Fifty Plus (50+) - If it's Saturday, this must be (Tour de) France

From RoadBikeRider's newsletter:

---The 95th Tour de France starts Saturday in Brest in the country's northwest corner. Rather than a short prologue time trial (a 40-year tradition) this edition begins with a road stage of 197 km (122 miles) ending in the village of Plumelec. It won't be an easy ride, with 4 category 4 climbs and a 2-km-long uphill finish including an 8% pitch. In addition to this unconventional start, the Tour has only 2 time trials in its 3,554-km (2,203-mile) journey to Paris -- stage 4 with 29.4 km (18.2 miles) on relatively tame terrain, and the penultimate stage 20 covering 53 km (32.7 miles) on narrow, multidirectional country roads. Daily stage previews and results can be found on velonews.com at http://tinyurl.com/5dy3gm, and it also will have live real-time updates during each stage each day through the finish on July 27.



Versus Schedule (Times are EASTERN time)


Stage 1: Saturday, July 5, 2008
Brest to Plumelec

8:30am to 11:30am: LIVE Daily Coverage
10:30am to 1:30pm: Race Action Replay
4:00pm to 6:00pm: Race Action Replay
8:00pm to 11:00pm: Expanded Primetime Coverage
12:00am to 3:00am: Race Action Replay

Check here for complete schedule:

http://www.versus.com/tdf/article/view/758/?ss=tv&tf=body_tdf_schedule.tpl

My favorite month of the year.:thumb:

I am just about bouncing off the walls... between this and the F1 British GP this weekend, what more could I want?

I am just about bouncing off the walls... between this and the F1 British GP this weekend, what more could I want?

Saturday afternoons during college football season. Roar Lions, Roar!

ahhh finally! and wouldn't it be nice if VS could give us cycling once a day year round? How about getting 2 hours a day of Giro coverage. That would have been nice. Or maybe some world cup Biathlon in the winter. They could replace the BBQ chamionships fifth replay or something.

I'll watch, but I'm still bummed about Leipheimer and Contador.

ahhh finally! and wouldn't it be nice if VS could give us cycling once a day year round? How about getting 2 hours a day of Giro coverage. That would have been nice. Or maybe some world cup Biathlon in the winter. They could replace the BBQ chamionships fifth replay or something.

You remember when ESPN would run the Americas cup races, hours spend looking at a sweaty Dennis Connor with a white zinc oxide nose - who could ask for anything more! I just can't see how one can sit a watch this stuff - whether it's football or biking. I love the "highlights" but not the whole thing. I have always felt you need to be there to enjoy sports watching, IMHO 75% of the thrill comes from the crowd.

As far as BBQ coverage - it's what TV has come too. Even channels that had thoughtful programming have turned to things like "Dirty Jobs" or "Monster Machines". Now that I am on a roll here - what about the news coverage - the cable news networks have really gotten awful lately. CNN got dumb and I went to Fox - now Fox has the same blond model on each show and no depth of coverage (they are great to look at though). I'm about ready to throw the stupid box out the window. .

I still miss them having the prologue, as I liked watching the short and fast time trial and letting that determine who has the yellow jersey. That said, I'll be glued to the TV for 3 weeks. Is there a 12 step program for that? :lol:

As far as BBQ coverage - it's what TV has come too. Even channels that had thoughtful programming have turned to things like "Dirty Jobs" or "Monster Machines". Now that I am on a roll here - what about the news coverage - the cable news networks have really gotten awful lately. CNN got dumb and I went to Fox - now Fox has the same blond model on each show and no depth of coverage (they are great to look at though). I'm about ready to throw the stupid box out the window. .

It can get far, far worse.

The Batchelor?

The Batchelorette?

Yesterday there was a "What not to wear" marathon. I like the show, but after having it on the tube for four hours straight I was reduced to drooling and babbling.

No one noticed.

Back to the OP: I love the coverage. I think the tactics are fascinating, and you don't get a feel for that with American-style ESPN highlights. Nothing beats a camera close-up to a cyclist who is obviously in agony and looks like he's going to pass out and have Liggett announce, "He appears to be in a spot of bother".

I just can't see how one can sit a watch this stuff - whether it's football or biking. I love the "highlights" but not the whole thing. I have always felt you need to be there to enjoy sports watching, IMHO 75% of the thrill comes from the crowd.

While I love the thrill of being there, whether a bike race or a football game, and would always choose to see it in person over watching it on TV, there is a lot to be said for seeing it live on TV. Much of the thrill of bike races is seeing how the strategies develop. There is so much going on in a bike race that you can't possibly keep up with it from a spot along the course. And a highlights summary can only offer a pale imitation of the build up of drama that happens during a race as the various strategies are set up, attempted, reassessed and changed. I especially enjoy it when I get surprised when what I thought was developing turns out to not be the real story. You have to watch it all to get the full experience. :)

My favorite month of the year.:thumb:

+1000

The wife will suffer for the next 3 weeks. But I have satellite and the race has full coverage in the day. Only a 1 hour highlights at night so I will record the day programme- Watch the highlights in the evening and if I feel I want more- I can watch the full programme.


Now if I get home at 6PM- I should be getting to bed by about 2AM. Any got got any matches to keep the eyes open. Thank goodness for the rest days.

I'll watch, but I'm still bummed about Leipheimer and Contador.

I was going to skip it I'm so pissed. I still believe Floyd, and Levi got totally screwed.
But, there I was at 5:30 in front of the TV, darn it.

As far as BBQ coverage - it's what TV has come too. Even channels that had thoughtful programming have turned to things like "Dirty Jobs" or "Monster Machines". Now that I am on a roll here - what about the news coverage - the cable news networks have really gotten awful lately. CNN got dumb and I went to Fox - now Fox has the same blond model on each show and no depth of coverage (they are great to look at though). I'm about ready to throw the stupid box out the window. .


I agree! Does anyone remember when CNN and Headline News used to have news? What about MTV and VH1? Once upon a time they used to air music videos!

Hey, Ive got an idea. Let's forget about what we don't like for a moment and talk about how great it is to see top level cycling competition live on TV every day for 3 weeks.

Has a whole year already passed? Seems like the last one just ended! I plan to follow it this year. Yes, it may be thrilling to be there to see it in person, but watching it on TV allows the viewer to "be there" for every inch of ride -- not so if you are there in person. I am in awe of their strength and ability -- they must be the gifted 1%.

Asides from catching PBS news, we don't do much TV. Don't feel like we're missing anything.

Versus on stupid Charter Cable in my town was off last night and at 5:30 AM PDT it was still off.

Actually, I think it has been off since last weekend when I recorded some cycling and when I played it back it was just digital garbage or a blank screen. I just put it off to a one day thing, but guess not.

Must go to show that NOBODY watches bull riding, bass fishing or cage wrestling, at least in my area, since the 2 Charter reps I complained at today said they didn't have any other calls about Versus being out.

They said it took 3 complaints to declare a 'wide area outage', so I emailed a couple of other riders in my area and asked them to complain so at least somebody at the local Charter office would change the channel to Versus and discover it was off.

Must have worked, as it came back on about noon, west coast time, so I am at least watching the 2 hour highlights now.

Lets hope it says on for tomorrow morning.

Schedule (Times are EASTERN time)


But what if you live in the Mountain TZ?:) The zone that time forgot!

I love watching it, and a BIG Thank you to Vs for putting it on. Hincapie has long been a favorite and so now I am really enjoying Columbia and learning about some of the new riders. The weekends are great, I can watch the finish like 3 times. Anybody know or understand why they decided not to use time bonuses this year?

While I love the thrill of being there, whether a bike race or a football game, and would always choose to see it in person over watching it on TV, there is a lot to be said for seeing it live on TV. Much of the thrill of bike races is seeing how the strategies develop. There is so much going on in a bike race that you can't possibly keep up with it from a spot along the course. And a highlights summary can only offer a pale imitation of the build up of drama that happens during a race as the various strategies are set up, attempted, reassessed and changed. I especially enjoy it when I get surprised when what I thought was developing turns out to not be the real story. You have to watch it all to get the full experience. :)

+1 Well, not the football game:rolleyes:

I've been watching it everyday and I usually log on from work to catch the highlights of the race.

ahhh finally! and wouldn't it be nice if VS could give us cycling once a day year round? How about getting 2 hours a day of Giro coverage. That would have been nice. Or maybe some world cup Biathlon in the winter. They could replace the BBQ chamionships fifth replay or something.

But could you stand the hour of woodie enhancment commercials to get the 2 hours of cycling coverage?

But could you stand the hour of woodie enhancment commercials to get the 2 hours of cycling coverage?

I did watch the first stage yesterday and have never seen so many commercials with such short content intervals between them. What an ordeal! No more watching it without time shifting and commercial skipping.

I was going to skip it I'm so pissed. I still believe Floyd, and Levi got totally screwed.
But, there I was at 5:30 in front of the TV, darn it.

I wish Levi was riding but I love the tour so I was there at 8:30.

But could you stand the hour of woodie enhancment commercials to get the 2 hours of cycling coverage?

There's no way I would attempt to watch any of this live. Even the last day, I'll let the dvr get an hour head start.

I watched stage 1 last night. 1 hour of meat from a 3 hour show. DVR is the only way to go.

Love it. I am so glad VS has it on multiple times. I don't even mind the commercials-- I grew up listening to baseball on the radio, sitting in the back yard under a big tree, and watching the Tour sort of takes me back to that experience. Plus I actually ride so it means more to me than watching other sports (especially football!). I am sorry Astana is out of the race, esp. for Chris Horner's sake, but with 2 strong American-based teams and so many other favorite riders (Jens!) I will enjoy it.
I even have a fantasy team :o. Unfortunately the young man on my team who did really well today was "on the bench" as I didn't get a chance to adjust the line-up yesterday--lost big points!

I would love to go see any of the Grand Tours in person, combined with a bike tour of my own.