Professional Cycling For the Fans - Going to England...how can I get the Tour on TV?

Hi everyone!

I will be (finally) moving to England next Friday...only bad thing is that is is smack dab in the middle of the Tour! Oh cruel fate...

I am not familiar with British TV or cable (or the like) and I was hoping that some of you out there in England (or who have been there during the Tour) can tell me if the Tour is available on basic cable (i.e. I will get it if I just plug in my TV) or if I wil need to order cable ASAP upon arriving to make sure that I am able to view it. Is the coverage fairly good? If it helps, I will be in Suffolk County...

Thanks! :D
Sarah

Hi everyone!

I will be (finally) moving to England next Friday...only bad thing is that is is smack dab in the middle of the Tour! Oh cruel fate...

I am not familiar with British TV or cable (or the like) and I was hoping that some of you out there in England (or who have been there during the Tour) can tell me if the Tour is available on basic cable (i.e. I will get it if I just plug in my TV) or if I wil need to order cable ASAP upon arriving to make sure that I am able to view it. Is the coverage fairly good? If it helps, I will be in Suffolk County...

Thanks! :D
Sarah

i know eurosport does coverage. i'd imagine coverage over there would be (dare i say) more extensive than it is here. best of luck to you. hell, hop the channel and go see it first hand!

i know eurosport does coverage. i'd imagine coverage over there would be (dare i say) more extensive than it is here. best of luck to you. hell, hop the channel and go see it first hand!


Thanks for the tip! I was supposed to get there 3 weeks ago...and was fully planning to go and catch a stage...alas the delay has changed my plans! I guess I will just have to plan for next year, and make a REAL vacation out of it! ;)

Sarah

Apparently Eurosport are doing extensive,albeit not very good, coverage. ITV2 also has coverage, with Sherwyn and Liggett commentating, and Chris Boardman as the resident expert. Channel 4 has a nightly half hour summary program.
C4 is a general broadcast channel, eurosport is a widely available cable channel and ITV2 has appeared since I left the UK so I presume it's either cable or digital.

Thanks for the tip! I was supposed to get there 3 weeks ago...and was fully planning to go and catch a stage...alas the delay has changed my plans! I guess I will just have to plan for next year, and make a REAL vacation out of it! ;)

Sarah

incidentally, eurosport says it reaches 250 million homes in europe, and is the most wide-spread network over there. hopefully, you'll be able to tune in. velonews says their coverage team is pretty painful, but that's why god invented the mute button, now isn't it?

The situation is rather dire:

C4 no longer run their nightly programme. As far as I can tell all you get on normal TV is an hour a week at one in the morning on ITV. If you buy a free-view box (about £60) then you can watch the nightly hour long shows on ITV2 for no extra cost, but you'll need to check for reception of ITV2 in your area. Alternatively get a cable contract and get eurosport, and definitely ITV2.

The situation is rather dire:

C4 no longer run their nightly programme. As far as I can tell all you get on normal TV is an hour a week at one in the morning on ITV. If you buy a free-view box (about £60) then you can watch the nightly hour long shows on ITV2 for no extra cost, but you'll need to check for reception of ITV2 in your area. Alternatively get a cable contract and get eurosport, and definitely ITV2.

That's all rather upsetting. When I still lived in the UK, Auntie Beeb would run Le Tour for a few hours each day while it was on. Of course, when I lived there there were still only 4 channels and Channel 4 was rather new :D

Apparently Eurosport are doing extensive, albeit not very good, coverage.


What are you talking about? Eurosport coverage is fantastic! All live every day, and an hour and a half of highlights at night, and three good commentators.

The situation is rather dire:


Rubbish... you guys are painting completely the wrong picture. If you have Sky cable, you have Eurosports superb coverage. Everyone I know has Sky.

Honestly, you gloom and doom merchants...

Rubbish... you guys are painting completely the wrong picture. If you have Sky cable, you have Eurosports superb coverage. Everyone I know has Sky.

Honestly, you gloom and doom merchants...

Thanks for the info, everyone! I was getting bummed there...but perhaps everything will work out. I am leaving just as they get to the Pyranees...what could be more untimely?! Is Sky cable relatively affordable? Sorry it took so long for me to respond...took a trip to LA to get my VISA...

Sarah

Is Sky cable relatively affordable?


You'll see cheap housing estates brimming with workshy people full of Sky dishes, that's usually a good sign that normal, more deserving folk can afford it. :)

You'll need the family pack at least to get Eurosport - £19.50 a month. Skys pages are here (http://www.sky.com/skycom/home/).

Get yourself the Sky family package and this will take care of all your Tour De France needs. Eurosport are showing all of todays (wednesday) stage so I'll be sloping off from work as soon as possible.

However, some blocks of apartments cannot have Sky dishes stuck on their outside walls (like mine) so you have to go down the cable TV route. Companies like NTL provide Sky TV via cable and their packages are very similar in price. They also carry Eurosport, ITV2 etc.