Another great day at the Tour de France, with Thor Hushovd winning the 3rd stage over the disruptive cobblestone sections of the route that made this stage one of the hardest of the first week.  Switzerland’s Fabian Cancellara retook the yellow jersey from France’s Sylvain Chavanel with an overall time of 14h54’00” as the Tour entered France.

Even though the quest for the yellow jersey will be complete on July 25th, there will still be one more Grand Tour event this year: the Vuelta a Espana!  You can watch coverage of the Vuelta at www.universalsports.com from August 28-September 19!

What are your forecasts almost half way through the Giro of who will be the final man to hold the pink  jersey?  The Giro has been heating up with the competitors constantly ripping the pink jersey off their opponents back.  With the unpredictable weather, the crahses, and rivalries, is should be interesteing at the end.  You can watch all the highlights for free at the link below:

Giro Highlights: http://www.universalsports.com/cycling/video/index.html

Watch the Giro d’Italia LIVE on TV and on-line at Universal Sports.  The broadcast starts at 10am (ET) and re-airs for prime time on TV at 7pm (PT) along with on-demand coverage and highlights on-line.  Cadel Evans, Michele Scarponi, Tyler Farrar, Ivan Basso, Andre Greipel, and many more top riders will be competing for the pink jersey!

Cycling Channel: www.universalsports.com/cycling

Giro Broadcast: www.universalsports.com/premium

Universal Sports TV: www.universalsports.tv

Sanchez won stage 4 of the Tour of the Basque Country, but the overall title has been a back and forth battle between Valverde and Freire! Valverde is the current race leader but its been back in forth each stage.

 Catch up on all the highlights, photo galleries, on demand coverage, and as well as stage 5 LIVE tomorrow morning!

 Tour of Basque Dashbaord: http://www.universalsports.com/news/article/newsid=464433.html#tour+basque+country+central

The Tour of the Basque Country is off to an exciting start after Valverde took stage one with Freire getting DQ’d at the line!

 Be sure to watch every stage of the Tour (April 5-10) at Universal Sports, along with highlights, stage profiles, photo galleries, recaps, and more! Race ends this Saturday!

 Tour of Basque Dashbaord: http://www.universalsports.com/news/article/newsid=464433.html#tour+basque+country+central

 Universal Sports TV: http://universalsports.tv/Universal_Sports_on_TV.html

Universal Sports will be broadcasting The Tour of Basque Country from Spain April 5-10.  The TV broadcast will start at Noon (ET) daily alongside a LIVE/RAW on-line broadcast in the morning that will be followed again by same day coverage with the commentators.  You can get highlights, news, photos and more all at Universal Sports to stay up to date on teh race. 

Cycling Channel: www.universalsports.com/cycling

US on TV: http://universalsports.tv/Universal_Sports_on_TV.html

Watch the Track Cycling World Champs on Universal Sports from March 24-28, starts tomorrow!  The broadcast from Copenhagen, Denmark will be same day and on demand with 2 sessions each day after the first day (usually morning and afternoon sessions).  Riders Taylor Phinny, Daniel Holloway, Sarah Hammer, Lauren Tamayo, Dotsie Bausch, and Shelley Evans will be competing for the US to take on the rest of the world. 

See Schedule & Broadcast Link: www.universalsports.com/cycling

Watch the Milan-San Remo broadcast this Saturday (March 20) on Universal Sports.  The broadcast will be LIVE on-line at 10:00am (ET) and on US TV at 3:00pm (ET).   There will also be on-demand coverage available on-line and re-airs on TV at 5pm and 8pm (ET).   See sprint specialist Cavendish along with top riders Armstrong, Bennati, Boonen, Cancellara, and the Schleck Brothers go head to head.

Cycling Channel: www.universalsports.com/cycling

Watch the CycloCross World Championships broadcast FREE from Tabor, Czech Republic on-line at Universal Sports.  The men’s and women’s elite races will broadcast this Sunday (Jan.31) at Noon (ET) while the rest of the races will be offered on demand.  They will also be offering phots, updated news, and highlights. 

Competing for the Men's team are Jonathan Page, Tim Johnson and Ryan Trebon.  On the Womens team are Katie Compton and Amy Drombroksi, make sure to support team USA!

CycloCross World Champs Dashboard: http://www.universalsports.com/news/article/newsid=398217.html 

If you don’t want to miss races like the Giro de Italia, Vuelta a Espana, Road World Championships and more on Direct TV make sure to do something about it.  Universal SPorts is going to have an exciting line-up of events this year in Cycling in all disciplines and are up on all the big networks except direct tv.

Visit http://www.universalsports.tv/I_want_Universal_Sports.html and Tell DirecTV that you want Universal Sports, so we can all enjoy in more cycling this year.

Don’t miss the 2010 cycling season.

Check out all the best video highlights and re-caps from the Tour of Spain (Vuelta a Espana) and the Tour of Missouri!  And keep watching the LIVE broadcast of the Tour of Spain every morning to see if Valverde can hold onto the title!

Tour of Missouri Re-Cap: http://www.universalsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&SPSID=105618&SPID=13044&DB_OEM_ID=23000&ATCLID=204786323

Tour of Spain Dashboard: http://www.universalsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPID=13044&DB_OEM_ID=23000&ATCLID=204770092

LIVE Broadcast: http://www.universalsports.com/mediaPlayer/media.dbml?id=365551&catid=-2&sid=13044&db_oem_id=23000

The Tour of Missouri has an all-star line-up of talent with Mark Cavendish, George Hincapie, Christian Vandevelde, Levi Leipheimer and more!  The broadcast starts this Monday (Sept. 7-13) on Universal Sports and will be LIVE on-line and have a highlight show on TV.  Go to the link below to find the FREE broadcast, galleries, start lists and more!

Tour of Missouri Dashboard: http://www.universalsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPID=13044&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=23000&ATCLID=204786323

Watch all the craziness of LA Vuelta a Espana (Tour of Spain) LIVE & FREE Aug. 29- Sept. 20 on Universal Sports.  Top riders Ivan Basso, Alexander Vinokourov, Cadel Evans and more will be battling all September long for the Gold jersey.   See the broadcast schedule, start list and more at the link below, every day will be LIVE on-line and slightly delayed on TV at 10 AM (ET) daily:

Watch LA Vuelta: http://www.universalsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=23000&ATCLID=204770092

For TV information: www.universalsport.tv

Universal Sports has exclusive footage after every stage of the Tour de France with Lance Armstrong’s Coach Chris Carmichael breaking down each stage.

Watch Carmichael Breakdowns: http://www.universalsports.com/mediaPlayer/media.dbml?SPSID=105625&SPID=13044&DB_OEM_ID=23000&id=527952&sid=13044

It started at Stage 4 and will continue till the end the Tour.

He gives the inside on how Lance is feeling, the outlook on the stage, and his take down of each Stage of the Tour.  You won't want to miss this!

Everything you need for the Tour de France 2009!  Dashboard (daily updates, start lists, elevation profiles), Interactive Maps, Recaps, Galleries, and Map my Ride Maps!  All at one location, starts on the 4th of July so don’t miss any of the action!!!

Also check out the top 10 riders to watch with a gallery for each contender, and summary on why they have a shot at winning.

 http://www.universalsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=23000&ATCLID=3746664

If you missed any part of the Giro, you can still see every part of the race! Check out all the re-caps, interviews with Armstrong and Basso, Highlight of Menchov’s crash in the final stage, and much more all with links below.

Relive the Giro: http://www.universalsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPID=13044&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=23000&ATCLID=3734597

Menchov Crash in the Final Stage and Victory: http://www.universalsports.com/mediaPlayer/media.dbml?SPSID=105625&SPID=13044&DB_OEM_ID=23000&id=415956&sid=13044

Exclusive Lance Armstrong Interview: http://www.universalsports.com/mediaPlayer/media.dbml?SPSID=105625&SPID=13044&DB_OEM_ID=23000&id=415953&sid=13044

Interview with Basso: http://www.universalsports.com/mediaPlayer/media.dbml?SPSID=105625&SPID=13044&DB_OEM_ID=23000&id=414952&sid=13044

The Giro has taken a turn Menchov has taken to pink, Cavendish won a third stage and Di Luca is watching his lead fade away as the competition gets tight!  Watch to see all the surprises and battle between the top riders LIVE!  Every morning the race takes a new turn, don’t miss it! 

Stage 14 LIVE: http://www.universalsports.com/mediaPlayer/media.dbml?id=136645&catid=-2&db_oem_id=23000

Giro Stage 13 VOD: http://www.universalsports.com/mediaPlayer/media.dbml?SPID=13044&SPSID=105618&DB_OEM_ID=23000&id=411354&db_oem_id=23000

Giro Stage 13 Gallery: http://www.universalsports.com/PhotoAlbum.dbml?SPID=13044&SPSID=105618&DB_OEM_ID=23000&PALBID=113744

If you missed the any of the first 6 stages of the Giro d’Italia don’t worry you can still watch them on demand here: http://www.universalsports.com/club/std/ViewCategory.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=23000&CAT_SPORT_ID=13044&DB_OEM_ID=23000&KEY=&SPID=13044&SPSID=105625

You don’t want to miss tomorrow’s stage 7, it will be a grueling day(244km) through beautiful Austria, check out the LIVE broadcast: http://www.universalsports.com/mediaPlayer/media.dbml?id=133215&catid=-2&db_oem_id=23000

And don’t forget about the quality action shots, littered with those dominating Italians, and ovcourse some Lance Armstong: http://www.universalsports.com/PhotoAlbum_Archives.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=23000&SPID=13044&DB_OEM_ID=23000&KEY=

The first three stages of the Giro have been anything but boring!  Check out all the excitement and intensity of the first stages with these highlights and photo galleries:

Galleries

Stage 1: http://www.universalsports.com/PhotoAlbum.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=23000&PALBID=108322

Stage 2: http://www.universalsports.com/PhotoAlbum.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=23000&PALBID=108539  

Stage 3: http://www.universalsports.com/PhotoAlbum.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=23000&PALBID=108822

Highlights

Cavendish takes first: http://www.universalsports.com/mediaPlayer/media.dbml?SPSID=105625&SPID=13044&DB_OEM_ID=23000&_MODE_=ONDEMAND&CLIP_ID=397419&CLIP_FILE_ID=405058

Armstrong Powers Astana to 3rd: http://www.universalsports.com/mediaPlayer/media.dbml?SPSID=105625&SPID=13044&DB_OEM_ID=23000&_MODE_=ONDEMAND&CLIP_ID=397417&CLIP_FILE_ID=405057

Armstrong Interviews: http://www.universalsports.com/mediaPlayer/media.dbml?SPSID=105625&SPID=13044&DB_OEM_ID=23000&_MODE_=ONDEMAND&CLIP_ID=397453&CLIP_FILE_ID=405403

The Tour of the Basque Country is winding down with only two stages left!  See if Contador can win his second straight championship as the competition is tight.  Check out highlights from the first three stages below, along with the broadcast links to the last two stages LIVE Friday and Saturday morning!

Highlights of Stage 1: http://www.universalsports.com/mediaPlayer/media.dbml?SPSID=105625&SPID=13044&DB_OEM_ID=23000&_MODE_=ONDEMAND&CLIP_ID=387769&CLIP_FILE_ID=395771

Highlights from stage 2: http://www.universalsports.com/mediaPlayer/media.dbml?SPSID=105625&SPID=13044&DB_OEM_ID=23000&_MODE_=ONDEMAND&CLIP_ID=388791&CLIP_FILE_ID=396428

Highlights of Stage 3: http://www.universalsports.com/mediaPlayer/media.dbml?SPSID=105625&SPID=13044&DB_OEM_ID=23000&_MODE_=ONDEMAND&CLIP_ID=388828&CLIP_FILE_ID=396505

Stage 5 Broadcast: http://www.universalsports.com/mediaPlayer/media.dbml?SPSID=105625&SPID=13044&DB_OEM_ID=23000&_MODE_=ONDEMAND&CLIP_ID=388828&CLIP_FILE_ID=396505

Stage 6 Broadcast: http://www.universalsports.com/mediaPlayer/media.dbml?CLIP_ID=118707&_MODE_=COUNTDOWN&db_oem_id=23000

Check out the LIVE & FREE broadcast of the Tour of the Basque Country in Spain this Monday at www.universalsports.com. Watch as defending champion Alberto Contador of Team Astana fights to regain his crown!  Go to the link below for an amazing preview of the race and links to the broadcast!  Stage One start Monday and the race ends Saturday (Apr. 11), don't miss any of the action.

Tour of the Basque Country Preview Page: http://www.universalsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPID=13044&DB_OEM_ID=23000&ATCLID=3698691

Check out the FREE broadcast of the CYCLO-CROSS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS this Sunday at www.universalsports.com. The broadcast will be going out VOD (Video on Demand) Sunday morning and will catch the men’s and women’s final.  Click on the link below to get to the schedule with the video broadcast link (the link will pop-up as soon as the broadcast is available).  Hope you all enjoy!

Schedule: Go HERE to check it out.

The UCI Univest Grand Prix starts tomorrow (Sept. 6th) and the Tour of Missouri starts Monday (Sept 6-14).  Come watch live coverage free at the Universal Sports link

Follow this link!

My name is Heather and I'm in charge of Cycling at Universal Sports and am excited for the major ephasis that has been put on cycling lately, and our coverage of these two upcoming events.  I hope you enjoy them, and let me know what you think, and if you have any other suggestions for how Universal Sports can help the sport of cycling grow.