Road Cycling - A nice review of OLN's TdF coverage

Today in the Philadelphia Inquirer, from the point of view of someone who's not a cycling fan and never hearn of OLN before:

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/6378243.htm

RichC

GREAT review! Thanks for the post! My wife and I are equally hooked!

Taken from the article. Second paragraph. "Just because he beat back testicular cancer and could well be on his way to winning his fifth-straight Tour de France doesn't mean he's a perfect human being. "
Who said he was perfect? There is no other sport in the world that is as grueling, as this, and the guy won 4 tours in the row! You better take your hat off to Lance.

Originally posted by Chuvak
Taken from the article. Second paragraph. "Just because he beat back testicular cancer and could well be on his way to winning his fifth-straight Tour de France doesn't mean he's a perfect human being. "
Who said he was perfect? There is no other sport in the world that is as grueling, as this, and the guy won 4 tours in the row! You better take your hat off to Lance.

The point of the article is that you don't have to be a Lance-worshipper to enjoy the Tour, and that OLN is doing a good job of making it entertaining even for a newcomer.

The sentence you quote sounds harsh taken out of context. In context, it doesn't.

RichC

This is the first Tour I've watched, and I'm in awe.

I detest most professional sports; my patent reply to those guys that assume that because I'm male I should be glued to the idiot box during the finals/playoffs/whatever is "Why? Watch millionaires run back and forth and sweat?".

The exceptions are gymnastic competition, adventure racing, and now cycling.

I have to be honest, perhaps it's the Armstrong/Ullrich dynamic that has me enthralled. Nevertheless, on at least two occasions events during the Tour have caused me to nearly spill my root beer and cinnamon tortilla chips. I'm hooked now, and that time trial tomorrow may well kill me.

As for the coverage, I've found it to be very well done. Perhaps Gum is there for looks, but she's also an avatar for those of us unfamiliar with the Tour and with bicycle racing. She asks the questions I would ask of the three seasoned veterans (four, if you count the rather stiff young man that does the one-minute pre-taped bits). Sherwen and Liggett do a terrific blow-by-blow (spin-by-spin?), and Bob Roll is just my man, period.

-Rob

I only saw about three days of the Tour on OLN during a holiday a few years ago, and I can remember little of it, but I do know that we Brits get the same legendary commentary from Phil and Paul, and I wouldn't swap it for anything.