NBC Sports' Live Coverage Of 105th Tour De France Begins This Saturday

NBC Sports' live coverage of the 105th Tour de France begins this Saturday, July 7, at 5 a.m. ET with Stage 1 on NBCSN, as part of a record 365-plus hours of live, primetime and encore coverage across NBC, NBCSN and the NBC Sports Gold app. NBC SportsGold's live coverage of Stage 1 begins Saturday at 4:40 a.m. ET. Coverage culminates with the final stage on Sunday, July 29, live at 9:30 a.m. ET on NBCSN.

The 2018 Tour de France will cover a total distance of just over 2,080 miles, and begins in Noirmoutier-en-l'île, France, where competitors will ride along sea shores of Vendée. Great Britain's Chris Froome (Team Sky) returns to defend his 2017 title and makes a run at a fifth career and fourth consecutive victory. Other notable challengers include: Nairo Quintana (Movistar Team) of Colombia, 2014 Tour de France winner Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) of Italy, Richie Porte (BMC Racing Team) of Australia, and Mikel Landa (Movistar Team) of Spain.

Phil Liggett (play-by-play) and Paul Sherwen (analyst) will call the network's coverage of the Tour de France for the 33rd year. Liggett and Sherwen will be joined in France by former professional cyclist and analyst Jens Voigt. Paul Burmeister will host daily pre-race, post-race and primetime studio coverage, along with former professional cyclist and analyst Christian Vande Velde and analyst Bob Roll. Steve Schlanger and Steve Porino ('Inside-the-Race') will serve as reporters.

PRODUCTION HIGHLIGHTS

NBC Sports Group will integrate several features into its coverage of this year's Tour de France, including:

• A 'Daily Diary' element featuring Taylor Phinney (Team EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale) and Ian Boswell (Team Katusha-Alpecin). The riders will give the audience a behind-the-scenes look at their journey throughout the Tour de France with daily video diaries, with footage ranging from chiropractic sessions to team introductions. The video blogs will be a part of NBC Sports' live coverage;
• Vande Velde, equipped with glasses featuring the same technology used by U.S. fighter pilots, previewing critical points on seven key stages;
• Porino offering real-time updates on race situations;
• 3-D animated maps that track where the riders are in real-time.
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DIGITAL COVERAGE

In addition to live TV coverage of the Tour de France, NBC Sports Digital will once again provide extensive digital coverage of all 21 stages of the race onNBC Sports Gold. Digital coverage on NBC Sports Gold also includes stage-by-stage descriptions, live streaming video, more than 30 hours of exclusive HD bonus coverage, and more. NBC Sports Gold - NBC Sports Digital's direct-to-consumer live streaming product - features live, commercial-free, start-to-finish coverage of every stage of the Tour de France, and includes two ways to watch. The "Cycling Pass," which gives fans in the U.S. access to premiere cycling races from July 2018 through June 2019, can be purchased in advance of the 2018 Tour de France for $49.99 by visiting NBCSportsGold.com. Click here for more information.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Fans can keep up with the Tour de France through NBC Sports Group's social media platforms throughout the race, including exclusive behind-the-scenes photos, interviews, video clips, up-to-date news reports and stories from around the cycling world through the NBC Sports Cycling Facebook page and@NBCSNCycling on Twitter. In addition, fans can visithttps://www.nbcsports.com/tour-de-france for a live stream schedule, stage maps, results, routes and more.

Click here for NBC Sports' full coverage schedule of the 2018 Tour de France.All live coverage on NBC and NBCSN is also available on NBC Sports Gold and the NBC Sports app.

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