Very important to know how actually to watch the bike race here in the United States, no? Universal Sports is doing live television coverage daily. Steve Schlanger and Todd Gogulski are your commentators for the teevee broadcast. There is also a prime time recap each evening at 8pm Eastern.
Edit: That LeMond thing, I made that up. Gogulski was a team-mate with LeMond. LeMond is not doing commentary. Geesh, you'd think I could read. It's even in English!
No teevee? The online coverage is pay-per-view, as it was last year. The online coverage has daily live stage coverage. There's also free viewing party for stage 1 on Saturday beginning at 9:30 am Eastern. Universal Sports will host former Cafe Chat guest Brent Bookwalter of BMC for some live chat and commentary on the team time trial, which thanks to Pete Stetina, you now know all about.
Okey, dokey, I'm going to paste the first few graphs of the press release below the fold so you have all the relevent details. To the Under-the-Fold!
May 5, 2011—Los Angeles, CA— Universal Sports presents over 45 hours of LIVE comprehensive coverage of the 2011 Giro d’Italia Grand Tour cycling event. The network will cover the race on its television, on-line and mobile platforms beginning this Saturday, May 7 at 9:30 a.m. ET. The 94th annual race will feature many of the world’s top riders as they battle across 1,500 miles through mountainous Italy with the hope of obtaining each day’s coveted prize, the “Maglia Rosa,” Giro’s pink leader jersey.
Universal Sports will have daily live coverage of every stage, including a post-race report, and primetime re-airs nightly at 8:00 pm ET. On the two rest days, the network will air the “Giro Race Review” show, featuring highlights of the race so far and an analysis of upcoming challenges. The broadcast team consists of Steve Schlanger on play-by-play and Todd Gogulski, former teammate of Lance Armstrong and Greg LeMond, serving as the network’s cycling analyst.
The network’s digital platform, UniversalSports.com, will offer the ultimate online experience for cycling fans with live, pay-per-view coverage of the complete race that will include athlete profiles, expert analysis, highlights, photos and recaps. Universal Sports’ Facebook page will host a free viewing party of stage one on Saturday, May 7 at 9:30am ET and fans will get the opportunity to LIVE chat with Brent Bookwalter from the BMC Racing Team.
[Stuff about who's racing, snipped. Cuz you all are pro on that stuff.]