Cycling commentators critical of broadcasters over Amstel Gold Race TV coverage: 'Almost insulting'

The women's Amstel Gold Race was wonderfully entertaining, with a surprise icing on the cake in the form of Paula Blasi's victory. Demi Vollering finished third, but said afterwards that viewers had been unable to watch the first part of the race. Live coverage only began with around 55 kilometres to go — and for Roxanne Knetemann, that is far too late.

The former professional was on the start podium as an interviewer on the day, but turned her attention after the race to the lack of broadcast time given to the women's event. Why couldn't viewers watch the race from the start? "I've been asking this for six, seven years," Knetemann said on her podcast In het Wiel. "The NOS [the Dutch national public broadcaster] says the helicopter can't go up any earlier. I think it's a financial decision."

Cycling journalist Daniël Dwarswaard, her co-host, agreed. "It's almost insulting. It's not of this era. You just want to watch the race, but you miss decisive moments. You sit there waiting for the broadcast to start — and then they're almost at the finish. That's not how it should be."

Vollering finished third, but she was spent. That comes as no surprise given her account of the race. "It is such, such a shame that you only saw the last 50 kilometres, because from the very start we rode as a team with real strength and dominance," she said after the finish. "Before we reached the local laps, we attacked every climb full gas. So it is really unfortunate, for everyone, that that wasn't on television."

The men's race was also only shown from a relatively late point — but at other races, that has not been the case. Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders were broadcast in full from start to finish for both the men and the women. At the Amstel Gold Race, the women's broadcast did not begin until after the men's race had finished. Knetemann has no time for it, and sees the coverage as still lagging far behind the sport's own progress.

"Everyone is vague about who should pay for it. But it seems obvious to me that the party involved simply doesn't want to. The idea that women's cycling should be grateful just to be allowed to race — we are long past that. Women's cycling is every bit as good as men's cycling. The riders have worked incredibly hard for that. But you see very little of it reflected in the coverage of this race."