Versus' annual coverage of the Tour de France commences July 3 at 11:30 a.m.
live from the race start in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
The Comcast-owned network will provide an average of 14 hours a day of race
coverage in full HD.
This year, U.S. cyclist Lance Armstrong returns riding for Team RadioShack.
It will be Armstrong's last chance to capture a historic eighth win in the
97-year-old race.
Versus will have cameras on all U.S.-based team buses including RadioShack,
HTC-Columbia, BMC and Garmin-Transitions. The network will also have cameras in
U.S.-team cars during the race. Features include a pointer to easily identify
riders in the 200-plus peloton as well as in-depth profiles on teams and riders
including Lance Armstrong, Alberto Contador, Mark Cavendish and Andy Schleck.
There will also be on-screen stats and biometric data tabulating riders'
intensity during the 23-day, 2000-mile competition.
Versus.com will once again be the official Tour web site in the U.S. Attempting
to cash capitalize on the spike in online usage during the 2009 Tour (up 117%
year-to-year), Versus will offer a live-streaming "Tour Tracker" for $29.95.
Tracker features include full HD from any computer, pause and rewind functions,
live maps, GPS tracking, minute-to-minute standing updates and rider positions,
live chat, Twitter and an on-demand feature for each race stage upon
completion.
Versus will offer a free iPhone app for access to highlight videos, race
results and standings as well as full course profiles. But the live-streaming
app upgrade (on 3G and WiFi) will cost users $14.99. The apps will be available
once the race begins on July 3.
