Tuesday schedule: TV coverage starts at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday on Versus.
The 2010 Tour de France bike race is going to be difficult to miss this year, given the daily live and recapped TV coverage, online video streaming, live animations, and text updates for computers and mobile devices.
You might even find the standings buried in the agate results of the sports section in the following day's newspaper. Actually, it has been years since that was the sole source of Tour de France information.
Leading the pack is the Versus television network, which is offering an average 14 hours of TV coverage every day. The broadcasts featuring Phil Liggett, Paul Sherwen and Bob Roll start at 11:30 a.m. (ET) Saturday for the prologue in Rotterdam.
Broadcast and video streaming
On most days, coverage starts at 8:30 a.m. (ET) and continues until the race ends. Two-hour recaps follow at noon, 2:30 p.m., and 5 p.m., then a three-hour recap plays at 8 p.m. and midnight. Link to Versus broadcast schedule.
Meanwhile, Versus will offer a live-streaming Tour Tracker online at Versus.com. The service costs $29.95 and features full HD from any computer (home or at work), pause and rewind, live maps, GPS tracking, running updates and rider positions, chat and on-demand replays after the completion of the race. Link to Tour Tracker sign up.
Versus also says it's offering live videostream coverage through an iPhone app (also iTouch and iPad) combined with GPS tracking and race updates and alerts for $14.95. Link to iPhone app for Tour de France.
If you're flying anywhere during the Tour, JetBlue Airways is offering Versus bike race coverage on channel 37 on the airline's personal seatback TV consoles.
It's official
The official Tour de France website also is a good source for information. You can find team rosters, detailed information about each stage, and results. During the race, live information includes news flashes, animations showing the relative positions of the leaders and where the stage leader is on the stage profile.
If you just like the written word, or don't think you can get away with watching streaming video at your office, CyclingNews.com offers live updates throughout the races at its live race feed. VeloNews.com also has live Tour de France coverage. Both also offer Tour de France news and features on their websites.
If you're really hooked on the Tour de France, CyclingFans.com can tell you where to find more live coverage of the race or special events, like the team presentations.
Cyclefest
Anyone in the Seattle are on July 22 can experience the next best thing to watching the Tour de France in person by attending the Cyclefest Outdoor Cinema and Bikemania presented by Cascade Bicycle Club.
Kid's activities are scheduled from 4 – 7 p.m. July 22 at the BikeFest on the lawn next to the theater at Warren G. Magnuson Park in Seattle. Cyclefest runs from 7 to 11 p.m. and features a beer garden, BMX show and Tour de France Stage 17 on the big screen.
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