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Where to watch and listen to 2007 Tour de France coverage

The 2007 Tour de France is finally underway with the prologue through London. Here's some choices of where to get live updates and commentary through the Tour's finish in Paris on July 29.

Versus — The cable TV channel is broadcasting live action and replays daily. Here's the Versus Tour de France TV schedule;

Eurosport — The UK-based sports website has partnered with Yahoo. The Eurosport Tour de France page features a “Live Audio” broadcast button; look for it on the right-hand column under “Related Video” …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/07/07/where-to-watch-and-listen-to-2007-tour-de-france-coverage/

A virtual ride through London's Tour de France prologue route

The 2007 Tour de France opens on Saturday with a 4.9-mile prologue through the city of London. Bicycle racers will start individually at Whitehall, pedal past the Houses of Parliament, loop through Hyde Park and finish on The Mall.

The BBC mounted a camera in a car and filmed “The Real Prologue,” a speeded up version of what it's like to drive the prologue route during the morning rush hour.

Meanwhile, Cycling.tv has provided a 4-minute video of the best spots to catch the prologue in London, below:

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/07/06/a-virtual-ride-through-londons-tour-de-france-prologue-route/

Who's your favorite for 2007 Tour de France? Take the poll

The bookies say Alexander Vinokourov, right, has the best chance of winning the 2007 Tour de France bike race, which starts Saturday in London. They're laying 3-to-1 odds that he'll win. Who do you think will win?

I think it would be cool to have US-cyclist Levi Leipheimer (18-1 odds) win the bike race this year, if only just to drive the French nuts. They have to go back 22 years to 1985 with Bernard Hinault to remember a Frenchman on the top step of the podium; 11 of those years it was won by an American.

I've listed other cyclists in this year's peloton who are considered to have a chance at taking the overall championship. Check out the list and vote for one, or choose “other.” The polling will close after the prologue on Saturday. …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/07/04/whos-your-favorite-for-2007-tour-de-france-take-the-poll/

Expect more growth at Performance Bicycle retailer

If you've ever gone the mail order or online route when buying bicycle stuff, you've probably at least perused if not spent some money at Performance Bicycle.

Now that company with $200 million in annual sales is poised for some big growth, as it has been acquired by private investment firm North Castle Partners.

In addition to mail order and Internet sales, Performance also operates 74 retail stores in 14 states. The new owners plan to open 90 more Performance Bicycle stores in the next four years ….

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/07/03/expect-more-growth-at-performance-bicycle-retailer/

June biking stats: keeping my nose to the bike trail

One of the Seattle area's great summer treats are wild blackberries, which take over abandoned lots, roadsides and bike path rights of way.

They're tasty come late August and September, but think kudzu with thorns the rest of the growing season. A shoot can grow 30 feet in a year, and blackberry plants alongside bike paths can send prickly obstacles through fences.

That's how I ran afoul of a thorny shoot on a gloomy evening, looking down to check my gears and glancing up just in time to get raked across my nose by a blackberry branch. Boy, did that hurt. I hate it when that happens. …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/07/03/june-biking-stats-keeping-my-nose-to-the-bike-trail/

Nose gets in way of blackberry vine

Keep your head up when riding Seattle area bike paths

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/07/03/nose-gets-in-way-of-blackberry-vine/

1 bicyclist killed, 2 injured on Wisconsin bridge bike lane

No place is safe when drunken drivers are on the road.

A motorist plowed into three bicyclists riding in the bike lane on a newly reconstructed bridge in Neenah, Wisconsin, on Sunday, killing one and injuring the other two.

A 46-year-old Menasha woman was charged with one count of causing death by drunken driving and two counts of causing injury by drunken driving, according to published reports. A preliminary breath test showed her blood alcohol content was three times the legal limit. …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/07/03/1-bicyclist-killed-2-injured-on-wisconsin-bridge-bike-lane/

A little bicycling uphill on San Juan Island

Puget Sound is just over the edge

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/07/03/a-little-bicycling-uphill-on-san-juan-island/

Great Divide bike race winner sets record


Photo by Aaron Teasdale
Adventure Cycling Association

If you were as amazed as I was about the Great Divide Race (“No support for cyclists in Great Divide Race“), you might want to know that Jay Petervary, left, set a new record in the 2,490-mile endurance bike ride of 15 days, 4 hours and 18 minutes.

When he pulled into Antelope Wells, New Mexico, a couple of days ago to complete the world's longest mountain bike race, he had crossed the Continental Divide 28 times and accumulated more than 200,000 feet of elevation gain.

Riding a 29-inch wheeled Orbea, he beat the previous record, set by bike race organizer Mike Curiak in 2004, by about 21 hours. In making the announcement, Adventure Cycling Association spokesman Aaron Teasdale said Petervary “can now lay claim to being the fastest long-distance mountain biker on the planet.” …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/07/03/great-divide-bike-race-winner-sets-record/

Jay Petervary and his Orbea

Photo by Aaron Teasdale, Adventure Cycling

This is all Jay Petervary had with him when he won the Great Divide Race in 2007, setting a course record.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2007/07/03/jay-petervary-and-his-orbea/