Universal Sports started its live broadcast of the Vuelta a España – with exclusive coverage of every stage, and more than 45 total hours of air time – beginning on Saturday 20 August at 11:00 ET. Coverage of the third and final Grand Tour of the European cycling season continues every day at 10:00 ET throughout the three-week race.
During this time Universal Sports will follow the riders through all 21 stages to the finish in Madrid on September 11. On both rest days – August 30 and September 5 – Universal Sports will present special Vuelta Recap Shows at 10:00 ET. The network will also present primetime re-airs of each stage nightly at 20:00 ET.
Universal Sports is a partnership formed between NBC Sports and InterMedia Partners, as a premier multi-platform media destination for Olympic-related sports programming in the United States.
Universal Sports’ Vuelta broadcast team will feature Steve Schlanger on play-by-play and Todd Gogulski, former teammate of Lance Armstrong and Greg LeMond, serving as a commentator. The Vuelta will be produced by Universal Sports’ David Michaels, who will be the first US TV supervising producer in recent memory to produce all three Grand Tour cycling events in a single year.
Michaels and Gogulski worked on Universal Sports’ coverage of the Giro d’Italia in May, then collaborated on Versus’ broadcast of the Tour de France in July.
Vuelta 2011 coverage on the network will include interviews with team directors and cyclists as well as insight from cycling experts and on-site media.
Gogulski noted “While it has been the outright season goal for some, the 2011 Vuelta a España is a place for redemption for many whose seasons have been hampered by injury, illness or otherwise sub-par results, and it’s a great place to gain the final conditioning and confidence leading into the World Championships.”
UniversalSports.com will also provide live streaming coverage of every stage, plus full-length video recaps, highlights, stage profiles, elevation profiles, real-time rider location, blogs, standings, photos and recaps for US$14.99.
