It's going to be an important year. With no Lance, some of these races (mainly the Tour) will be real battles. And, like I said, the Giro looks brutal, almost as if they are trying to stop Savoldelli from repeating his win.
More importantly, more Americans are doing well in Europe than ever before. Five placed in the top 20 of the Tour last year.
As the cycling season gets underway, viewers can turn to OLN for race-to-race updates on training efforts, race results, and Discovery Channel Team news, as well as coverage of the National Championship Series, a U.S.-based cycling series in which the top domestic cyclist is crowned at the end of each season. The Sunday race schedule for spring cycling on OLN follows (same-day unless indicated; subject to change):
March 5 & 12 - Paris-Nice (France) - 5 p.m. ET
March 19 - Milan San Remo/Tirreno-Adriatico (Italy) - 5 p.m. ET
March 26 - Criterium International (France) - 5 p.m. ET
April 9 - Paris-Roubaix (France) - 5 p.m. ET
April 23 - Liege-Bastogne-Liege/La Fleche Wallone (Belgium) - 5 p.m. ET
May 7 & 14 - Giro D'Italia (Italy) - 5 p.m. ET
May 21 & 28 - Giro D'Italia (Italy) - 4 p.m. ET
July 1 Â? 23 - Tour De France - TBA
In addition, OLN will offer an exclusive option to view streaming, live world feed of Monday through Saturday stages of the Giro D'Italia on its Web site, OLNTV.com. Access and pricing information will be released as details become available.
The streaming thing sounds good. I'll pay to watch stages of the Giro, if I can swing it. I mean, I'm usually using the computer. Someday either IPTV will prevalent or sat providers will give us a package like they do baseball and other sports. Seriously, I'd pay for a package that gives me international coverage of cycling events.
Of course, it all depends who is calling it. There's one guy, I don't now his name, but he called some of the lesser races on OLN and I've heard his voice on cycling.tv and, well, he stinks.
But I'd pay a couple of hundred for the coverage. Hell, it's the only sport I actually watch and I can't afford to go to Europe to watch any of the races. So, you take what you can get.
We don't get OLN anymore because DishNetwork wouldn't give in to their extortive demands. But! Their coverage of the Dakar Rally (all ~2 hours of a 2 WEEK!! race) was more awful than awful last year. It didn't just stink, it sucked.
ReplyDeleteWe filled up almost two pages of review/complaints of things they could/should have done or done better. I can sympathize.
My question is, why are they taking over Race programming, at all? Yes, the Dakar and the various Bike Races (rallies, no?) happen in the outdoors, but the point of them is the RACE. I'm going to blame it all on Nascar.
Sorry. I'll back away from the soapbox, now.
You bike fans are weird. My parents are actually driving to Cambria or someplace like that to stand on the side of a hill and shout "hooray!" for 40 seconds as the bikes whiz by on the Tour of California. Freaks. All of you.
ReplyDeleteI can't figure out OLN, honestly. First, hockey? Hockey hasn't been outdoors in 80 years. And don't even get me started on bull riding.
ReplyDeleteDakar may have been the one I saw too. The guy literally sounded like he was auditioning for the job and shouldn't have gotten it.
Deborah, I envy your parents. I'd love to stand on the moutain side and watch the bikes whiz by. I won't bore you with they why, but I really would.
One of these days I'll drive the 12 or so hours to go see a stage of the Tour de Georgia.
But, yeah, I guess we are freaks. I suppose, though, that everyone needs their thing to be a freak about. Be it yarn or a bike . . .
Gary,
ReplyDeleteIf you decide to come down for the TdG, you can stay at our place. We'll even put you up in the "Bike Room"
The Physicist
Hey, for 2007 I might take you up on that. I'd love to get to meet you and your lovely wife, much less with cycling as the backdrop.
ReplyDelete