VERSUS ANNOUNCES TOUR DE FRANCE EXTENSION DEAL: NETWORK IS EXCLUSIVE U.S. TV HOME THROUGH 2013
VERSUS Announces Tour de France Extension Deal: Network is Exclusive U.S. TV Home Through 2013
Network’s Eighth Year Televising the 23-Day Battle for the Yellow Jersey Begins July 5, Live at 8:30 a.m. ET
Stamford, CONN. (June 9, 2008) – VERSUS, the network that celebrates real competition and the U.S. television home of the Tour de France since 2001, today announced an extension deal with the Amaury Sport Organization (ASO), the organizers of the Tour, for the exclusive U.S. television rights through 2013. The network will begin its wall-to-wall coverage of the world’s most grueling endurance event in sports on July 5, live at 8:30 a.m. ET.
"Signing a multi-year extension deal with the ASO demonstrates that the network’s commitment to the Tour de France has never been stronger. We are proud to be home to one of the most intense competitions on earth and a sporting event that truly embodies the essence of the VERSUS brand," said Gavin Harvey, President of VERSUS. "With the field wide open this year, I’m confident we’re going to see an unbelievable competition unfold on the race course right through to the very end. Add to that a strong presence of top American contenders and it’s anyone’s guess as to who will be wearing the yellow jersey on the Champs-Elysées."
For the eighth straight year—from the Alps to Paris—the network will, on average, air 14 hours of race action per day. Daily coverage includes a pre-race show followed by live morning race coverage, race action replays four times daily and an expanded primetime show. During the key mountain stages VERSUS will provide extended coverage beginning, some days, at 6:30 a.m. ET. Start times will vary depending on stages and rest days; a complete schedule is available at VERSUS.com.
Throughout the network’s live coverage, VERSUS will implement a number of production enhancements to give the casual fan a greater understanding of the sport in general and the Tour specifically, while providing the hardcore cycling enthusiast a more in-depth look at this edition of the competition. Included in these enhancements are behind-the-scenes features on select teams and riders; training tips from Chris Carmichael, Lance Armstrong’s former trainer; advanced on-screen statistics to illustrate the intensity at which the riders are competing; cameras in team cars during key stages; among others.
VERSUS’ commentating team will again include cycling experts Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen, who will host the network’s live coverage. Craig Hummer and Bob Roll will host the primetime show. Frankie Andreu and Robbie Venutra will serve as the field reporters throughout the live telecasts.
In addition to VERSUS’ un-matched and all-encompassing television coverage, VERSUS.com is proud to be the official Tour website in the U.S. for the eighth year in a row and to be the premier online destination for cycling fans. Riding the momentum based on huge surges in online usage during last year’s Tour, the site will provide fans with 24-hour access to anything and everything Tour related including: exclusive video and features, highlights of race footage, features and daily reports from VERSUS analysts and experts and the interactive "Fan Zone" for cycling enthusiasts. This year fans will be able to participate in an online fantasy cycling game which awards daily prizes and a grand prize trip to next year’s race. The site also includes information on all riders, photo galleries, detailed information on arrival and departure towns, and dynamic stage profiles that chart the peloton’s progress. Additionally, standings by category, including time gaps, a comprehensive text summary of the results, interviews with stage winners and live, minute-to-minute updates of each stage will be available.
The network will also deliver a condensed highlight version of each stage that will be distributed via the network’s VOD platform and will be available the day following the stage’s conclusion.
For the first time ever, the field of 20 teams competing in this year’s Tour will include two U.S. sponsored teams— Slipstream and High Road—both of which feature top American contenders. Team Slipstream has a pair of hopefuls in Dave Zabriskie and Christian Vande Velde. Zabriskie set the record for the fastest ever time trial in the Tour de France beating non other than Lance Armstrong and, in 2006, he finished second in the Tour of California. Christian Vande Velde heads into the Tour after a successful Giro d’Italia in which he wore the leader’s jersey for a day. George Hincapie, who rides for Team High Road, has ridden in the Tour de France for eleven years and is the only rider who has ridden alongside Lance Armstrong in each of his seven wins.
VERSUS celebrates real competition across all platforms (VERSUS.com, VERSUS on Demand and VERSUS HD). Now in more than 73 million homes, the network is the national cable home of the National Hockey League (NHL) and the Stanley Cup Playoffs as well as best-in-class events such as The Tour de France, Davis Cup Tennis, the Professional Bull Riders (PBR), World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) and Professional Boxing. The network also offers collegiate sports featuring nationally-ranked teams from top conferences such as the Pac-10, Big 12 and Mountain West. VERSUS features the best field sports programming on television and is a destination for sports fans, athletes and sportsmen to find exclusive, competitive events that audiences can't find elsewhere. VERSUS, a wholly owned company of Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA, CMCSK), is distributed via cable systems and satellite operators throughout the United States.
