German broadcasters to reconsider showing Tour de France
German TV broadcasters took a stand against what they saw as a sport defined by cheating

Doping scandals and a mistrust of those involved in cycling directly led to German television broadcasters making a stand in 2012 – they wouldn’t show the Tour de France (opens in new tab).
ARD and ZDF’s refusal to screen the Tour since 2012 was symbolic of the credibility loss the sport had endured in the preceding decade. Before 2012, both broadcasters had stopped live transmissions during the 2007 Tour after German rider Patrik Sinkewitz tested positive during the race.
But while doping cases are still making the headlines – Astana, whose Vincenzo Nibali (opens in new tab) won the 2014 Tour, have had five recently (opens in new tab) – they no longer dominate the cycling sections of sport pages.
And the emergence of German Marcel Kittel (opens in new tab) as arguably the world’s fastest sprinter has resulted in a growing clamour for live coverage of the Tour in Germany once more.
ARD chairman Lutz Marmor will make a decision in the coming weeks after the broadcaster admitted that it is of the opinion that the sport has taken substantial steps in eradicating doping.
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Chris first started writing for Cycling Weekly in 2013 on work experience and has since become a regular name in the magazine and on the website. Reporting from races, long interviews with riders from the peloton and riding features drive his love of writing about all things two wheels.
Probably a bit too obsessed with mountains, he was previously found playing and guiding in the Canadian Rockies, and now mostly lives in the Val d’Aran in the Spanish Pyrenees where he’s a ski instructor in the winter and cycling guide in the summer. He almost certainly holds the record for the most number of interviews conducted from snowy mountains.
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