''Cycling on CBS'' is the de facto name for broadcasts of multiple-stage bicycle races produced by CBS Sports, the sports division of the CBS television network. CBS was notably the first American television network to provide coverage of the Tour de France. CBS also provided coverage of Paris–Roubaix during the 1980s.

Overview

Tour de France coverage

CBS first covered the Tour de France in

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

, airing approximately five minutes of action. During that time, CBS typically

taped ''Taped'' is a 2012 Dutch thriller film directed by Diederik van Rooijen. The film won the Best Feature Film award at the 2012 Stony Brook Film Festival. Susan Visser was also nominated for the Golden Calf for Best Actress for her role in the ...

segments of the beginning of the stage in order to air them the following weekend on '' CBS Sports Sunday''. The final stage would however, be broadcast live. On April 7, 1985, CBS entered into an agreement with Broadcasting Rights International Corporation to retain the American television broadcasting rights to the Tour de France through

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

. The agreement was said to initially be worth approximately $50,000 with an additional $237,000 for the broadcasting rights to the 1987 tour. By 1986, CBS would devote to hours of coverage for five consecutive weekends. When CBS broadcast their final Tour de France in 1988, their coverage for the first three weekends consisted of highlights and features.

Tim Brant Tim Brant (born February 26, 1949) is a retired American sportscaster. Brant most recently worked for Raycom Sports and was formerly Vice President, Sports for WJLA-TV in Washington, DC. He has spent more than forty years covering sports nationa ...

and

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 ...

served as hosts for the telecasts airing under the ''CBS Sports Sunday'' umbrella. CBS would however, air the final stage live on July 24. 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 ...

, 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 & ...

(or OLN) replaced

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 ...

and ESPN as the principle American television broadcaster for the Tour de France. The network in the process, purchased air time on CBS, where three one-hour tape delayed specials would air on Sunday afternoons. These specials mainly recapped the past few days of action from the final three weeks of the tour. CBS however, devoted 3 1/2 hours to the final stage of the tour on ''

CBS Sports Spectacular ''CBS Sports Spectacular'' is a sports anthology television program that is produced by CBS Sports, the sports division of the CBS television network in the United States. The series began on January 3, 1960, as ''The CBS Sports Spectacular'', a ...

''. In total, the arrangement with OLN and CBS was worth approximately $3.3 million. CBS employed the services of commentators Armen Keteyian, Phil Liggett, and

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 ...

. In

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

, Bob Neumeier succeeded Armen Keteyian as the host. The following year, Craig Hummer succeeded Neumeier in the hosting role for CBS. In 2008,

Greg Amsinger Greg Amsinger is an American sportscaster and currently a studio host for MLB Network. Personal life Amsinger was born on May 24, 1979, in St. Louis, Missouri. He has five brothers and one sister. Amsinger and his wife have two children and the ...

hosted the Tour de France for CBS. CBS' involvement with the Tour de France once again ended when NBC took over the American broadcast television network rights in

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

Tour of America

In 1983, CBS teamed with World Tour Cycling to devote at least 27 minutes to the Tour of America, which was a 130 km race from Williamsburg, Virginia to

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

Paris–Roubaix

CBS began covering Paris–Roubaix in

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

and continued on through

, when the coverage like with the Tour de France moved over to

. Theo de Rooij, a Dutchman, had been in a promising position to win the 1985 race but had then crashed, losing his chance of winning. Covered in mud, he offered his thoughts on the race to John Tesh after the race:

"It's a bollocks, this race!” said de Rooij. "You're working like an animal, you don't have time to piss, you wet your pants. You're riding in mud like this, you're slipping ... it’s a pile of shit".

When then asked if he would start the race again, de Rooij replied:

"Sure, it's the most beautiful race in the world!”

Tour DuPont

In 1991, CBS succeeded NBC in provided broadcast network coverage of the Tour DuPont. While ESPN would provide daily, 30-minute long recaps each weeknight, CBS would provide their coverage on May 12 and May 19 as part of ''CBS Sports Sunday''. The following year, CBS again provided two weeks worth of coverage, this time on May 10 and May 17 on 3 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. Eastern time respectively. Jim Gray anchored the broadcasts alongside Phil Liggett and

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...

. By 1994, when ''CBS Sports Sunday'' was now branded as ''Eye on Sports'', CBS devoted at least two hours to the finale on May 15. James Brown once again helped anchor the coverage.

Commentators

John Dockery John Dockery (September 6, 1944) is an American sportscaster and former American football defensive back who played for the New York Jets and later the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1968 to 1973. He graduated from Brooklyn Preparatory a Jesuit High ...

* Jim Gray * Eric Heiden * Craig Hummer * Armen Keteyian * Bob Neumeier *

* Tim Ryan *

* John Tesh

References

External links

* {{Cycling on United States television CBS Sports Spectacular CBS original programming CBS Sports 1980s American television series 1990s American television series 2000s American television series 2010s American television series 1980 American television series debuts 1988 American television series endings 2001 American television series debuts 2010 American television series endings CBS American sports television series American television series revived after cancellation