Tour de France starts Saturday morning Jul 1
5For anyone that likes to follow this, Saturday is day 1. Coverage starts in a few hours.
NBC broadcast will have it tomorrow starting at 8AM EDT.
For full coverage Peacock+ has it and starts at 6AM EDT. I think ‘USA’ channel will mirror that. There are some other online subscriptions that include other cycling events.
I started watching about 20 years ago after traveling around France for work and then loved to see the countryside from the race cameras when back at home. Of course then the Lance Armstrong drama happened and then un-happened.
It is like a ‘reality show on wheels’ but with beautiful scenery that changes everyday. And that’s before considering this new info:
This year will be interesting because from what I see there are many large protests in France and apparently 45000 police deployed to control protests. And TdF is watched in virtually every country in real-time, so that will make things interesting.
Official site link
https://www.letour.fr/en/
- 2 comments, 13 replies
- Comment
OMG - that’s right - it’s already happening! Thanks for the warning! I think there’s only a few of us who care, but I love it.
@Kyeh “I think there’s only a few of us who care” Actually it is one of the most watched event in the world with about 3.5 Billion people watching!
I just started watching last year and found it totally amazing! What athletes! I subscribed to Peacock+ (which one can usually find coupons = $2/month) to watch the race this year as well as the other races P+ carries!
I try to watch the Euro broadcasts vs USA as the Euro commentators seem to be much better. I am slowly starting to understand the strategy a bit…
@fjp999 Oh, yeah - I meant here on Meh. I started a thread three years ago about it and only a few people were into it.
@Kyeh Sorry about that! As a lifelong cyclist I was always aware of the Tour but had not followed it at all.
@fjp999 Well, it’s been difficult to watch it here in the states. A friend of mine who’s an avid fan used to get up before dawn to watch it in real-time but I wasn’t that dedicated.
I’m glad Peacock has it; I wondered if it was going to be shown this year!
I’m in CO; bicycle racing is pretty popular here. I like a rider from Durango, Sepp Kuss; he’s with Jumbo-Visma. Very strong guy!
@Kyeh I am not that dedicated either… just watch the replays and love them!
@fjp999 I’m currently watching stage 1 on Peacock - it feels like summer is really here now! Unlike my friend, I won’t be watching every minute of every stage, but I thought the opening would be nice to see.
Phil Liggett, too! It took me a little while to warm to Bob Roll as a replacement for Paul Sherwin, but I like him now.
They’re certainly in a beautiful place for the start. Love it.
I
@Kyeh It looks like there were some kind of presentation on Thursday so I will be watching that replay first/soon.
I think everyone loves Phil Liggett… I dont believe he ever rode much but he has such great knowledge of the race/athletes!
@Kyeh
you guys are the home town for EF Education - EasyPost right?
@chienfou They’re a Colorado team, yes! Pretty proud of them. Sepp Kuss is still my guy, though - he’s just so good and so modest.
@Kyeh
That’s absolutely correct! You
Coloradites,Coloradians… Folks from Colorado should be proud of them!Neilson Powless sporting the polka-dot jersey seems fitting indeed.
@chienfou @Kyeh I have a friend who calls them Coloradicals. He started that even before they legalized pot.
@chienfou @phendrick Coloradans have had some epithets for Texans, too - especially when they were coming up and buying real estate. It’s gotten pretty expensive now so I guess that’s slowed down some.
@chienfou I was pretty happy about Powless winning! It’s nice to have a guy from the US in a jersey, let alone a Coloradan!
Hopefully the sign-bearing German tourists and French protesters will not endanger the riders this year!