TdF coverage quibbles

For the first time in my life, I have unfettered access to live Tour de France coverage on television--even better, I can tape delay and fast forward through commercials, which are even more boring than watching a 4-man breakaway get slowly, inevitably gobbled up over 100 km or so. It's not like suddenly having indoor plumbing after a lifetime without, but still, it's a nice addition to life, though it (TdF coverage) doesn't help me get to work any earlier. (Indoor plumbing just gets me to work smelling better.)

Phil "The Voice" Liggett and Paul "The Vet" Sherwen obviously are still the commentators; Al Trautwig has been shipped off somewhere else. Robbie Ventura is possibly competent but I can (and do) fast-forward through anything he has to say. Bob Roll is around but I haven't watched any of the repackaged evening shows, so I have no idea if his French is as bad as ever (I expect it is).

Quibbles:

--Why list the nationalities of riders? It's been decades since teams were organized by country. Is Kim Kirchen riding for Team Luxembourg? No! (Side note: it was a curious and dirty little trick of the press to start talking about the Luxembourg "rivalry".) It would be far more useful to list riders by their team names, which would go a long ways towards matching name (e.g. Jegou) with team kit (Francaise des Jeux) while watching. Nationality is a bit of trivia Phil and Paul should banter about during nature breaks.

--Team Columbia = America's team, rah, rah, rah. Yes, Team Columbia is registered in San Luis Obispo, CA, but I also know that the company I work for in Berkeley, CA, is registered in Delaware. The only American on the start list for Team Columbia is George Hincapie, and there are only 3 Americans on the entire men's roster (plus one Canuck). And since the idea of Columbia's sponsorship is to increase its exposure in Europe, I don't expect to see an American grassroots program anytime soon.

--Not a quibble, just an observation: T-Mobile should be rolling on the floor in agony at the lost marketing after withdrawing their sponsorship (just imagine Kirchen on the podium every day, Cavendish winning sprints, in pink shorts).

--Hincapie is experienced, yes, but Phil and Paul spend a lot of time describing him as a "road captain" without ever mentioning that Team Columbia in fact has a DS who may be pretty sharp himself: Rolf Aldag, of (!) ex-T-Mobile fame. Oh, oops, are people allowed to say that name at the Tour after his doping confession last year? Perhaps Phil and Paul don't want to be blacklisted by ASO.