• by Paul Gough , July 11, 2003

Lance Armstrong may be taking it easy in the early stages of his attempt to tie the record for the most wins at the Tour de France, but an American network has been going full blast ever since the endurance race began.

Outdoor Life Network recently made headlines with live coverage of an ascent to Mount Everest. Now it's taking another turn as the exclusive U.S. rightsholder to the race, which takes place in stages throughout the month in France. It's very much the top event on the network, which is based in Stamford, Conn., and owned by Comcast Corp. It takes over the network during the month, including live coverage in the morning due to the time difference, repeats throughout the day and night, and a primetime wrapup from OLN's own stable of reporters, cycling experts and camera crews.

July is the highest-cume month of OLN's year, outpacing its other offerings, including fishing shows, winter sports events and championship bull riding.

"We have a lot of talent that we throw against the coverage," said Roger Williams, chief executive officer of OLN. "It's the highest-ranked single event that we do."

A lot of that appeal is due to the personality and story of Armstrong, who prevailed over a bout with cancer and has lifted the profile of cycling in a way that even fellow American cyclist Greg Lemond hadn't when he was riding in the 1980s and 1990.

"There have been popular winners over time but no one has ever really had the profile of Lance," Williams said.

OLN sends a camera crew to France and several on-air correspondents. Since it's a moving event, with stages taking place one a day at different parts of he country, the crews move quickly to catch the action.

"We're breaking down camp every day, going with the tour," Williams said. "We move as the tour moves, throughout France."

Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen provide commentary during the races and nine-time Tour de France competitor Frankie Andreu analyzes the race every day and interviews cyclists. Armstrong's trainer, Chris Carmichael, discusses what's happening. Bob Roll co-anchors the pre-race show along with Kirsten Gum. Sam Posey offers historical commentary on its 100th anniversary and Pam Fletcher rides ahead of the race, showing viewers an inside look at some of the scenery and towns the cyclists pedal through.

The 23-day coverage, including rest days, is the most the network has ever done. Three years ago, OLN covered the race live and then repeated it in primetime. The second year, OLN had a few repeats throughout the day and found that its cume raised significantly, Williams said. This year it's been repeated five times a day, including a primetime for the East Coast and another primetime for the West Coast.

Williams said that advertisers love the excitement of the events that OLN covers. It may not be the high-profile sports but that's on purpose, he said.

"The one thing we avoid is stick-and-ball sports. We stay with more lifestyle-driven sports," he said. "For a network like us, the Tour de France is our Super Bowl and we treat it like that. We showcase its efforts and resources, showcase it in primetime."