The 2009 Giro d'Italia [R]

[aveslacker]

Now that Spring Classics season is behind us, it's time to focus on the first Grand Tour of the season, the Giro d'Italia. This is the centenary of the famous race, and the startlist is likely to include a bunch of famous names, including Lance Armstrong.

Steephill has a good preview page, for anyone who is interested. You can check it out here (http://www.steephill.tv/giro-d-italia/).

Here are the teams that will participate:


Acqua&Sapone - Caffe' Mokambo (Ita)
Ag2r La Mondiale (Fra)
Astana (Kaz)
Bbox Bouygues Telecom (Fra)
Caisse d'Epargne (Spa)
Cervelo Test Team (Svi)*
Fuji-Servetto*
Garmin - Slipstream (USA)
ISD (Ita)
Lampre-NGC (Ita)*
Liquigas (Ita)
LPR Brakes - Farnese Vini (Irl)
Quick Step (Bel)
Rabobank (Ola)
Silence/Lotto (Bel)
Serramenti Pvc Diquigiovanni/Androni Giocattoli (Ven)*
Team Columbia/High Road (USA)
Team Katusha (Rus)
Team Milram (Ger)
Team Saxo Bank (Dan)
Xacobeo Galicia (Spa)*
(* Wild cards)

[HomeatHighbury]

First!!!

I'm much more of a TdF man, but I guess I'll sit in on this one.

[aveslacker]

First!!!

I'm much more of a TdF man, but I guess I'll sit in on this one.

I've always been a Tour fan first and foremost, but we've had a very good spring classics discussion here, so hopefully we can do the same for the rest of the season.

[Moishe]

I'm really looking forward to this race. I also prefer the Le Tour but like the Giro so much more than the Vuelta. Being a Centenario I would hope for some aggressive attacking racing and the Italian squads to give it their all. Cool thing to me about the Giro is that what happens usually gives hints as to what to expect in France.

[panicfc]

All bike racing is good.

If its on VS, I'll be fine.

[Moishe]

If its on VS, I'll be fine.

When it was officially announced that Armstrong would be keyed in on the Giro, rumor floated that Versus was going to cover the race daily as it does Le Tour but as of this morning the Versus sight made no mention of it. The only things I could find was an newspaper article stating Versus would show sporadic coverage i.e. like most every other cycling event minus Le Tour that they show and of course CyclingTV.net which the past three years has had awful streams. If anyone comes across something solid with regards to coverage please post.

[aveslacker]

When it was officially announced that Armstrong would be keyed in on the Giro, rumor floated that Versus was going to cover the race daily as it does Le Tour but as of this morning the Versus sight made no mention of it. The only things I could find was an newspaper article stating Versus would show sporadic coverage i.e. like most every other cycling event minus Le Tour that they show and of course CyclingTV.net which the past three years has had awful streams. If anyone comes across something solid with regards to coverage please post.

Other good resources are cyclingfans (http://cyclingfans.com/) and steephill (http://steephill.tv/).

[Dead Fingers]

When it was officially announced that Armstrong would be keyed in on the Giro, rumor floated that Versus was going to cover the race daily as it does Le Tour but as of this morning the Versus sight made no mention of it. The only things I could find was an newspaper article stating Versus would show sporadic coverage i.e. like most every other cycling event minus Le Tour that they show and of course CyclingTV.net which the past three years has had awful streams. If anyone comes across something solid with regards to coverage please post.


Yesterday I found something that said that Versus actually was going to show it, but I have already lost that page. They are truly horrible at updating their web site and I am sure the comments people can leave on there go to an email account that was probably abandoned a few years ago. :p

[Moishe]

Yesterday I found something that said that Versus actually was going to show it, but I have already lost that page. They are truly horrible at updating their web site and I am sure the comments people can leave on there go to an email account that was probably abandoned a few years ago. :p

It seems as if it is a done deal that Versus will not being showing the Giro. The only free site that has been mentioned with a good and reliable stream is RAI.com. I will not do cyclingtv again as every time it's a huge let down. From what I learned, the Giro's organizers were shopping the race around and the cost became too much for any potential suitors. Where was ESPN? With the love affair they have with Lance and the bottomless pockets, they could have pulled this off just fine......of course they'd have to hire Phil, Paul and Bobbo to make it feel right.

[panicfc]

Give VS a few more days, they did this a while back when they added it once Lance was pedaling.

[prowazekii]

I posted this over in the Lance thread, but think it belongs here as well (maybe moreso).

Lance Armstrong has committed himself to riding in support of teammate Levi Leipheimer in the Giro d'Italia. (http://msn.foxsports.com/other/story/9538062/Armstrong-to-ride-as-support-for-Leipheimer)

[Dead Fingers]

11th hour coverage

Universal is going to be covering it live for the US audience on TV and I think online as well. I think the online coverage will be without commentary. This channel is available in my area, but not in my package...so it looks like online for me. :p

http://www.universalsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=23000&atclid=3734597&CFID=11215789&CFTOKEN=13154119&jsessionid=4e30fdf2f4c071396134

[HomeatHighbury]

Universal? what?

[Dead Fingers]

Universal? what?

Yep, Universal and NOT Vs....and it looks like they have a 4 year deal.

[Dead Fingers]

http://www.gazzetta.it/Speciali/Giroditalia/2009/altimetrie/img/T01_venezia_alt_fin.jpg

Stage 1 (TTT)

Let's see if Garmin can repeat!

[panicfc]

online for me too

[prowazekii]

Stage 1 preview:
http://www.steephill.tv/2009/giro-d-italia/previews-results/stage-01/

It looks like I'll be watching this one online as well.

[Dead Fingers]

I also recommend using the velonews ticker. Quite good, with a sense of humor.
http://velonews.com/live/2009/giro-d-italia/stage-1/

[Dead Fingers]

Stage 1 (TTT)

Let's see if Garmin can repeat!


Nope.

[Moishe]

Well online it is. I scoured the Universal site and it seems to be a much better site than Versus overall. Considerably more sports to choose from as well as a hottie photo section:D As for no commentary, I'll just pop in some Vivaldi and I'll be just fine.