mspokny

FYI, I just saw that Universal Sports will have live coverage of the 2010 Vuelta a Espana, Saturday, August 28 thru Sunday, September 19 (https://www.universalsports.com/cycli...ideo-live.html) . They’ve got this pick a winner sweepstakes too and the winner gets a 2011 trip to the tour, (https://www.universalsports.com/cycli...eepstakes.html). Who do you like to to take it all Andy Schleck, Denis Menchov, Tyler Farrar or Mark Cavendish?

collegeskier

I would like to see Schleck and Farrar take it all. I would not bet on it but you asked like.

Caretaker

Hope you don't mind me askin but are you by any chance being paid by Universal Sports (or any of their agents) to post this thread.

rwolf

I hope Schleck takes its...shame what happened to him in the TDF. Thanks for the info!

daytonian

I hope Menchov buries Schleck

DCnoJ

I hope everyone is talking about Frank Schleck and not Andy. Andy isn't going for GC, Frank is and Andy is there to support him. Anyways, like daytonian, I thinks the Denny takes GC.

colombo357

He won't.

crocodilefundy

what kind of speeds would they hit for a 14 min TTT? thats only 94 seconds per person.

paperbackwriter

They kind of have to give the maillot rojo to *****, he sprinted to the finish line and was first, it's his...

I expected more from Garmin, with the team like they have. But it's good that the differences between GC contenders are so small (even for Menchov, he loses 26 s to Nibali, but if not in the mountains, he should get some time back in ITT).

Kayce

I thought the rules were set up like TTTs in the tour, where the whole team gets the time, and they decide who wears what. My mistake.

SouthFLpix

HTC - Columbia did a good job in the TTT. I thought Saxo Bank would have a good shot with Cancellara setting the pace, but they seemed to fall apart near the end.

bellweatherman

Would be nice to see someone other than Cavendish winning all the sprint stages.

Kayce

Youre in luck, Cav just lost a bunch sprint where he was well set up with his train. Proving he is not the god that every one thinks he is. Best sprinter in the peleton, yes. Not worth contesting or watching sprint stages, far from it.

Hutarovich FDJ
Cavendish HTC
Farrar GRM

OrionKhan

That was a very strong sprint by Hutarovich. Caught everyone by surprise. Cav did a number on Farrar, but had no clue about Huarovich coming out of no where. Be interesting to see if Hutarovich can replicate that effort again.

iraform

Has anyone paid the $14.99 for the Universal Sports online coverage? Is it any different than what's on TV?

eco

Even if it is the exact same feed, is the quality better?

I'd pay for that alone. It is almost unwatchable how bad it is for me over cable.

bellweatherman

Others I know also complain that the picture quality is horrendous and there are far too many picture breakups. I'm not sure that paying to upgrade to another network is going to really improve things. All the networks get mostly the same feed anyway.

BluesDawg

The eurosports video feed is free.
https://www.steephill.tv/vuelta-a-espana/#live

Kayce

Awesome ride by Xacebo, it was looking good for him till the final 2k. Sucks it would have been a great victory for him. But Im glad for Gilbert, there is always a place in my heart for the Belgians. He is going to be in red tomorrow. But more importantly Jaochim Rodriguez gained a decent amount of time on all the other GC riders by placing second, with some time bonuses.

kleinboogie

I miss HD. The video is so bad, I may not watch the whole tour. Commentary is about what I'd expect but if I hear go-go more than 5 times in a stage I'm switching channels. It should get more exciting as time wears on.

Thirstyman

I agree Universal Sports really needs to get with it and go HD. The aweful picture makes it very difficult to watch.

rogwilco

What a gorgeous finish today, wonderful.

Kayce

That stage was more exciting than the entire Tour De France. Ive loved this years Vuelta so much, its been wonderful.

So far we have a Belgian and a Basque rider. Now we need a win from Rigoberto Uran or Mauricio Ardila to complete the stage wins by my favorite cycling nations.

VT Biker

How much of this is due to the fact that all broadcasters are relegated to the same cameras/feeds? In other words, could Universal change their picture quality?

Also - I would not complain too much, as without Universal, there would be no coverage.

OrionKhan

+1. I heard somewhere that Universal is a pretty low budget station for NBC. They basically take the world feed from various events and add commentators. This the first year that I've ever been able to watch the Giro, Tour, and Vuelta all on TV with live or same day coverage. The Universal picture quality isn't the best, but it beats nothing or having to stream it through the computer. I've gotten used to they're commentators over the past year. They beat the hell out of the "expanded" prime time Versus guys. At least they're fairly neutral during the broadcast.

BTW, a painfully awesome finish today.