Versus to Televise 2009 Tour de France in HD for First Time Ever; Network Set to Deliver More Than 250 Hours of Race Coverage Featuring Lance Armstrong's Shot at Record Eighth Tour Victory

NEW YORK, N.Y. (June 24, 2009) -- VERSUS, the exclusive television home of the Tour de France in the U.S., will kick-off its ninth year of wall-to-wall coverage of the most intense and grueling competition in all of sports on Sat., July 4, at 9:30 a.m. ET.  The network will begin its first day of Tour coverage at 8:30 a.m. ET with a one-hour special chronicling Lance Armstrong’s career and his 2009 comeback season. For the first time ever, each stage of the Tour will be produced in full HD.

Throughout the 23-day, 2,000-mile competition, the network will air an average of 13 hours of race action per day. Daily coverage includes live race action and an expanded primetime show.  (See the complete schedule.)  Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen, the undisputed voices of cycling, will once again call all the race action and Frankie Andreu and Robbie Ventura will return as the field reporters.  Craig Hummer and Bob Roll will host the primetime show each night. 

This year, the last four Tour de France champions -- Lance Armstrong (1999-2005), Oscar Pereiro (2006), Alberto Contador (2007) and Carlos Sastre (2008) -- will all be competing against each other for their chance to once again wear the coveted yellow jersey in Paris.  Armstrong and Contador will both be riding for Team Astana. 

“There is no other sporting event in the world that compares to the Tour de France and there is no other television network that could give the race the tremendous scope of coverage it deserves like VERSUS.  As we head into our ninth year as the home of the Tour, the network’s commitment to cycling has never been stronger with more than 250 hours of HD race action this July,” said Jamie Davis, President of VERSUS.  “The 2008 race was VERSUS’ most-watched Tour in network history, but with four past champions competing this year, including the return of cycling legend Lance Armstrong, there is no doubt that this year’s competition will be even more captivating.” 

With the quest to deliver unprecedented access via new and unique production enhancements VERSUS has placed a camera on the U.S. cycling team Garmin-Slipstream’s bus to give viewers an insider’s look at the team’s daily meeting as they prepare for the day’s stage.  Other enhancements that VERSUS will offer include profiles and features on teams and riders; advanced on-screen statistics/biometrics to illustrate the intensity at which the riders are competing; and a telestrator to analyze and breakdown sprint finishes, among others.

As a critical part of VERSUS’ un-matched and all-encompassing coverage of the worlds most grueling and epic race, www.VERSUS.com has redoubled its offering as the premier online destination for cycling fans and the official Tour website in the U.S.  Riding the momentum from huge surges in online usage during last year’s Tour (video views up 92% in 2008 over 2007), the site will provide fans with 24-hour access to anything and everything Tour related, including: exclusive video and features, highlights of race footage, features and daily reports from VERSUS analysts and experts, as well as daily podcasts, dynamic stage profiles that chart the peloton’s progress, standings by category and live minute-to-minute updates of each stage.