Le Tour -- NBC Fires Up Tour Webcasts (US Only)

It seemed like a mystery for a bit, and with the endless changes to Tour broadcast rights ownership in the US that we've seen in past years there reached a point where I wasn't sure it'd get solved. But it has.

NBCsports.com has their product up and ready for purchase (US residents only). It's $29.99 for the full package, which includes live video, GPS tracking, and some sort of favorite rider widget that I have no plans to investigate. I don't want them to tell Edvald Boasson Hagen that I clicked on his stupid widget, it'd probably make him do another bottle run and miss the key escape from which he could have won the stage, moved into the lead on... just skip it.

Anyway, it doesn't say anything about replaying stage video on demand, so that remains to be seen. East Coast people obviously will care about this. It does, however, say this:

Watch encore presentation of tour coverage, plus see the highlights of the race at any time!

So maybe you get video simultaneously with the cable broadcasts (which get repeated throughout the day) which might get it done. Single day passes cost $4.99.

They also plan to launch an iPhone app. Not sure why Tour gadgets (and Giro too) always show up at the very last second, but they do. Maybe with the purchase and smothering of the Vesus label complete, NBC will start doing the same thing every year. Don't ask me who their commentators are. I'm guessing we won't like the answer.

Finally, this is a good time to say thanks to Veloki for another truly awesome round of fresh Tour graphics! It's always a very welcomed treat.