With Lance’s return starting in the TdU, I am looking at ways to try and catch some coverage of the events he is in. Cycling.tv offers an interesting package that covers all of Lance’s projected events for $60.00/year. However, I am finding their website is very vague about the services this includes.
I am wondering if any STers have subscribed to this service in the past. If so, what are your thoughts? Also, how much content do they provide after the race/stage has occurred? I.e. Can you re-watch the live coverage on demand?
I’ve gotta agree with Beavis and Butthead. It takes forever to get into the website. When you get there, something always seems to malfunction. The video freezes or runs way too fast. Just recently, they removed all their archives so you can’t watch anything but relatively current cyclocross and track racing. It’s a rip-off. Anytime there’s anything really good like full coverage of the Vuelta or something, they make you pay extra.
As the previous posters indicated, there are usually other ways to track down video on the internet. Save your money.
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Just recently, they removed all their archives so you can’t watch anything but relatively current cyclocross and track racing. It’s a rip-off.
Note: you can still go in the archives, but it takes lots of clicks and diggin’! It ain’t as user friendly as before. Can’t access it at the moment from work, but you need to in the “search” function in the “on demand” section (or something like that) then click the race type, etc… I watched a few of the '08 Spring Classics while on the CT last week.
My subscriptions comes up in April, and I don’t think I will renew. Too bad, it could be such a sweet product.
Same for me. It has gotten much better. Where else could you watch Paris-Roubaix live in America before cycling.tv? ANswer: nowhere. Because I HATE Versus that much more, I will keep supporting cycling.tv and watching. Usually I have had no problems with it. If this were Japan, I’d love it, since the government didn’t allow the internet infrastructure to be piss-poor like here in the States, where they didn’t allow these bullshi* companies like Cox and Comcast or Verizon to set rates and internet speeds. Japan is 100 times faster than anything here. But that’s not cycling.tv’s fault. They definitely keep getting better.
But I wouldn’t get cycling.tv just for Armstrong. No, get it for the beautiful races you get to see live. Just remember, you can usually get live video feeds elsewhere and then open a second browser to listen to Eurosport UK in English. Sean Kelly’s a tad better than the commentators on Versus or cycling.tv imho. Phil’s dementia doesn’t bother me, always forgetting names and screwing the facts up, because he is excited. Paul is solid. Tour “Day” France Bobke is funny, but only if you’re American. The guys at cycling.tv do a good enough job commentating.
Five minutes searching last summer and I found a live feed of the queen stage of the Vuelta. The wife was wondering what I was doing watching and listening to something in Spanish but it helped to have the announcers even if I couldn’t understand much.
If I cared about watching a race, I imagine I could find the same type of coverage for just about any of the big time races.