Great news for Tour de France fans, broadcasting network ITV have secured the rights to show live coverage of the race until 2015.
In 2011 the tour proved a ratings winner for the channel, pulling in a peak audience of 878,000 viewers. In the same weekend Sky Sports reported just 248,000 viewers for its cricket coverage. Spectator or participatory, cycling is big and getting bigger.
The news comes after Tour of Britain also reported its largest ever TV audience in 2011, with 592,000 watching Lars Boom take the victory in the final stage in Stoke-on-Trent. The Tour was also broadcast world-wide via local channels and the internet, reaching an even larger audience.
ITV’s new agreement secures daily live coverage of the tour and evening highlights, but the channel will also extend its online coverage.
The interest in road cycling has continued to grow exponentially since the 2008 Beijing Olympics and with London 2012 this year and continued coverage of the Tours, cycling isn’t going away anytime soon – which, provided it doesn't get eaten up whole by any pay-per-view channels, is great news.
