If you’re excited for the upcoming Tour de France (if you aren’t, read our friendly primer and get stoked for one of the world’s greatest feats of athletic strength and endurance!), you’re probably looking for a way to watch.
If you have a TV and NBCSN, you can watch the whole thing starting at 7am Eastern (that’s 4am Pacific — ouch) on July 4th. See the NBCSN cycling schedule on this page.
If you aren’t awake for the live coverage, NBCSN has a highlights show each afternoon at a more civilized time, and if you’d rather have it in French, tune in to TV5 (the international francophone network). They broadcast every stage everyday at 2:30pm.
Of course, as with any sporting even these days, there are plenty of ways to catch the highlights online. Pretty soon after each stage, major highlights will begin to appear on YouTube.
But my personal favorite way to watch any big sporting event is at a bar or café surrounded by other enthusiasts. If that’s your cup of beer, here are a few places in big US cities we’ve confirmed will be happy to tune in to the Tour de France over the next few weeks.
New York City
Cannibal Beer & Butcher boasts a “bike-friendly” garden and lots of delicious beer and food. The gentleman who answered the phone there said “we typically show the whole race and we usually have it on all day,” but added that out of an abundance of caution it would make sense to call before heading over.
Open 7 days, 11am-11:30pm. 113 East 29th (between Park Ave. and Lexington Ave.), Manhattan. 212-686-5480
La Provence en Boîte is a friendly bistro in the lovely Carroll Gardens neighborhood of Brooklyn. It’s French owned and operated, boasts a fantastic selection of pastries, and they say they are used to accommodating people with a taste for French sports. They will probably be tuned in to the Tour most days during operating hours, which start EARLY for those of you with a penchant for live coverage.
Open 7 days, 7:30am-10:30pm. 263 Smith Street, Brooklyn. 718-797-0707
Chicago
“Isn’t it just like the French,” said the gentleman from Fadó Irish Pub, “to launch their greatest cycling race on America’s national holiday?” This place has justifiably declared it the “summer of soccer,” so most patrons will be showing up for that. Nevertheless, we were told that the popular sports bar will tune in to the Tour “whenever they can.”
Open 7 days, 11:30am weekdays (earlier for sports on weekends) – 2 or 3am. 100 West Grand Ave. 312-836-0066
Austin, TX
Juan Pelota coffee shop — attached to the famous Mellow Johnny’s bike shop — will be showing the Tour every day on the big screen. You can enjoy Stumptown (!) coffee and/or smoothies and satisfy all your cycling obsessions starting at 7am.
Weekdays 7am-7pm. Sat 7am-6pm. Sun 8am-5pm. 400 Nueces St. Austin, TX. 512-473-0222
Los Angeles
The Golden Road brewery pub serves its own brews (such as the “Save the Bay IPA”) and pub fare. Catch the tour during their regular business hours and don’t forget to bring your growler to get it filled with local cheer.
Open 11am weekdays, 10am Sat and Sun, til late. 5410 W. San Fernando Rd. Los Angeles. 213-373-4677
San Francisco
If you wish to fool yourself into thinking you’re watching the Tour de France in France, the Café de la Presse can help you with that. Everything from the chairs to the waiters’ aprons (and of course the food!) is a cue to lose yourself in a French daydream. You could be forgiven for half-expecting to see the racers themselves whiz by the window. The management tells us they’ll be showing the Tour on TV but with no sound — it’s a café, after all, not a bar de sports!
Open weekdays from 7:30am, weekends from 8:30am. 352 Grant Ave, San Francisco. 415-398-2680
