Tape the earlier coverage, either the 1.5 hr live feed in the morning or the 1.5 hr replay in the afternoon. The first year I got interested in watching racing I had most of it figured out after watching the Giro, TDF, and Vuelta coverage. Supplement that with a little reading if you can, like the live coverage reports at CyclingNews.com, VeloNews.com, etc.. As far as specifics like gearing, they do occasionally mention the gears they might be using on climbs etc.. Paul and Bob often mention the tactics at play. We could try to explain it to you, but it won't mean much out of context. Enjoy the learning experience; it is really a fascinating sport. There have been other threads on this topic, and posters have written good explanations of some of the stuff going on. Scroll through the old pages.
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