The 2015 Tour de France may be the best we’ve seen in a long time. The competition is outstanding. Four favorites -- Chris Froome, Alberto Contador, Vincenzo Nibali and Nairo Quintana -- are all equally capable of winning the general classification. Behind them, a strong second tier that includes Tejay Van Garderen from the United States and Thibault Pinot from France should make sure that the podium competition is exciting and deep.
Tour de France 2015 streaming: How to watch this year’s race live online
The 2015 Tour de France could be ridiculously fun. Unfortunately, it’ll be happening while you’re at work. Here’s how to watch while you’re chained to your desk.
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Then there’s the course itself. Riders have complained about the lack of a long individual time trial, but from a viewer’s perspective there is a lot to love. There will be cobbles and crosswinds during the first week through the Netherlands and Northwest France. After that, it’s the mountain stages -- the Pyrenees THEN the Alps this time -- before the procession around the Champs-Élysées.
Start-to-finish -- we’re talking 3,387 kilometers, more than 2,000 miles -- few stages are actual snoozers. The best racers in the world will be racing constantly. Don’t expect a repeat of Nibali’s winning margin of more than seven minutes from last year. If Nibali is going to repeat, he’ll have to fend off better riders and much thinner margins (something’s he’s more than capable of doing, of course).
The one drawback of the Tour de France is that fans in the United State have limited viewing options. NBC Sports Network will be hosting all coverage from beginning to end, which hinders those who don’t have the proper cable packages. Thankfully, the Tour can also be viewed online or on mobile devices using NBC Sports Live Extra. Stages will typically begin at roughly 7 a.m. ET and run through the late morning.
2015 Tour de France
When: July 4-26, 2015
Television: NBCSN
Online: NBC Sports Live Extra Tour de France package
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