No to Al Trautwig for the 2005 TdF Coverage

We fans of Outdoor Life Network's cycling road racing broadcasts do sincerely implore you to NOT put Al Trautwig in capacity of broadcast commentary for the 2005 Tour de France broadcast coverage.

We do implore you to employ the fantastic broadcast team of Paul Sherwen and Phil Ligget along with the venerable Bob Roll as your primary and only commentary and analysis team.

Your use of Al Trautwig in last years TdF coverage was a very disheartening experience. His constant interruptions of Bob Rolls race commentary were very annoying. What other commentator would raise a question on "Is that a water tower?" during a race. Or, wish for rain and inclement weather to bring some excitement to a "boring" race?

Paul Sherwen, Phil Ligget and Bob Roll would make a fantastic combination and would equal the excellence of road race coverage that permeated the air of the 2004 Giro d'Italia. Their repartee and incisive commentary was very illuminating and exposed the entire nuance a cycling road race has to offer. Their pre-race analysis was concise and informative, and provided the needed backdrop to frame the day's Stage coverage.

We can honestly say, the 2004 Giro d'Italia's coverage was a step above the 2004 TdF coverage by this fact alone, despite the fact the televised hours of coverage was at a 4:1 ratio in broadcast time.

Please OLN, do the right thing, do the smart thing, , , No Al Trautwig! At the least, pair Kristen Gum and Bobke together for the pre-race intro show, she is much more learned and now after a few years has developed the understanding and has polished her presentation of cycling analysis and commentary. She did an exceptional job on the 2004 Road to the Tour series.

Don't break a fantastic commodity you had in 2003 with Al Trautwig, fix it by removing him.

The OLN cycling fan club