Cycling on ESPN

Cycling on ESPN is the de facto name for broadcasts of multiple-stage bicycle races airing on the ESPN cable television network.

Cycling on ESPN
GenreMultiple-stage bicycle racing
StarringSee commentators section
No. of seasons12
Production
Production locationsFrance and other countries
Camera setupMulti-camera
Running time1 1/2 hours
Production companyESPN Inc.
Release
Original networkESPN
ESPN2
Original release1988 (1988) –
July 24, 2000 (2000-07-24)
Related
Cycling on ABC

Overview

ESPN was the exclusive American cable television outlet for the annual Tour de France event from 1992-2000.[1] ESPN also broadcast the Tour DuPont race throughout the entirety of its existence from 1989 to 1996.[2][3][4] ESPN also provided coverage of the 1988 Coors International Bicycle Classic, the 1989 World Professional Cycling Championships from Chambéry, France,[5] the 1990 US Pro Cycling Championships in Philadelphia, and the 1996 U.S. Olympic Cycling Team Trials.[6]

Tour de France coverage
Further information: Tour de France § Broadcasting

From 1989 to 1991, ESPN only provided three one-hour long highlight specials for each race. Meanwhile, ESPN's sister network, ABC had only provided coverage that recapped the previous week's action on their Saturday afternoon anthology series, Wide World of Sports also since 1989. Come 1992, ESPN announced that they would devote at least 16 hours to covering the Tour the France. All in all, it would be the most comprehensive coverage that an American television network devoted to the Tour de France up until that time.[7]

ESPN would air each stage on a same-day delay during the afternoon for the next 22 days. Instead of producing the broadcasts themselves from the ground up, ESPN relied on France's world feed.[8]

In 2001, ESPN and ABC would be supplanted by the Outdoor Life Network in broadcasting the Tour de France.[9][10][11][12]

Commentators
See also: List of sports announcers § Cycling

See also

References
  1. "Tour de France 2000 Television schedule". ESPN. July 17, 2000.
  2. "ON THE AIR". The Washington Post. May 5, 1996.
  3. Shea, Jim (July 3, 1992). "ESPN STARTS CYCLE: TOTAL TOUR COVERAGE". The Hartford Courant.
  4. "Race set for return to Maryland Hagerstown is stop on Tour DuPont". The Baltimore Sun. October 22, 1992. Archived from the original on 2021-06-20.
  5. Lawler, Sylvia (October 26, 1989). "TV CYCLING ANNOUNCER FROM L.V. REALLY COVERS LEMOND INSIDE TELEVISION". The Morning Call.
  6. Blockus, Gary R. (June 10, 1996). "OLYMPIC CYCLING TRIALS END WITH 11 NOMINEES FOR TEAM * THE NAME OF MARTY NOTHSTEIN OF TREXLERTOWN IS A HIGHLIGHT OF THE LIST". The Morning Call.
  7. McKerrow, Steve (July 9, 1992). "ESPN peddles Tour de France with a French twist". The Baltimore Sun.
  8. Williams, Jennifer (July 3, 1992). "CYCLING COMING TO ESPN". Daily Press.
  9. Katz, Richard (July 30, 1999). "Outdoor Life rides on Tour". Variety.
  10. Wasko, Janet (7 June 2013). Understanding Disney: The Manufacture of Fantasy. ISBN 978-0745669045.
  11. Sayre, Evan (July 1, 2001). "Watch It With Us" (PDF). Queen City Wheels.
  12. Kunz, William M. (23 April 2020). The Political Economy of Sports Television. ISBN 9781000060447.
  13. Larimer, Terry (June 5, 1996). "ANNOUNCING HAS ALWAYS BEEN A GAS FOR DREBBER HE WENT OFF THE BIKE, INTO THE ANNOUNCER'S BOOTH AND HAS KEPT ON TALKING". The Morning Call.
  14. Frothingham, Steve (August 23, 2018). "Race announcer Brian Drebber dies in motorcycle crash". Bicycle Retailer.
  15. Lowe, Felix (July 7, 2021). "TOUR DE FRANCE – RE-CYCLE: WHEN MAN MOUNTAIN EROS POLI CONQUERED MONT VENTOUX". Eurosport.
  16. "Deaths Elsewhere". Tampa Bay Times. April 11, 1994.
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