Cycling coverage in the USA?

[SaxonUK]

I'm moving to the US next year, and having enjoyed extensive coverage over here in the UK, I was wondering whether anyone could shed some light on what channel to watch cycling events in the US on? Help is greatly appreciated, many thanks.

 

[mikeNphilly]

There is the VS network, and Universal Sports. VS carries the TdF daily, has weekly coverage of the spring classics, TdCali, The Colorado race, Philly(some years), and a few others. Universal carries the Giro (daily), Veulta(daily), has the World Championships on this morning, and maybe a few others during the year.

Not sure where you are moving to in the US, but your best source of coverage will be streaming races online for live one day races in Europe.

Let me be the first to welcome you to the US, even though it's not until next year.

 

[Susan Westemeyer]

The cafe is the non-cycling area. Moving this to the appropriate subforum.

Susan

 

[Gingerale]

I'm moving to the US next year, and having enjoyed extensive coverage over here in the UK, I was wondering whether anyone could shed some light on what channel to watch cycling events in the US on? Help is greatly appreciated, many thanks.

NBC Universal Sports is available online and it also has televised coverage of some cycling. but probably not of all the races you are used to watching. You will need to look for an internet and cable service provider that carries Universal Sports. For example, when i lived in Portland, Oregon, i had Comcast and access to Universal Sports both on TV and my computer. now that i've moved to Idaho, i have no other choice for cable service than Cableone. they laugh when i asked them for cycling the other option if your cable doesn't offer Universal Sports, is to get a satellite dish, i guess.

so it depends where you are moving in the US. probably you will have access better than i do. Versus has been reliably programming Tour de France and even my local cable company offers Versus(if i pay extra.) but you'll have Sherwin, Liggett, and Bob Roll for commentators. Versus doesn't cover Vuelta, Worlds, or much cycling. good luck. it can be frustrating. honestly, i watch most cycling on my computer - on Eurosport links.

 

[ElChingon]

Well don't plan on watching on your tv unless you have a computer hooked up to it.

Best Channel: http://www.steephill.tv

You will still be able to watch all the races live and on your current favorite channels. Any USA based channel is pretty pathetic so don't get your hopes up. Why no USA cable provider doesn't have a EuroSport channel is beyond me, but you'll have plenty of ESPN 2, 3, ... which all show the same unwatchable shows.

 

[SaxonUK]

Thanks for all the replies, even if it's going to be a bit of an **** to get the coverage I want. It's a shame that Eurosport isn't an option in the US, you would have thought a nation who had had riders such as Lance Armstrong would be falling over themselves to provide coverage, then again, maybe they don't see the point now.

 

[usedtobefast]

if it says euro, we hate it over here. or haven't you been keeping up?
you will find plenty of coverage, we have the interweb here, or so they tell me.

 

[royalpig180]

I'm moving to the US next year, and having enjoyed extensive coverage over here in the UK, I was wondering whether anyone could shed some light on what channel to watch cycling events in the US on? Help is greatly appreciated, many thanks.

They're really isn't much aside from the limited TV coverage of the major races as above posters have described.

Personally, i'm tempted to try a subscription to cycling.tv next year. They have HD coverage of many more races than any TV station here. They've gotten rather questionable reviews in the past, but I've read on a couple other forums that the quality and reliability has improved. And it's really the only option to avoid watching most races on a terrible quality internet stream of Eurosport coverage (I like eurosport commentators, just not the terrible quality the streams are and they're lack of reliability)...

 

[DirtyWorks]

Between NBC Universal and Versus, that's all the cycling coverage. They run the UCI's World Cup cyclocross and mountain bike feeds at all hours of the night a couple of weeks late. Definitely not Eurosport.

Also, Eurosport region blocks access to their multimedia. Meaning you can't get eurosport audio in the U.S. You may want to subscribe to a UK web proxy service before you move. There are other alternatives that violate the elaborate and harsh copyright regulations in the West. PM me if you want some more information.

 

[SaxonUK]

if it says euro, we hate it over here. or haven't you been keeping up?
you will find plenty of coverage, we have the interweb here, or so they tell me.

But I want to be able to sit back and watch it on TV, I have a 42 inch TV in the states for precisely that reason . I might go down the route of finding a decent quality Eurosport stream, or as the above poster is considering a cyclingtv subscription, but I'd have to look into the quality, gonna miss David Harmon, Sean Kelly and Brian Smith if I have to do that though.

DirtyWorks, a couple weeks later? That's no good, I find it difficult to keep watching a race if I know who wins, I had to not use the internet all day yesterday as I had recorded the WCRR and didn't want to know who won until I'd watched it, oh well.

 

[rickshaw]

ha ha!

The cafe is the non-cycling area. Moving this to the appropriate subforum.

Susan

glad to finally see that "watching cycling on TV' is officially NOT cycling. good call boss.

(but podium girls and magpies ARE cycling)

 

[cawright1375]

We got rid of cable last year and at first the thought of not being able to watch the spring classics worried me. The last few years, I'd used Universal Sports online to see the Giro, MSR, T-A and Lombardy. I knew Versus would probably have the online Tour coverage again.

Without cable and using Steephill I was able to see more of the spring classics then ever before! In fact I got to see a few races that Versus would only show highlights of before. There were numerous advantages to this, but the two that most stick out were.

1. Living in New England means that it warms up slowly in the spring, so by the time the race was over, not only was I pumped to ride, but it was slightly warmer out (40-50s).
2. Not having Versus meant that I was no longer subjected to the Tyler Farrar hype machine. Not too mention the Radioshack and G-C hype machines either. So much so that when I did finally watch a race with U.S. coverage/ commentary I realized that I hadn't heard a peep all spring about Levi, Tyler, Christian, etc. I got a more balanced view of the road so to speak.

I will say that the online coverage afforded by Universal is wonderful especially as once you've paid for it, you can go back and rewatch the event over and over. The online Tour coverage on Versus was nice as well. What I would love to see is Universal Sports (now being owned by comcast owner of Versus) offer broader season long cycling package. Then again, if I can get most of it for free - then why not keep at it that way?

 

[Gingerale]

The problem with Universal for me now that I'm in Idaho is that this entire south Idaho region is dominated by CableOne and it does not carry Universal. On Universal's website there is a scroll down menu to check requirements to order Universal online. A lot of providers are listed but CableOne isn't one of them. (no ESPN3 for the same reason) I'm out of luck unless I change to a satellite dish network.

I did enjoy Universal when I had Comcast in Portland. But Versus was cr@p.

It's easy to get a Eurosport link. No problem with audio and the stream is fine. I have to reload or chose another link listed sometimes but I like the British commentators. There have been times when I can get only Spanish, Dutch or French but at least I have cycling to watch!

I would pay for Eurosport online but so far it is free. Posters here on CN put links up for the races and I appreciate it.

http://www.procyclinglive.com/livestream/#

the above one was the recent one i used for Worlds and Vuelta. I have used Lemonsport, what used to be Fromsport for tennis, and they usually have a couple streams for cycling too.

If you want to watch on TV, it really depends on where you live from what I can tell. Also, the time difference. I can't record the live streams on my computer. So, i have to be awake at 5 a.m. and ready for work about the same time the race is ending. On the weekends it works out great. It's not ideal but definitely better than no cycling or European coverage at all.