Sunday, May 15, 2005

Guide to live race coverage on the internet/web

Notes:  We still don't know for sure who will ultimately emerge as the true leader of the Lampre-Caffita team, defending Giro champion Damiano Cunego or two-time winner Gilberto Simoni.  What we do know though is that after yesterday's stage, with both Cunego and Simoni looking strong, Lampre-Caffita still has the best cards to play.  But will either Cunego or Simoni be in favor of personal sacrifice while still in contention for the overall to help the other win?  Very unlikely. But such a sacrifice would only be called for if a rival became a real threat.  If no such rival emerges, then it will be particularly interesting to see what happens between the two teammates. Cunego has a bit of an edge over his teammate at the moment but there are some brutal mountain stages ahead. Today, in a 45km individual time trial, we'll get a better idea as to who might emerge as a serious threat to the Cunego/Simoni duo.  Paolo Savoldelli (Discovery Channel) and Mirko Celestino (Domina Vacanze) finished strongly yesterday with the Cunego/Simoni group, not to mention Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas-Bianchi), now once again race leader in the maglia rosa, in a stage won by Koldo Gil Perez (Liberty Seguros-Wurth). Michele Scarponi (Liberty Seguros), Ivan Basso (Team CSC), Dario Cioni (Liquigas), Stefano Garzelli (Liquigas), and Serguei Gonchar (Domina Vacanze) were among the riders losing time yesterday.  Today is a chance for some to make up as much time as possible if one wants to be in any position to threaten Lampre-Caffita later in this Giro. photo © 2005 Pete Geyer

Giro d'Italia 2005, Italy May 7-29, ProTour Stage 8: May 15 Lamporecchio to Florence Individual Time Trial, 45km (Tour of Italy) (Tour d'Italie) Live video coverage: RAI TRE  (land) realPlayer DSL - 56k Windows Media DSL - 56k (Italy's live TV coverage.   14:30 CET today (8:30am U.S. EST) ) Usually begins after 15:00 CET (9am U.S. EST)) OLN live video webcast (Unavailable on weekends ) (U.S.A. only, subscription) RAI Sport  (satellite) (May not be available today) (Italian television feed, not live) (22:20 CET (4:20pm U.S. EST)) (Repeat: 04:15 CET (10:15pm U.S. EST)) (times subject to change) Live audio coverage: Eurosport (Not live today ) (24-hour audio feed) (18:30 CET (12:30pm U.S. EST)) (times subject to change) Check schedule Live tickers: Radio Tour ticker (concise race radio info) Eurosport   Velonews Cyclingnews Daily Peloton Official site

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Saturday, May 14, 2005

Below is a guide to live internet/web coverage of the 2005 Giro d'Italia.


German cycling star Jan Ullrich (T-Mobile) returns to action Monday at the Volta a Catalunya (Tour of Catalonia or Tour de Catalogne), a ProTour event.  Many observers, including Lance Armstrong, will be interested to see how Ullrich looks in the week ahead.

Iban Mayo (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Alejandro Valverde (Illes Balears), Santiago Botero and Floyd Landis (Phonak) are among the riders expected at the start line.

(The next month is a time when the experienced Tour riders should know how to test themselves and some of the younger talents tend to overdo it.  Mayo likely has learned from past mistakes.  If Ullrich is as strong or stronger than he was in 2003, and with a healthy Alexandre Vinokourov (T-Mobile) and matured Ivan Basso (Team CSC), we could have an epic Tour in July.)

Stijn Devolder, Yaroslav Popovych, Roger Hammond, and Max Van Heeswijk are among the riders competing at Volta a Catalunya for Discovery Channel.

For an advance look at the stages (las etapas) and start list (preinscritos - click on the team names to see the riders competing), see the:


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Note:  Added direct links for live RAI TRE coverage for both realPlayer and Windows Media Player support and DSL and 56k streams.  This allows you to skip the intermediate step and launch the streams directly from here.

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Note:  If you've been having problems accessing the RAI Sport (satellite) feed, you are not alone.  This is the non-live RAI TV broadcast later in the day and usually repeated in the early hours of the morning CET time.  Perhaps they are having technical problems or perhaps they simply don't make this available Friday to Sunday.  If we hear anything, we'll let you know.

As far as we know, the RAI TRE live coverage will be available this weekend.

Guide to live race coverage on the internet/web

Robbie McEwen (2003 TdF) Notes:  Friday the 13th: 1, Petacchi: 0 Talk about a train wreck.  But it wasn't a black cat that caused it and it wasn't the Credit Agricole Fassa Train Busters either.  This time the Fassa train totally came undone on its own, misjudging a corner on the finishing circuit and knocking its leader, Alessandro Petacchi out of contention for the stage win.  This is a team put together for no other reason than to get Petacchi to the finish line first.  Thankfully, Ivan Basso (2 years ago) and Tom Danielson moved on from Fassa Bortolo to Team CSC and Discovery Channel, respectively. Robbie McEwen (Davitamon-Lotto) escaped the wreck to ride to his second stage win in this Giro.  McEwen arguably has the best combination of speed, bike handling skills, fearlessness and smarts among top sprinters today. Paolo Bettini (Quick.Step) picked up enough bonus seconds along the way to get back the pink jersey. photo © 2005 Pete Geyer

Giro d'Italia 2005, Italy May 7-29, ProTour Stage 7: May 14 Grosseto to Pistoia, 211km (Tour of Italy) (Tour d'Italie) Live video coverage: RAI TRE  (land) realPlayer DSL - 56k Windows Media DSL - 56k (Italy's live TV coverage.  Usually begins after 15:00 CET (9am U.S. EST)) OLN live video webcast (Unavailable on weekends ) (U.S.A. only, subscription) RAI Sport  (satellite) ( May not be available today) (Italian television feed, not live) (22:10 CET (4:10pm U.S. EST)) (Repeat: 07:25 CET (1:25am U.S. EST)) (times subject to change) Live audio coverage: Eurosport (24-hour audio feed) (15:15 CET (9:15am U.S. EST)) (times subject to change) Check schedule Live tickers: Radio Tour ticker (concise race radio info) Eurosport   Velonews Cyclingnews Daily Peloton Official site

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Friday, May 13, 2005

Below is a guide to live internet/web coverage of the 2005 Giro d'Italia.


The Tour de Picardie, run by Tour de France organizer A.S.O., begins today.  The four-stage race ends on Sunday with morning and afternoon stages.  There is no time trial this year.

Defending champion Tom Boonen of Quick.Step returns but with only 4 teammates due to races elsewhere, including the Giro, and illness/injury.  Among the others in the peloton today are Belgian Nico Mattan (Davitamon-Lotto), French Damien Nazon and Hungary's Laszlo Bodrogi of the Credit Agricole Fassa Train Busters Team, Jimmy Casper and a couple of young riders with big cycling names, Hervé Duclos-Lassalle and Ireland's Nicholas Roche (Cofidis), Aussie Bradley McGee, Bernhard Eisel of Austria, and past Paris-Roubaix winner Frédéric Guesdon (Francaise des Jeux), Jean-Patrick Nazon, Andy Flickinger and Lithuania's Tomas Vaitkus (AG2R Prevoyance), Nico Eeckhout (Chocolade Jacques - T Interim), Florent Brard (Agritubel), Ludo Dierckxsens (Landbouwkrediet - Colnago), Jeremy Hunt of Great Britain and Belgian Frank Vandenbroucke (MrBookmaker - Sportstech), Eddy Seigneur (R.A.G.T. Semences), and Americans Kirk O'Bee and Shawn Milne, Ciaran Power of Ireland (Navigators Insurance).  Auber 93, Jartazi Revor, Bretagne - Jean Floc'h, and Miche are also fielding teams at Picardie.

Guide to live race coverage on the internet/web

The Danilo Di Luca show continues Notes:  Friday the 13th.  The more superstitious members of the peloton will be glad to get to the finish of today's stage without incident.  Everyone in Italy, please keep your black cats inside today.  Every day for the next 2+ weeks in fact, if you are along the Giro route. Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas-Bianchi) won another stage yesterday and the "maillot rose" to boot.  The winner of the Amstel Gold Race, Flèche Wallonne, and Tour of the Basque Country (Vuelta al Pais Vasco) is thus far this season the rider of the year, Tom Boonen second. Today's stage:  a few hills, lunch, and then 40 pancake-flat kilometers to the finish.  Only black cats and the Credit Agricole Fassa Train Busters Team can stop Petacchi today, or so it would seem. Don't bet real money on anything we say here. photo © 2005 Pete Geyer

Giro d'Italia 2005, Italy May 7-29, ProTour Stage 6: May 13 Viterbo to Marina Di Grosseto, 153km (Tour of Italy) (Tour d'Italie) Live video coverage: RAI TRE  (land) (Italy's live TV coverage.  Stream is only available during the race coverage, usually after 15:00 CET (9am U.S. EST)) OLN live video webcast (9:00am-11:30am U.S. EDT) (U.S.A. only, subscription) RAI Sport  (satellite) (Italian television feed, not live) (22:15 CET (4:15pm U.S. EST)) (times subject to change) Live audio coverage: Eurosport (24-hour audio feed) (15:00 CET (9:00am U.S. EST)) (times subject to change) Check schedule Live tickers: Radio Tour ticker (concise race radio info) Eurosport   Velonews Cyclingnews Daily Peloton Official site

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Thursday, May 12, 2005

NOTE:  We've just added a new link below to LIVE Giro video coverage.  "RAI TRE" is a live streaming feed showing the land television coverage that Italians get.  Not sure when they began offering this but it is yet another option for following the Giro on the internet.

Guide to live race coverage on the internet/web

Notes:  What a crazy race this has been so far and the first week isn't even over yet. First, Australian Brett Lancaster (Ceramica Panaria-Navigare) surprised the ProTour teams by taking a victory in the prologue. Athens Olympic champion and former World Cup winner Paolo Bettini (Quick.Step) then wins his first-ever stage in the Giro, taking his first maglia rosa as well. Then Alessandro Petacchi's Fassa "train" gets derailed by Credit Agricole at the finish of stage 2, with Robbie McEwen of Davitamon-Lotto taking the win and the pink jersey from Bettini.  Post-stage, Petacchi accuses the other teams of ganging up on him and to date, the winner of NINE stages in the 2004 Giro is still without a stage win in this year's race. Stage 3 sees a former Saeco rider not named Cunego or Simoni take the win.  Danilo Di Luca is also ProTour leader after a great spring classics season. Finally, after being the only true sprinter to make it to the front escape group sprinting for the win in stage 4, Baden Cooke (La Francaise des Jeux) gets run into the barriers by once-again race leader Bettini who takes the stage win only to be disqualified for the incident.  Second-place finisher Luca Mazzanti is awarded the stage win, giving non-ProTour team Panaria its second stage win of the 2005 Giro. Bettini, angry over being disqualified from the stage win, apparently considered quitting the race!  He remains race leader. With over two weeks left to go, what more awaits us?  This race no doubt will have more surprises ahead. We were wrong to call yesterday's stage one for the sprinters.  The very end was trickier than we thought.  Most of the top sprinters finished in a group 4 seconds back.  Discovery Channel's Paolo Savoldelli and Tom Danielson lost about 40 and 50 seconds, respectively, not a good day. Today's stage is tough, particularly the climb to Goriano Sicoli/Monte Urano (just under 5km long when the road really goes up, with a section at 14% and an average grade of 8.3%).  The summit is about 60km from the finish though which limits the potential damage.  It could be an interesting stage though for some aggressive riders looking to make a move far from the finish.

Giro d'Italia 2005, Italy May 7-29, ProTour Stage 5: May 12 Celano to L'Aquila, 223km (Tour of Italy) (Tour d'Italie) Live video coverage: RAI TRE  (land) (Italy's live TV coverage.  Stream is only available during the race coverage, usually after 15:00 CET (9am U.S. EST)) OLN live video webcast (9:00am-11:30am U.S. EDT) (U.S.A. only, subscription) RAI Sport  (satellite) (Italian television feed, not live for this race) (22:10 CET (4:10pm U.S. EST)) (Repeat: 06:45 CET (00:45am U.S. EST)) (times subject to change) Live audio coverage: Eurosport (24-hour audio feed) (15:00 CET (9:00am U.S. EST)) (times subject to change) Check schedule Live tickers: Radio Tour ticker (concise race radio info) Eurosport   Velonews Cyclingnews Daily Peloton Official site

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Wednesday, May 11, 2005

Below is a guide to live internet/web coverage of the 2005 Giro d'Italia.



Paris -- A year ago, American Tyler Hamilton had just successfully defended his title in the Tour de Romandie and was a month away from a very strong performance in the Dauphine Libere on his way to his ultimate goal, the Tour de France.  A crash in the Tour led to his withdrawal from that race and Hamilton then focused on preparing for the Olympic time trial event, which he ultimately won.  That win was followed by a time trial win in the Vuelta a Espana in September.  Despite his disappointment at the Tour, he had saved his season.

Then everything changed in an instant, with Hamilton accused of blood doping at the Vuelta.  Hamilton has maintained his innocence and this spring presented his case before an anti-doping panel in the U.S.  He lost 2-1 in a split decision and was suspended from the sport for two years.

But Hamilton fights on and is appealing the verdict before the Lausanne-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Two articles appeared this week related to this case, one an article in the New York Times (yesterday) and another a Samuel Abt piece in the International Herald Tribune on Monday.  In the Abt article, it was revealed that the CAS will travel to the U.S. in June to hear testimony from witnesses instead of having them all travel to Lausanne.  Hamilton is relying on a number of experts from institutions such as MIT and Georgetown University and perhaps the CAS will be more interested in what they have to say than the UCI and anti-doping officials have appeared to be?

This case is all about one rider, Tyler Hamilton, vs. the test.  The test that the UCI and anti-doping officials claim is fool-proof, beyond reproach and with no need of tweaking despite never having been used in sports before.  Either Tyler or the test is going to be knocked out in this battle.  The CAS will be deciding this one.

Guide to live race coverage on the internet/web

Danilo Di Luca 2004 Criterium International Notes:  What a year Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas-Bianchi) is having.  If someone had told you months ago that a rider who wore Saeco red in 2004 would be shining in this year's Giro, the names of Lampre-Caffita's Damiano Cunego or Gilberto Simoni would have come to mind.  As it is, Cunego just narrowly lost out to stage-winner Di Luca yesterday. Paolo Bettini is back in the race lead with di Luca in second overall at just 9 seconds and Cunego in third at 17 seconds.  Garzelli, Savoldelli, Cioni, Simoni and Gonchar are all in the top-10 within a half-minute, with Basso not far behind. ProTour leader Di Luca, Garzelli and Cioni all ride for Liquigas-Bianchi.  The race hasn't hit the high mountains yet of course but there could be major fireworks ahead if the Lampre and Liquigas teams clash full-on and with a strong Savoldelli, Gonchar and Basso. Today is a stage for the sprinters.  Alessandro Petacchi can't be denied forever.  Already out of the running for wearing the pink jersey in this year's Giro, Petacchi is feeling the heat.  How smooth a ride will the Fassa train be today?  Will it be "All aboard!" or another "wreck"?  Whatever happens, just get out of the way!   photo © 2005 Pete Geyer

Giro d'Italia 2005, Italy May 7-29, ProTour Stage 4: May 11 Giffoni Valle Piana to Frosinone, 211km (Tour of Italy) (Tour d'Italie) Live video coverage: OLN live video webcast (9:00am-11:30am U.S. EDT) (U.S.A. only, subscription) RAI Sport (Italian television feed, not live for this race) (19:20 CET (1:20pm U.S. EST)) (Repeat: 05:10 CET (11:10pm U.S. EST)) (times subject to change) Live audio coverage: Eurosport (24-hour audio feed) (15:00 CET (9:00am U.S. EST)) (times subject to change) Check schedule Live tickers: Radio Tour ticker (concise race radio info) Eurosport   Velonews Cyclingnews Daily Peloton Official site

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Tuesday, May 10, 2005

Below is a guide to live internet/web coverage of the 2005 Giro d'Italia.

Guide to live race coverage on the internet/web

Robbie McEwen (2003 TdF) Notes:  Julian Dean and Jaan Kirsipuu of Credit Agricole put on a clinic on how to derail Alessandro Petacchi's Fassa "train" yesterday and Davitamon-Lotto's Robbie McEwen was able to take advantage of the "wreck" to sprint to a brilliant stage win, taking the pink jersey in the process. Fassa Bortolo 2004 TdF team time trial The look on the face of Fassa's lead rider said it all:  "What are you doing up here messing with our train?" The fighting for positioning in the last 1-2 kilometers was full-on and made for spectacular television viewing.  Was this a one-off event in this Giro or will the teams of other sprinters take it to the Fassa train again? Jaan Kirsipuu (Credit Agricole) 2005 Paris-Nice prologue   photos © 2005 Pete Geyer

Giro d'Italia 2005, Italy May 7-29, ProTour Stage 3: May 10 Diamante to Giffoni Valle Piana, 205km (Tour of Italy) (Tour d'Italie) Live video coverage: OLN live video webcast (9:00am-11:30am U.S. EDT) (U.S.A. only, subscription) RAI Sport (Italian television feed, not live for this race) (22:50 CET (4:50pm U.S. EST)) (Repeat: 04:30 CET (10:30pm U.S. EST)) (times subject to change) Live audio coverage: Eurosport (24-hour audio feed) (15:00 CET (9:00am U.S. EST)) (times subject to change) Check schedule Live tickers: Radio Tour ticker (concise race radio info) Eurosport   Velonews Cyclingnews Daily Peloton Official site

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Monday, May 9, 2005

Below is a guide to live internet/web coverage of the 2005 Giro d'Italia.

Note:  Added the "Radio Tour ticker" to the available Giro live tickers below.  "Radio Tour" (or race radio) is broadcast from a race vehicle during each stage. Team cars, the media and anyone with the proper receiver and within close vicinity of the traveling caravan can listen in to be informed of breakaways, crashes, time deficits, results of intermediate bonus sprints, approaching traffic islands and other road obstacles and so forth.  Team managers (who also have television receivers in their cars) then relay information to their riders over their own radio frequencies and in their own languages.  Information from Radio Tour is what drives the various efforts by web sites to offer live tickers; these web sites of course add in their own commentary, anecdotes, quotes from morning interviews, etc.  TV broadcasters also rely on reports from Radio Tour.  The "Radio Tour ticker" link below points to a concise, no-nonsense ticker on the official Giro web site.

Also, the "Official site" link will from now on point to the page for each day's stage, in English.

Guide to live race coverage on the internet/web

Paolo Bettini (Quick.Step) Notes:  Hard to believe that Italian cycling star, reigning Olympic champion (Athens road race) and former World Cup winner Paolo Bettini ("the cricket") of Quick.Step had never before won a stage in the Giro d'Italia.  He finally did that yesterday, also grabbing his first-ever maglia rosa (pink jersey) in the process.  The win couldn't have come at a better time for Bettini after a "quiet" spring in the classics. Robbie McEwen ( Davitamon-Lotto ) was second while Italian sprint star Alessandro Petacchi of Fassa Bortolo had to settle for third.   photo © 2003 Pete Geyer

Giro d'Italia 2005, Italy May 7-29, ProTour Stage 2: May 9 Catanzaro Lido to Santa Maria del Cedro, 182km (Tour of Italy) (Tour d'Italie) Live video coverage: OLN live video webcast (9:00am-11:30am U.S. EDT) (U.S.A. only, subscription) RAI Sport (Italian television feed, not live for this race) (22:30 CET (4:30pm U.S. EST)) (Repeat: 03:10 CET (9:10pm U.S. EST)) (times subject to change) Live audio coverage: Eurosport (24-hour audio feed) (15:00 CET (9:00am U.S. EST)) (times subject to change) Check schedule Live tickers: Radio Tour ticker (concise race radio info) Eurosport   Velonews Cyclingnews Daily Peloton Official site

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Sunday, May 8, 2005

Guide to live race coverage on the internet/web

Notes:  Brett Lancaster of the Ceramica Panaria-Navigare team, a non-ProTour team, got the biggest win of his road racing career in yesterday's prologue.  A very sweet victory for his team too. Lancaster won the field sprint at this year's Paris-Camembert and, not realizing or forgetting that Laurent Brochard had escaped the peloton earlier, raised his arms in triumph, thinking he'd won.  Becoming the first leader of the 2005 Giro d'Italia and donning the pink jersey more than makes up for that embarrassing moment in March.

Giro d'Italia 2005, Italy May 7-29, ProTour Stage 1: May 8 Reggio Calabria to Tropea, 208km (Tour of Italy) (Tour d'Italie) Live video coverage: (unavailable today) RAI Sport (Italian television feed, not live for this race) (23:10 CET (5:10pm U.S. EST)) (Repeat: 07:20 CET (1:20am U.S. EST)) (times subject to change) (note: OLNTV.com is offering live internet video streaming of weekday Giro stages to selected markets; see their website for details, link at left) Live audio coverage: Eurosport (24-hour audio feed) (15:30 CET (9:30am U.S. EST)) (times subject to change) Check schedule Live tickers: Eurosport   Velonews Cyclingnews Daily Peloton Official site

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Saturday, May 7, 2005

Guide to live race coverage on the internet/web

Cunego or Simoni? Notes:  One of the bigger questions as the 2005 Giro d'Italia gets underway is:  Which Lampre-Caffita rider, defending Giro champion Damiano Cunego or two-time winner Gilberto Simoni, will become the real team leader in this race, and when? On paper, Lampre-Caffita has the best hand in this race.  It remains to be seen how they play it. Ivan Basso (Team CSC), 2002 Giro winner Paolo Savoldelli (Discovery Channel), Serguei Gonchar (Domina Vacanze), and 2000 winner Stefano Garzelli (Liquigas-Bianchi) are also among the favorites.  Basso will also be targeting the Tour de France, where he finished third in 2004, so he is of particular interest.  Savoldelli has been plagued by injury since his win in 2002.  Gonchar finished second in 2004.   photo © 2005 Pete Geyer

Giro d'Italia 2005, Italy May 7-29, ProTour Prologue: May 7 Reggio Calabria, 1.15km (Tour of Italy) (Tour d'Italie) Live video coverage: (unavailable today) RAI Sport (Italian television feed, not live for this race) (22:20 CET (4:20pm U.S. EST)) (Repeat: 08:20 CET (2:20am U.S. EST)) (note: OLNTV.com is offering live internet video streaming of weekday Giro stages to selected markets; see their website for details, link at left) Live audio coverage: Eurosport (24-hour audio feed) (21:00 CET (3pm U.S. EST)) Check schedule Live tickers: Eurosport   Velonews Cyclingnews Daily Peloton Official site

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Thursday, May 5, 2005

Note:  If you missed today's LIVE streaming video broadcast of the Giro Presentation of Teams, there are two broadcast repeats (see below).  The live program was about an hour and 25 minutes, music acts included.  The repeats might be edited down.  Even if you don't understand Italian very well, you might enjoy seeing your favorite teams or riders introduced on the stage.

Cycling TV broadcasts on the internet today

Program/Race	Time	Where
Rubrica: TuttoCiclismo	18:45 CET (12:45pm U.S. EST) Repeat: 06:05 CET (12:05am U.S. EST)	RAI Sport
Giro d'Italia Presentation of teams	22:20 CET (4:20pm U.S. EST) Repeats: 06:35 CET (12:35am U.S. EST) 09:30 CET (3:30am U.S. EST)	RAI Sport
	(times subject to change)

Notes: RAI Sport internet broadcasts require a media player (Windows Media Player, Quicktime, etc.)

Note: OLN TV now has a sign-up page for their live video streaming for weekday stages of the Giro.  Looks like this will be a direct feed from Italy with no commentary.  (They say that these video streams will be archived so that subscribers can view them later as well.)  Their usual team of Phil Liggett, Paul Sherwen and Bob Roll apparently will be doing commentary for the weekend regular OLN cable broadcasts only; these weekend broadcasts will be same-day but not live.

Also note:  RAI Sport will be showing daily Giro action but not live.  (RAI's land broadcasts in Italy are of course live but we know of no internet access to it; "RAI Sport" is their satellite feed.)  We'll post the broadcast times and links for their video feeds here starting with Saturday's prologue.

Eurosport will have live daily coverage, so live audio from their 24-hour feed is also an option.

There will of course be a number of live tickers to choose from too.