Ways To Watch The Tour De France

via Mashable! by Paul Glazowski on 7/5/08

Okay, so we're a tad late on this one. The Tour de France began earlier today out of Brest, Valverde raised his fists in triumph, and we haven't told the cycling fans among you how to watch the action. Apologies. Here's a belated rundown.
First, props to Michael Learmonth of Silicon Alley Insider. He put together a mixed list of audio and video feeds prior to takeoff. Here are our faves:
If you're looking for an official US-friendly capture, Versus is doing a decent job of presenting the first two stages live. The first stage is over with, so tomorrow's racing will be the last available. Rise and shine bright and early, because the man-powered rubber meets many many miles of road starting at a sprightly 7:00AM ET and will run to about 8:30AM ET. Post Sunday's leg of Le Tour, Versus will only be spreading full-on coverage to cable television subscribers.
If you want to take your Web video viewing past the weekend, there are a few sites that'll help you get what you need, depending on your operating system and additional software installed, some of which in fact carry over from the top sources for Euro 2008 championship match coverage between Spain and Germany last weekend:

Cyclingfans.com - A compendium of options. Links abound, with video and audio choices available from multiple sources. Find one that suits.
MyP2P.eu - Simple construction, but who needs extras. Video is what you're after, eh? If you're watching on a Mac, download Flip4Mac for Windows Media conversion or get yourself Sopcast. Both are free.

Channelsurfing - Another basic choice that also plays with Windows and Mac-based machines alike.
Veetle - requires a player download. Do that, return to the site, click where you must, then sit back and watch wheels spin
ITV - Only UK-based fans will get this feed. Enjoy, mates!
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