Mart Smeets

Dutch radio and television personality, writer and columnist

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Key Takeaways

Jan Marten "Mart" Smeets (born 11 January 1947, in Arnhem) is a Dutch radio and television personality, writer, and columnist.
He is best known for his coverage of the Tour de France, but also comments on speedskating, basketball (having played at the national level himself), and most other sports, except football (although he did present a news program around the 2006 FIFA World Cup).
Radio Smeets also has a weekly radio show, For the Record , on Radio 2, featuring two hours of rarely played music.
He is also the author of more than 25 books.
People watching the 2012 Tour de France shows, for instance, marked off Smeets-cliches on a Smeets Bingo card, and an anti-Smeets Facebook page ("Mart Auf Wiedersehen Smeets") was joined by 40,000 people.

Jan Marten "Mart" Smeets (born 11 January 1947, in Arnhem) is a Dutch radio and television personality, writer, and columnist.

Television

Mart Smeets is a long-time sports presenter and commentator with the Dutch public broadcaster NOS. He is best known for his coverage of the Tour de France, but also comments on speedskating, basketball (having played at the national level himself), and most other sports, except football (although he did present a news program around the 2006 FIFA World Cup). The 2012 Tour de France was his last assignment during his NOS tenure; he later announced that he would continue to work for them as a freelancer.

Radio

Smeets also has a weekly radio show, For the Record, on Radio 2, featuring two hours of rarely played music.

Writing

Mart Smeets writes columns for several newspapers and magazines, including Trouw. He is also the author of more than 25 books.

Praise and criticism

Smeets has received notable criticism from viewers, especially through social media. People watching the 2012 Tour de France shows, for instance, marked off Smeets-cliches on a Smeets Bingo card, and an anti-Smeets Facebook page ("Mart Auf Wiedersehen Smeets") was joined by 40,000 people. Also popular was an online Smeets cliche generator.