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Watch 2016 Tour De France Live Online: Find Streaming Video For Cycling’s Biggest Race

Published on: July 2, 2016 at 2:03 PM ET
Nathan Francis
Written By Nathan Francis
News Writer

Cycling fans can watch the 2016 Tour de France live online and see who can emerge on top of the second stage after Mark Cavendish’s ride to victory in the first stage at Utah Beach.

The 31-year-old avoided a number of crashes and defeated rivals Marcel Kittel, Peter Sagan, and Andre Greipel in what the BBC noted was his 27th stage win.

The win was especially big for Cavendish, who has been spending most of the year training for the Rio Olympics and said he wasn’t sure what form he would be in for the Tour de France.

While Cavendish sprinted to a win in the first stage, defending champion Chris Froome hanged back from the pack, as the BBC noted that he and Team Sky wanted to see how the stage would unfold.

Those who watch the 2016 Tour de France live online will see if Cavendish can maintain the momentum of his opening stage victory. He was ecstatic after the win, saying he always wanted to wear the “iconic” yellow jersey and to get recognition for his charity, which has given bikes to 5,000 children in Africa.

“It’s quite emotional. This is the only jersey in cycling I’ve not worn. I’ve had all three points jerseys, the worlds jerseys and the leaders jerseys in the Giro and the Vuelta and now this. I just wanted to win the stage and to wear this jersey is an honor,” he said (via Cycling News ).”I’ve built my whole career on this race.”Cavendish is still unsure of how the rest of the race will play out, as his Rio Olympics preparations may have put him off his game for the Tour de France. Cavendish is still awaiting his first Olympic medal, so he made the decision to focus there instead of the Tour de France training..

“I really don’t know how it will be,” said Cavendish. “It could be the best thing I’ve done, it could be the worst thing I’ve done.”

There was also plenty of drama on the race’s first day, including a crash that nearly took Alberto Contador out of the race entirely. Contador told Cycling News that the crash left him bruised down his entire right side from his ankle up, but wasn’t quite bad enough to knock him out of the competition.

“Hopefully I can get through the coming days and recover before the mountains,” Contador said. “There are some positions where my shoulder gives me some doubts but I want to be optimistic and recover. I was well placed [at the time of the crash]. I came into the corner, there was a traffic island and my front wheel hit it and then I hit the curb with my back.”

Steven de Jongh, director of the Tinkoff Team, said that Contador’s crash seemed to come out of nowhere when another cyclist crashed in front of Contador and took him out. He said that Contador didn’t feel any pain immediately after the crash, but could be hurting more as he moves on to the next stage.

Those who watch the 2016 Tour de France live online will see a more difficult course in stage two, which has an uphill finish that is more difficult for sprinters.

Sunday’s stage two will start from Saint-Lo-Cherbourg-en-Cotentin and will cover 183 kilometers. Those who want to follow along online can find commentary on the BBC Sport website starting at noon BST, and the site will carry live radio commentary starting at 3 p.m. BST.

Cycling fans who want to watch the 2016 Tour de France live online can find streaming video through NBC Sports . A subscription is required, but there is currently a free trial for first-time users.

[Photo by Christophe Ena/AP Images]

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