ITV's Tour de France coverage might be coming to an end this year, but it is not the end for Ned Boulting and David Millar at the race.
The pair, along with Lizzie Deignan, the best British rider of her generation, will be present on the roads of France next summer with NSF Live in France, a new free audio and video show throughout the race. The project launched on Saturday, and those interested are invited to register their support at Never Strays Far's website.
Boulting and Millar have been staples of ITV's Tour de France coverage for years, while Deignan, a former world champion, is set to retire at the end of the season.
"It's me, David and Lizzie, and our ambition is, our aim is to return to the Tour de France next summer, and we are going to set up a platform of our own, which will be free, completely free, for people to access and use," Boulting explained to CW on Friday. "It’s going to be both an audio service, so people will have the ability to listen to it on an app on their phone if they go about their business, you know, during the day, and also a video watch-along from the side of the road.
"We will have a sort of mobile studio in and among the fans, not at the start and not at the finish, but in some random little village along the way. We'll be watching the Tour de France ourselves and passing comment on it, also in the style of the podcast, wildly digressing and enjoying the whole sort of cultural trip and the lap around France as well, but at the same time keeping you in touch with what's going on in the race."
"In tone, it will fall somewhere between what David and I do in terms of television commentary, which is quite sanguine, and the very loose nature of Never Strays Far, which I think would baffle people.," Boulting added. "That’s the pitch, somewhere between those two extremes. Also France, what’s going on in our journey, as well as what’s going on in the bike race, and it’s going to be live."
It was announced at the end of last year that ITV would not renew its rights to the Tour de France, bringing an end to the era of free-to-air coverage on UK screens. While NSF Live in France will not be live coverage, Boulting, Millar and Deignan hope that it fills a gap.
"I wish TNT all the success in sort of like bringing the Tour de France to the widest possible audience," Boulting said. "That's really important for the health of the sport in our country. But I have my doubts. It’s not so much how many people are willing, it's how many people are able to pay the extra having gone from a service that they got for free.
"I've been surprised by the strength and the enduring sort of effect of, you know, the ripple effect from that decision that was made in November of last year," he continued. "The sense of loss of an institution is enduring in a way that has taken me by surprise. I lost track of the number of people who online have suggested, or hoped, cross fingers, that somehow, some sort of something survives of the Tour de France that is free to access, and this is the best that we can possibly do.
"There will be a whole load of people who in 12 months' time, will only be finding out. There'll be people tuning in, expecting services normal in the summer of 2026 only to find out that the streams have gone."
The final format of the show has not been yet decided yet. "It’s got to be completely accessible to everybody and the most obvious place to go," Boulting said. "We're going to find the right place to put all this out and make sure it gets to the widest possible audience."
"I think it's important that cycling is still an accessible sport," Deignan added on a special edition of Never Strays Far. "I'm really passionate about that. Obviously, from my perspective, women's cycling has grown and grown and grown, but I really don't want all the hard work I've done in my career to disappear. I think it needs to stay in the mainstream, and this is the way to do it."
"We're going to watch the race, give our opinions, not commentate, per se, but certainly be involved and following and keeping track," Millar added. "And then also we'll be mixing in a bit of the local culture and our travels."
"What's really important, from our point of view, is this is complicated, and it's going to be extremely expensive, especially because we're offering it for free," Boulting said. "So we've got a year to drum up interest and prove the concept works. In order for that to work, it's a bit of a rallying cry. What we just want people to do is sign up to a newsletter completely for free. Express an interest."
Those interested in the project should register at www.neverstraysfar.com.
