The 2017 Tour de France is going full steam ahead. As the racers head into stage seven of the 21-stage event, there’s already been quite a bit of drama.

Unfortunately it’s hard to find good TV coverage in the U.S. and if you’re like me — even if you’d like to keep up — it’s sort of a pain if you don’t have a big cable TV package. And even if you find a good streaming package online, it’s kind of nice to watch a stage in public. Who knows, you might meet other people as excited about bike racing as you are.

If you’re looking for a fun and reliable place to see the pain and suffering and glory unfold, look no further than these three local hangouts. Each one of them will have the day’s stage on a big-screen starting at 5:00 pm.:
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Seanna Sample and Tommy Wilson of St. Honore
Boulangerie.
(Photo: M.Andersen/BikePortland)

Part of NW Portland Week.

Every July for 10 years now, northwest Portlanders who love the Tour de France have gathered at 6 in the morning for a slice of international cycling, available for free … at a local bakery.

Why a bakery? Because the annual bike race makes its 40-something owner, Dominique Geulin, feel at home.

“He grew up with the Tour going through his town,” said Seanna Sample, Geulin’s niece and a supervisor at St. Honore Boulangerie at NW 23rd and Thurman. “When it’s on TV he sees his family and friends standing by the road.”
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Catch the Tour at Portland Bicycle Studio’s new location (NW 14th and Raleigh) every morning at 7:00 am.
(Photo courtesy Portland Bicycle Studio)

The Tour de France is already well into its first week and the action is heating up. For many fans “Le Tour” is a must-see race, but unlike the World Cup it’s not always easy to find a reliable (and cheap) television feed. That’s where bike shops and cafes step in to fill the void with viewing parties and big screens.
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Event Name: Echelon Gran Fondo
Event Start Date: September 26, 2010
Start Time: 8:30:00 AM
Web Site: http://www.echelongranfondo.org/portland/index.html
Event Description: Echelon Gran Fondo in the Columbia River Gorge is a festive and scenic road ride event with distance options of 30, 60 and 100 miles. Team Radio Shack’s Chris Horner rides along as ambassador of this exciting benefit for OHSU Knight Cancer Institute and the Livestrong Foundation. Enjoy the party atmosphere, race if you’d like during the 40k timed section or just enjoy the views of Mt. Hood as you pedal past entertainers and cheering spectators toward the finish line feast in Hood River.
Register yourself, a team or sponsor other riders today.

Flyer for viewing parties at Migration Brewing.
(PDF via Scribd)

Love it or hate it, it’s Tour de France season! That means pubs and cafes throughout Portland are showing the big race so those of us without cable can catch all the action with fellow racing fans.

Below is a list of viewing locations in no particular order. If you know of a great place to watch the Tour and it’s not listed here, please add it in the comments. Thanks… And let’s just hope there’s more drama in the racing than in the crashes and doping scandals. [Read more…]

Tour de France viewing parties, like this one
at the Lucky Lab in 2007, can be
found all over Portland.
(Photo © J. Maus)

With six stages down and 15 to go, the Tour de France is just getting warmed up.

For some reason this year, the race is already exciting and the action hasn’t even hit the mountains. A guy named Lance has a lot to do with the buzz, but the bottom line is that more people than ever seem to be tuning in. [Read more…]

Who’s to blame for poorly timed
commercial breaks during the Tour?

Yesterday’s exciting Tour de France stage saw popular racer Thomas Voeckler (who won many fans for his courageous defense of the Yellow Jersey in 2004). Voeckler pounced on his breakaway companions and rolled into Perpignan alone for his first-ever stage win.

But for many Portlanders — who were watching the action unfold live on their televisions via the Versus sports channel — all they saw was a commercial (and ironically, one person reported it was an ad for Comcast).

The inopportune break really peeved 47 year-old Lewis & Clark law professor Dan Rohlf. “This morning the break occurred just seconds before the end of the race,” he wrote, “Viewers missed all the riders finishing.”[Read more…]