Production Molly Solomon said, “We are excited for Jimmy to make his official Olympic debut in an iconic setting at the biggest party in the world with Mike, while Terry, Tara, and Johnny return to provide a fashionably fun take on the pageantry and parade of athletes who competed in Paris,” in a statement on Wednesday.

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In March, Fallon invited Tirico, Kelly Clarkson and  Peyton Manning to appear on his show to announce that they'll be hosting the Opening Ceremony in Paris this summer.

“It’s an honor to be able to announce for the first time anywhere that this year at the Summer Olympics in Paris, the opening ceremony will be hosted by yours truly, Peyton Manning and Kelly Clarkson,” Tirico said on the show.

When Fallon asked Tirico if there's anything in particular that they should watch out for this Olympics, he noted that the the opening ceremony is going to be much different than people expect.

"The opening ceremony is going to be so different and unique," Tirico said. "Down the Seine, down the river with the athletes on a boat. So it’s not the stadium where they walk in. It’ll incorporate Paris."

The 2024 Paris Summer Olympics kicks off on July 26.

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All About The Closing Ceremony of the Paris Olympics 2024

Jimmy Fallon, Johnny Weir and Tara Lipinski are joining NBC's coverage of the Paris Olympics' final spectacle. 

It's still months away but anticipation is building for the 2024 Paris Olympics , including the Closing Ceremony!

As one of the biggest events of the year, the Summer Games are meticulously planned and outlined well before the athletes even settle in to the Olympic Village . From hosts to commentators to venues, the organizers are on top of all the arrangements necessary to close out the Games in fitting fashion. 

Here's everything you need to know:

What is the Closing Ceremony?

In short, the Closing Ceremony is held to celebrate weeks of hard work and triumph throughout the Olympics. For the athletes, it's one last chance to experience the roar of a packed stadium and for the attendees, it's an awesome chance to take part in the fun. 

Jimmy Fallon and Mike Tirico are hosting the Closing Ceremony

The  Tonight Show 's very own Jimmy Fallon is expected to fly across the Atlantic to join in on all the fun this summer. And while this is the talk show host's very first time taking part in an Olympics broadcast, he'll be joined by seasoned sports reporter Mike Tirico, who has emceed four Olympics already

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During the March 13 broadcast of his show, Fallon confirmed, “It’s real. It’s happening. I’m headed to Paris. I’m going to co-host the Olympics Closing Ceremony this summer!”

Terry Gannon, Johnny Weir and Tara Lipinski announced as commentators for Closing Ceremony

Joining the team are NBC Sports' Terry Gannon and former Olympians Johnny Weir and Tara Lipinski. The trio are all experienced commentators in their own right, with Lipinski and Weir having previously served as Closing Ceremony hosts for the PyeongChang, Tokyo, and Beijing Games. Additionally, Gannon has been a gymnastics commentator, a role he will once again take on this Summer.

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Weir cannot be more excited to join in on all the action this Summer and has a special look in mind already. "Now, I am just hunting down enough weave to build my Marie Antoinette hairstyle!" he joked in a statement to  People .

Lipinski, who welcomed her first child in 2023, is just as happy to join in on what is sure to be a good time. "I am so excited to work another Closing Ceremony with Johnny and Terry, and interacting with Jimmy and Mike will make it even more of a party," she said to  People.

When is the Olympic Closing Ceremony? 

NBC and Peacock will present live coverage of the Closing Ceremony from the Stade de France, the country’s national stadium, on Sunday, August 11, beginning at 2 p.m. ET. Primetime coverage will begin at 7 p.m. ET/PT on NBC and Peacock.

What happens at the Olympic Closing Ceremony?

Closing Ceremonies often include extravagant performances by celebrities from the host country, but those details will not be revealed until the days before the big event. However, since the Olympics are steeped in decades of tradition, we have some idea of what will take place at the the Closing Ceremony. Below is a basic rundown of the Closing Ceremony protocol.

For starters, the Closing Ceremony begins with the Parade of Flags, in which athletes from each nation walk with their flag into the stadium. Traditionally, the Greek flag leads the procession and the host country brings up the rear, according to the International Olympic Committee (IOC). 

Parade of Athletes

In the Parade of Nations, the athletes follow behind their nation's flag. However, the parade has evolved in recent years and now features the athletes walking en masse to commemorate their summer together. This first happened during the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, when 17-year-old John Ian Wing, an Australian of Chinese descent, suggested that all athletes walk together in a show of unity, according to Olympics.com .

The Final Medal Ceremony

Then, the final medal ceremony is hosted. Depending on the schedule, the athletes who competed on August 11 will likely be given their medals at the ceremony. Such sports include the marathon final, basketball, the modern pentathlon, volleyball, and water polo.

Immediately after, some of the newly-elected members of the International Olympic Committee will present flowers to volunteers who participated in the organization of the Games. 

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There is also a moment of remembrance between the medal ceremony and the next portion of the Closing Ceremony.

The Antwerp Ceremony

One element of the Closing Ceremony protocol became tradition after the Antwerp Games. This tradition consists of the raising of two flags: Greece's, in recognition of the Games' origins, and the flag of the next nation to host the Summer or Winter Olympics. As each flag is being raised, one at a time, the respective nation's anthem is played.

Then, the Olympic flag raised during the Opening Ceremony is lowered as the Olympic Hymn plays. In a symbolic move, the mayor the current host city passes the flag to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) president, who then passes it to the mayor of the next city. So, for the Paris Closing Ceremony, this means Mayor Anne Hidalgo will pass the flag to IOC President Thomas Bach, who will present it to Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who will return to her home city and raise the Olympic flag.

The Next Host City Offers a Preview

It's at this point that the L.A. Olympic Committee will have the opportunity to give viewers a sneak peek of what's to come when the Games head to the West Coast. For example, during the London Closing Ceremony, the organizers for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games had everyone on their feet with a Carnival-esque celebration.

"This segment is an invitation to the youth of the world to congregate in the host of the next edition of the Games," the IOC writes.

The President of the Organizing Committees for the Olympic Games then gives a speech, followed by the IOC President. Finally, the Olympic Flame is extinguished, marking the close of the Summer Games.

Watch live coverage of the Opening Ceremony on Friday, July 26, on NBC and Peacock beginning at Noon ET. Telemundo will provide Spanish-language coverage beginning at 1 p.m. ET. Primetime coverage starts at 7:30 p.m. ET/PT on NBC and Peacock.

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Sacre bleu! Camembert and brie 'on the verge of extinction,' French scientists warn

CAMEMBERT, France — On a tiny farm tucked into the lush, green hillside of Normandy , Aude Sementzeff heats raw milk from cows up the hill until it curdles, then scoops it into molds to make a round, pearly white Camembert cheese.

For eight years, Sementzeff has been making the earthy, soft cheese in small batches to be sold in Paris stores, continuing a tradition that dates to the 18th century. So ubiquitous is Camembert in France that soldiers in the trenches of World War I ate it as part of their daily rations.

“Camembert is there at each step of our history,” Sementzeff, 41, said as she delicately salted each cheese and flipped it to perfect its rind. “So there is a strong link, I think, with French culture.”

But now this notoriously pungent delicacy is in trouble, as is brie, another celebrated French cheese enjoyed across the world.

The National Centre for Scientific Research, France’s state-run science agency, has warned that Camembert, brie and even blue cheeses “could disappear,” owing to a decline in the strains of fungi that give the beloved cheeses their unique taste, smell, color and texture.

“Blue cheeses may be under threat, but the situation is much worse for Camembert, which is already on the verge of extinction,” the research center wrote in a memo in January.

While many cheesemakers insist the problem isn’t quite that dire, they acknowledge that producing cheeses like Camembert is getting harder, a consequence in part of past efforts to engineer the perfect block. 

Scientists refer to fungi’s role in cheesemaking as “delicious rot,” and it’s a critical part of the arduous process of making a Camembert, which includes several weeks of aging. It can be added early on with other enzymes when milk is heated to form curds, or sprayed on the cheese later to help the ripening process and promote the soft, white rind prized by Camembert-lovers.

In Camembert’s early days, the fungi existed naturally in the air in the damp caves where it was aged, said Emily Monaco, an American writer and cheese connoisseur who lives in Paris. She said that’s what gave each batch its own distinctive character.

“Some of them are going to be a little redder or a little bluer or a little grayer,” Monaco said. “And what people realized was that people really like the white, pristine look of Camembert.”

As a result, during the 20th century, cheesemakers stopped leaving the fungus to chance and began making it in the lab. They isolated one particular albino strain known as Penicillium camemberti that produces the perfect white rind, and soon cheesemakers globally began using it.

Benjamin Wolfe, who teaches microbiology at Tufts University and studies fermented food in his lab, said that brought advantages, such as consistency, but also downsides.

“Often when we domesticate plants — or even our pets, like dogs and sometimes cats — we’re selecting particular types that we find appealing,” he said. “And when we do that, we’re removing from the overall pool of genetic diversity.”

Over time, Penicillium camemberti is losing some of its ability to reproduce naturally. Instead, scientists are growing the fungus using asexual reproduction — not unlike planting a cutting from a flower to clone it, rather than a seed. Wolfe said growing the fungus that way is doable, but more difficult.

There’s also the longer-term concern about having just one or two strains of an organism still around: If a disease or pathogen emerges to which the remaining strain is susceptible, it could wipe out the entire population.

It’s a similar threat to the one facing other popular foods due to dwindling global biodiversity that’s being exacerbated by climate change , scientists say.

Hotter temperatures, changing rainfall patterns and more frequent extreme weather events are altering delicate ecosystems across the globe that plant and animal species rely on to survive, the U.N. says . It’s also increasing the prevalence of diseases.

In the case of cheese, scientists have started working to restore some of the genetic diversity to the fungi. Lactalis, the world’s largest dairy company and maker of the popular President Camembert cheese in France, said it was “not worried about the future of our products.”

“We are committed to preserving the biodiversity and safety of the ferments,” Lactalis said in a statement. “Our mission is the sustainability of know-how and cheese heritage, of which ferments are an integral part.”

Ironically, large industrial producers that rely entirely on lab-made fungus may have a tougher challenge in the future than small, artisan farms, where the presence of animals and lack of chemicals means there’s still a wide variety of wild-growing fungi in the environment.

Monaco, the writer, said cheese-lovers of the future may have to embrace the fact that Camembert may not all look and taste the same. She said part of the beauty of cheese is how it’s shaped by its environment, or terroir, and factors as capricious as whether the grass fed to the dairy cows got more or less sun in any given year.

“If we want things to stay the same, we’re going to have problems moving forward,” she said. “If we’re excited about the fact that as we go forward, each Camembert you try is going to have its own personality and flavor, then that’s what we can look forward to.”

Josh Lederman is an NBC News correspondent.

Briony Sowden is a London-based NBC News producer.