OLN's viewers rise as Tour ends; network continues bike race coverage in 2007

See 2009 Amgen Tour of California schedule

As American Floyd Landis battled his way back into the Tour de France leadership on Thursday, more Americans tuned in to watch than at any time previously during the three-week bike race.

Suffering from a viewer drought this year after Lance Armstrong's retirement from the event, OLN happily reported that live viewership that day soared 77% over the previous day's viewers.

Compiling the figures from the repeated broadcasts of Stage 17, OLN scored 1.3 million viewers — that's a 50% increase over the previous average viewership, reports MediaDaily News.

Until Landis staged his comeback, OLN's Tour de France coverage wallowed at about half the previous year.

OLN is televising a one-hour recap of the 2006 Tour de France — “The Men Who Would be King” — on at 7 p.m. (ET) on Sunday. Look for repeats.

OLN, which will be renamed Versus on Sept. 25, says it will continue to cover bicycle racing in 2007, with its Sunday coverage of the Giro d'Italia, Paris-Nice and other spring classics. In addition, the network will add Tour of California coverage next year, with hourly recaps during the week and two-hour shows on the weekend.