The 94th Tour de France starts Saturday, more than a century after the first Tour in 1903. But don’t think the world’s best-known cycling event is old-fashioned.
Sure, Le Tour will air on the Versus cable network, starting with live coverage from 7:30 a.m. to noon on Saturday of the prologue northeast of London and continuing with Sunday’s first stage from 6 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. Replays air throughout both days.
But this year, check for crashes, clips and coverage, at your whim, any time of the day. Youtube is the “official channel of the Tour de France.”
How hip.
Unfortunately, the running story line hanging over the Tour won’t translate to short webclips. The “are they doping or are they not?” plot is overshadowing the sport. Luckily, in a prerace blood test of all 189 riders, everyone tested negative. Phew.
For traditionalists, insiders, enthusiasts and casual fans alike, the Tour still is more about cycling than science.
Can new Discovery Channel team leader Levi Leipheimer lead the Americans back to victory? With no defending champion, can a rider – any rider – become the new star of cycling? After 20 stages, will the world have a cyclist whose name they can recite?
Check for daily updates and insight.
THE COUCH
ON: It took four rain-soaked days to complete the first Wimbledon championship match in 1877 between Spencer Gore and William Marshall. In the 130 years since, the same storm cloud apparently never left London. Rafael Nadal’s third-round victory Wednesday over Robin Soderling took five days to complete. And Venus Williams’ upset of Maria Sharapova took two days to finish. So plan your tennis TV viewing with a contingency plan this weekend. As it’s scheduled, the women’s Wimbledon final will air on KUSA-9 on Saturday starting at 7 a.m. The men’s final is scheduled for Sunday, starting at 7 a.m.
OFF: The Trespass Trail Challenge in Nederland on Sunday should prove the hilly town a perfect location for a trail-running event. Nederland, basically, is a collection of trails. The 10-mile and 5-mile courses, starting at Nederland Elementary School, run uphill as much as two miles, with an 8-percent grade. With part of the courses on singletrack, the task won’t be easy. But it will be fun. The races start at 8 a.m. Check for more information.
AROUND THE STATE
Go for the light show, stay for the game! The Rockies twice this week enticed fans to Coors Field with a fireworks show. But more fireworks are likely this weekend when home run king Ryan Howard and the Philadelphia Phillies come to Denver for a three-game set. Howard, who started slowly this season, has his power back. His 20 homers through Wednesday rank him fourth in the National League. Combine him with the Rockies’ Matt Holliday, who continued to lead NL hitters with a .352 average, and Coors Field could light up with runs. Tonight’s 7 p.m. game and Saturday’s 6 p.m. start air on FSN. Sunday’s 1 p.m. game shows on KTVD-20.
WEAK IN REVIEW
After the U.S. men’s national soccer team impressively won the Gold Cup, they somewhat inexplicably disbanded its team of stars and sent the backups to Copa América. The team then was outscored 7-2 in its first two games and bounced from the tournament. The Americans “opted to send a team with some players who aren’t their regulars,” South American soccer federation secretary Eduardo Deluca said. “That doesn’t please us.” Rightly so.
WHAT WE’D LIKE TO SEE
Sure, the Colorado Crush is a huge underdog in its divisional-round matchup with the San Jose Sabercats on Saturday. San Jose finished the regular season with the best record in the American Conference. But the Crush, which edged Kansas City in a wild-card game, has momentum. If nothing else, the game needs to be entertaining, because if the Crush gets knocked out, what reason is there to follow the AFL?
