Monday, April 14, 2008


Paris-Camembert Lepetit tomorrow


Paris-Camembert is tomorrow.  Official site is here .  We're unaware of any live coverage for this race.  An archived Eurosport France video from last year is here .

Eurosport France Paris-Roubaix highlights video is here .

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Sunday, April 13, 2008

2008 Paris-Roubaix video documentary:  France 2 this evening aired an excellent behind-the-scenes and on-the-road documentary of today's race and has already made the program available online.  Contains some minor nudity.  Commentary is in French but as we recommended French lessons a couple of years ago for those that might need them, that shouldn't be a problem, right?  Ahem.  Anyway, program may be of interest even if you don't understand French.  The more you listen to French, the more your ear is trained for it.  So, have at it.   French TV 2008 Paris-Roubaix documentary is here .  (program length: 7+ minutes)



Arriving at today's Paris-Roubaix teams presentation in front of the palace in Compiègne, the first thing I heard blaring from the stage sound system was "Hey, Tonight" by Creedence Clearwater Revival.

 
Someone is going to be flying tomorrow and someone is going to be chasing.  2006 Paris-Roubaix winner Fabian Cancellara told VeloNews he believes George Hincapie is "the biggest favorite" to win the race.  Whether or not Cancellara is engaging in some mind games, his comment shows just how much Hincapie is respected in the peloton.  Hincapie has nearly always been strong in Paris-Roubaix.  He's had bad luck on more than one occasion, such as when his steerer tube broke two years ago.  His best chance for victory came in 2005 when he finished second to his former USPS teammate, Tom Boonen.  He just hasn't been able to get the victory in this race he's long dreamed of winning.  Yet.

Survivor's "Eye Of The Tiger" also blared over the sound system in Compiègne.


There's a lot in those lyrics that could relate to professional cycling, particularly a race like Paris-Roubaix.  Hincapie certainly has "done his time" in this race and I gotta believe that a lot of people in this sport, including some of his rivals, would be happy to see George win (if they cannot win it themselves, of course).  Paris-Roubaix is a race of survival and of attrition.  One by one, some contenders get left behind, due to crashes, mechanicals, or simply not having anything left in the tank.  That's what makes it so exciting, but also so agonizing when your favorite rider is one being dropped.  In an instant, it's over.  You can be on the form of your life and a mechanical problem can immediately put an end to your dreams of victory.  But George Hincapie just keeps coming back and you have to fight in a race like this.  He certainly hasn't traded in his passion.

George Hincapie is a rock star.  That was evident at the Tour of California in February as fans clamored for his autograph.  The same is also true, of course, for Tom Boonen and others here.  More fans approached Boonen today than Hincapie but the latter is also well known here and well respected.  Stijn Devolder, despite his victory last week in the Tour of Flanders, hasn't achieved that rock star status here yet.  He walked from his team bus to the stage and back mostly undisturbed by autograph seekers.  I don't think many people recognized him.

Hincapie has achieved his status over time with solid results at Paris-Roubaix...and he keeps coming back to keep that dream alive.

On Sunday, he will be facing no less than five former winners of Paris-Roubaix: Stuart O'Grady (2007), Cancellara (2006), Boonen (2005), Magnus Backstedt (2004), and Frederic Guesdon (1997).  He'll also have to contend with the likes of Leif Hoste, Juan Antonio Flecha and Devolder.

As another team is presented to the crowd in Compiègne, "Long Train Runnin'" by the Doobie Brothers is playing.


Hopefully there won't be any train incidents like the one near the finish of the 2006 Paris-Roubaix!  Hincapie certainly has the love from fans on both sides of the Atlantic.

May the best man win Paris-Roubaix.  May that man be George Hincapie.

- Pete Geyer in Compiègne


Paris-Roubaix Official Website here  -   Start List  - Race start at 11:00 CET (5:00am U.S. Eastern)
North America Live video coverage on cycling.tv ( Sign Up ) starts at 13:40 CET (7:40am U.S. Eastern)
       - We will list links to other streams as they become available but there may be geo-restrictions
Rest of the world:  We will list links to any available live video streams as they become available
Also:  As always, we will list links to live audio feeds and live tickers and graphics

Coming later today:  More on Paris-Roubaix, including our report from the Teams Presentation in Compiègne
On today:  Tour of the Basque Country  LIVE  (final stage) --  Tomorrow:  Paris-Roubaix   LIVE

Quick preview of Paris-Roubaix live video coverage:

USA and Canada:   Cycling.tv have online rights for the USA and Canada.  We do believe we will have some alternative live video streams available to some markets and we will list whatever we find.  These other streams may have geo-restrictions on them.  Sometimes they do not.  Either way, cycling.tv is going to be the best, if not the only, option for the USA and Canada based on the amount of time on the air, commentary in English and, in theory, the quality of the streams at higher bandwidths.  So if you want to be sure that you can watch Paris-Roubaix live in the USA or Canada, your best bet is to sign up with one of the cycling.tv packages.  You can pay with PayPal.  You are advised to sign up before Sunday, if possible, and to log in, and stay logged in, well before the race begins.

Rest of the world:  We believe we will be able to list some Paris-Roubaix live video streams but at this time we do not know with certainty what languages will be represented.  Eurosport live audio feeds should be active for the race in the various languages but some countries are apparently only broadcasting the final hour of the race.

We will have all the links for live video streams, live audio feeds and live tickers Sunday morning.  More Paris-Roubaix info to come later today.

Paris-Roubaix via satellite info by MJ Ray and Bernie S. in our cycling on satellite blog   here