Mikhail Trusov: how to get into cycling commentators and why the peloton is going faster and faster

Guest

Useful from the issue

1. The best school is a microphone at the start

   Mikhail advises a novice commentator to conduct amateur races live: to keep the audience's attention when the peloton passes every few minutes is the best training for a television broadcast.

2. Start with remote broadcasts

   There are services where you can comment on less popular races remotely. It almost does not bring money, but it gives experience and recognition, which are then selected for the big airwaves.

3. Send out your work

   Mikhail got into the commentators by sending recordings of his broadcasts. Eurosport and Okko are reviewing Russian-speaking commentators, so it's worth sending resumes and examples.

4. Do not comment without rights

   Broadcasting a race without rights on VKontakte ended for Mikhail with blocking and a fine demand. He does not recommend the pirate way.

5. Cook ten times more

   10-15 percent of the prepared content gets on the air. Live in the topic: follow the news, social networks of riders and statistical services.

6. Ask what you can say

   Information received personally from racers, mechanics or team doctors, Mikhail airs only after permission.

7. Combine the broadcasts and the work of the presenter

   One comment feeds only if you lead almost the entire season. It is more reliable to combine TV broadcasts with the work of the presenter at competitions.

8. The Federation gives official status

   The regional federation is needed so that the athletes of commercial clubs get into the national team and to official starts. It does not bring money, but it creates a lot of obligations to the city.

9. Simplify speech

   For a clear commentary, Mikhail works with an articulation tutor and advises the book "The Living and the Dead Word": it teaches you to speak more simply and clearly.

From the riders to the commentary booth

Mikhail is a master of sports in cycling, after his career he worked in the directorate of the Olympic Games in Sochi, was a physical teacher at school for a month and a half, then switched to leadership work. At the same time, he was engaged in triathlon, opened an athlete training studio and headed the city triathlon and cycling federations.

He got into the commentators almost by accident: at the criteria of the Russian championship, he was explaining to his young students what was happening in the race, and a familiar coach of the national team asked if he was commenting. Mikhail sent notes of his works on triathlon — and three weeks later he was called to lead the Five Rings race. Not knowing most of the riders, he called familiar coaches. Then there was Match TV, training at the commentary academy and an invitation to Okko, where he immediately received the women's Tour de France.

Why do we need regional federations

According to Mikhail, the federation was needed primarily so that athletes and children's groups from a private commercial club could perform at official competitions as part of the city's national team. It does not bring money: the federation is a non—profit organization, which, under an agreement with the city, is obliged to hold competitions and promote, and buys machines and uniforms with voluntary contributions. This year Sochi received its bicycle uniform for the first time in 25 years.

Previously, major brands helped, now they are mostly acquaintances and clients of the club, who are offered to choose how to help. He considers regional federations necessary: from Moscow it is not visible what is happening on the ground, and without contact with commercial organizers, neither they nor the federation can help each other. Ilya admits that he was thinking of opening a federation at home, but so far he does not see any advantages with such a volume of bureaucracy.

Boosty, Haight and the Women's Tour de France

It all started with our own broadcasts on Boosty: a paid subscription should have at least paid for foreign access to the races. There were about 50 hours of pure commentary over the past season — from Australian races to spring classics. He spent one broadcast on VKontakte, got blocked and demanded to pay a fine, after which he had to delete a lot. He does not advise anyone to repeat this pirate path.

After the women's Tour de France, two phrases taken out of context were posted on social networks. Mikhail believes that haight was connected with the news about the scandal in the women's peloton, which they did not even discuss on the air, and no one noticed the praise for the racers. He takes it calmly: HYIP also popularizes women's cycling. He works on diction with a tutor, and for speech he advises the book "The word is alive and dead": it's boring, but the phrases after it become easier.

How to get to Okko and how much it brings

According to Mikhail, there are only three cycling commentators on the staff of Okko, the rest come by contract, and the head of the direction looks through the entire Russian-language commentator pool. The debutant will not be put on the royal mountain stage, but there is a chance. The way he advises is to start on services where they allow you to comment remotely on less popular races like cyclocross, send resumes, including to Eurosport, where you can work from home with a laptop and a good microphone. He calls the work of a presenter with a microphone at amateur races the best school: the peloton passes every few minutes, and the spectators nearby should be interested all the time.

They pay for the broadcast or for the number of hours leading at the start — fixed per day. Mikhail does not call the numbers. According to him, it is possible to live on one commentator only if you comment on almost the entire season from March to October, so it is better to combine the broadcasts with the work of the presenter. The work is unstable — after another scandal, they may simply stop calling — and traveling: the family almost does not see the commentator all season.

How to prepare for the five-hour broadcast

The commentator should live in the topic: know the races, actors, news and gossip. Only 10-15 percent of the prepared content gets on the air, and statistics are often read directly from the profiles that the services show and from ProCyclingStats. For Russian races, Mikhail directly calls the riders and the press attaches of the teams and the federation, for foreign ones he reads the riders' social networks and local sports media through a translator: in interviews in their native language, athletes tell more than in English. If the information is received personally, he always clarifies whether it is possible to say it on the air.

There is censorship, and serious: not only mate, but also personal attacks on the riders. On a five-hour broadcast without advertising, they work together and cover for each other if they need to move away. Mikhail asks to turn off the radio tour from the race: he has enough pictures.

The 2026 season and why the peloton is going faster

Mikhail believes that we are seeing the best cycling in at least twenty years. Vingegor, realizing that it was almost impossible to beat Pogachar on the Tour, went to the Giro. Pogachar on Tour made life difficult for himself, taking care of the young Isaac del Toro. Remko Evenepul, in his estimation, finally became a real leader in the general classification. The Vuelta after the fall of Pogachar went to Enric Mas.

He explains the growth of speeds not only with talent. Science has come to the sport: data from training, quick adjustments to plans, air tubes and equipment, where a new jumpsuit can save watts, which otherwise would have to work for months. Tactics have also changed: previously, the first hundred-plus kilometers of the classics drove calmly, now the fight is going on from the very start. Hence the new restrictions of the UCI and the young stars who win at the age of 19-20. Mikhail, despite the ban, calls Lance Armstrong his favorite racer: he made cycling a commercial industry with a huge audience.

Where is Russian cycling going

Amateur cycling, according to Mikhail, is on the rise and is ahead of professional cycling in terms of race organization and safety in some places. And the professional one lags behind the world one by about 15 years, and you shouldn't expect big names at the world championships for the next five years. We need a club system with a domestic championship and sponsors, compensation for transitions between regions, access to international races, including in Asia, and more starts, because riders grow only in races.

A separate problem is that there is no "plan B" for those who take second or tenth places: they do not bring the coaches titles and quit the sport. Part of this role is played by amateur cycling, where former professionals go to train and lead clubs, although a good rider is not always a good coach. In the podcast, Mikhail advises to invite riders of professional teams with extensive experience: they rarely talk about themselves, and it would be interesting.

Timestamps

1. 00:00Who is Mikhail Trusov
2. 08:36Why do we need regional federations
3. 14:22Pirated broadcasts on Boosty
4. 21:31Haight after the Women's Tour de France
5. 25:01Amateur cycling, granfondo and gravel
6. 30:33Cyclocross and sanitary pause in the five-hour broadcast
7. 34:37How to get a commentator on Okko
8. 40:52Broadcasting from home and advertising in the broadcast
9. 44:18How much do they pay a commentator
10. 46:42How to prepare for the broadcast
11. 56:38Season-2026: Pogachar, Remco, Vuelta
12. 1:04:35Why is the peloton going faster and faster
13. 1:10:15Is it a boring era and a favorite racer
14. 1:17:53Russian cycling: where is it going
15. 1:24:14Who should I invite to the podcast

Mentioned in this episode

Okko · Match TV · Eurosport · Boosty · ProCyclingStats · Tour de France · Vuelta · Giro d'Italia · Tsar Grader · Studio 8 · Iron Star