Road Bike Racing - The season has started on TV!

I just watched the Omloop Het Volk from Belgium. They do have quite a job over the cobbles. Quite a few crashes, but no serious injuries that I could see.

Peter Petegem of Lotto won, Hoj was second. McEwan, Bettini, and Tchmil followed with a small group shortly thereafter.

It is great to be watching cycle racing again!

Cheers...Gary

Originally posted by gmason
It is great to be watching cycle racing again!
Don't take this personally, Gary, but I hate you.

Here in Canada, we get no cycling coverage. I was reduced to following the point-by-point real-time commentary on Het Nieusblad's Web site. How patheic is this? I don't read Flemish!

It's funny, though. I just watched a video of Van Petegem's 1998 Het Volk win. Did he and Hoj make the breakaway on the same stretch of pave [the long stretch about 10 km from the end]?

Once again, I hate you. I live in envy of you. I want to camp in your living room throughout the classics season.

Well, my house is up for sale in October. ;)

I don't really speak the language either, but understand enough to follow it. If I could figure out how to get the English voiceovers on Eurosports, I would, but I think I have too good a TV/sound setup - you seem to have to play the sound from one side of a stereo TV itself, and mine has no such capability.

In any case, can't you get satellite coverage? Not the easiest or cheapest way to go, but certainly less than moving over here. Of course you still have to watch in the wee hours, I suppose. Better you move here. :p

Cheers...Gary

BTW - just for clarification - the race was not on Eurosport. It was on Canvas/Ketnet - a Belgian channel.

As was the Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne yesterday. It was won by Jan Kirsipuu.

These Classics and semi-Classics are pretty neat. I had never seen one before, and it makes me think of what the "old days" must have been like. I can't wait for the Paris-Roubaix.

Cheers...Gary

I wish we could get stuff like Eurosport on satellite.

Unfortunately the morons at OLN canada are obliged to show "canadian" programming, which to them means hairy overweight slobs in kilts lifting boulders over their heads. I'm hoping they'll wise up for cycling season this year. I already sent them an email telling them that they can count on losing my subscription if they don't.

Good day, eh, you hosers. [Also a product of the "local content" rulings, but a good one.]

Can't you see some of the other satellites? I would have thought that there would be a couple of others that you could receive, based on research I did when I lived on that side.

Cheers...Gary

Satellite TV is strictly regulated in canada. There are only two satellite TV providers -- StarChoice and ExpressVu [the latter is an arm of Bell Canada]. They can only carry a certain number of non-Canadian channels and their grid basically indistinguishable from the digital cable grid.

To get Eurosport we'd either (a) have to convince the providres to drop one of the popular American networks like WTN or TNN om favour of Eurosport [not likely] or (b) have to convince Eurosport to start a Canadian service. This latter is a possibility, since all Eurosport would have to do is create a Canadian screen bug and run a couple of hours a day of Canadian programming. Moreover, since it could also run a French-language service in parallel, this could be very attractive to Canadian regulators. Of course, then we'd have to convince the providers to add Eurosposrt to their package...

Another option would be to get an American satellite service, or illegal, grey-market satellite. This is against the law... but desperate times require desperate measures.

That is what I meant. Surely there are some transponder fields that overlap into at least parts of Canada. You could probably buy the boxes almost anywhere. Now getting a key legally might be another matter.

Cheers...Gary

For those who can take advantage of it, there is now a listing of all cycling on TV in Europe. Looks to be a month ahead:

http://velo101.com/

For those who are not able to take advantage: :crash:

Cheers...Gary

Today Global Sportslink actually devoted a whole 45 seconds to Paris- Nice and McEwens stage win. The rest of the our is taken up by soccer, F1 and other sports which are HUGE in canada like motorcycle racing and cricket... and we wonder why canadian athletes feel let down and ignored.

I can't kick *** on the bike but I have a kick *** channel on TV. Some how we get CFI, aimed to West Africa Francophone speakers (I think).

Anyway they cover every !(*&(@#% minute of the TDF!! Of course the french know how t o cover a race with about a zillion camerapersons on motorcycles and helicopters. Wish my French was better. So last year for the first time in my life i saw more than 30secconds of a race.

The wife can't understand what is so interesting so i might have to get another TV for this year.

Erik

Fortunately, my wife understands. However, as a former one-design sailor and motor racing fanatic, I occasionally fall into the trap of wondering what is so interesting about watching any of these, especially on TV. But I go home early just to do it. :D

Cheers...Gary