''Cycling on ABC'' is the de facto name for broadcasts of bicycle races produced by ABC Sports, the sports division of the American Broadcasting Company television network.

Overview

Race Across America

In 1982, '' Wide World of Sports'' devoted the April 17 and 23 editions to coverage of the Race Across America, which was then known as the Great American Bike Race. Jim Lampley anchored ABC's coverage of the inaugural race alongside Diana Nyad. ABC's coverage of the 1982 Great American Bicycle Race wound up garnering an

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

for the Best Sports Documentary. In total, ABC would cover the first five installments of the Race Across America. From 1983-1985, ABC aired the Race Across America in two one hour segments on ''Wide World of Sports''. For their final year of covering the event (1986), ABC aired the Race Across America on ''Wide World of Sports'' as a single two-hour program.

Tour de France coverage

On July 26, 1976, ''Wide World or Sports'' provided coverage of the Tour de France for the very first time. ABC later covered the Tour de France from

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

–

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

, succeeding CBS in that capacity. ABC agreed to pay $1 million a year for the television rights to the Tour de France. ABC also carried Paris–Roubaix in this time frame under the ''Wide World of Sports'' umbrella. In 1989, Sam Posey was brought in as part of the ABC Sports broadcast team covering the Tour de France. Many people were surprised by Posey's knowledge and genuine enthusiasm for the sport. ABC would bring him back as the lead anchor for the

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

and

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

races. ABC's standard format for broadcasting the Tour de France consisted of a 12-minute report on behalf of ''Wide World of Sports'' on Saturdays and then, hours worth of coverage the following afternoon. In total, ABC would present approximately eight same day telecasts. Four of them would be scheduled for broadcast on ''Wide World of Sports'' while the other four would be classified as special Sunday broadcasts. ABC's coverage of the

1996 Tour de France The 1996 Tour de France was the 83rd edition of the Tour de France, starting on 29 June and ending on 21 July, featuring 19 regular stages, 2 individual time trials, a prologue and a rest day (10 July). It was won by Danish rider Bjarne Riis. Th ...

was nominated for an

for Outstanding Live Event Turnaround. In

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

, ABC as well as their sister network, ESPN, would be supplanted by the

Outdoor Life Network OLN (formerly Outdoor Life Network) is a Canadian English-language Category A specialty channel. OLN primarily broadcasts factual-based and adventure-related reality programming aimed at male audiences. OLN is wholly owned by Rogers Sports & ...

in broadcasting the Tour de France.

Summer Olympic coverage

At the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...

in Los Angeles, Al Michaels provided the play-by-play commentary for the

road cycling Road cycling is the most widespread form of cycling in which cyclists ride on paved roadways. It includes Recreational cycling, recreational, Road bicycle racing, racing, Bicycle commuting, commuting, and utility cycling. As users of the road, ...

events alongside Greg LeMond and Eric Heiden. For the track events, Bill Flemming had the play-by-play duties alongside Eric Heiden.

Commentators

*John Eustice *

Terry Gannon Terrance Patrick Gannon (born November 1, 1963, in Joliet, Illinois) is a sportscaster for NBC Sports and the Golf Channel, currently announcing golf, gymnastics, and figure skating. Gannon played basketball for North Carolina State University ...

* Frank Gifford * Adrian Karsten * Jim Lampley *

Phil Liggett Philip Alexander Liggett (born 11 August 1943) is an English commentator and journalist who covers professional cycling. He currently commentates on the Tour de France and bike races for ITV and NBC Sports, and was previously associated wi ...

Brent Musburger Brent Woody Musburger (born May 26, 1939) is an American sportscaster, currently the lead broadcaster and managing editor at Vegas Stats and Information Network (VSiN). With CBS Sports from 1973 until 1990, he was one of the original members ...

* Diana Nyad * Sam Posey * Robin Roberts *

Paul Sherwen Paul Sherwen (7 June 1956 – 2 December 2018) was an English professional racing cyclist and later a broadcaster on cycling, notably the Tour de France. He raced in seven editions of the Tour, finishing five, and gained a reputation for his abi ...

*Beth Ruyak * Pierre Salinger * Al Trautwig

References

External links

ABC News - Tour de France
{{Cycling on United States television

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

ABC Sports American Broadcasting Company original programming Wide World of Sports (American TV series) 1982 American television series debuts 1986 American television series endings 1989 American television series debuts 1970s American television series 1980s American television series 1990s American television series 2000s American television series Sports telecast series American sports television series American television series revived after cancellation