US cycling fans are about to get the most live TV coverage of the world championships ever
After years of planning and anticipation, one of the biggest and best weeks in world cycling is set to take place in Richmond, Virginia, September 20-27 - and an unprecedented 26 hours of the racing will be broadcast on live television.
So if you can't make it to RVA, you'll have plenty of options to watch the races.
"Universal Sports Network and NBC Sports Group will present more than 33 premiere hours, including 26 hours live, from the 2015 UCI Road Cycling World Championships in Richmond," organizers of Richmond 2015 announced on Monday.
"The unprecedented television coverage across four networks includes 16.5 hours of coverage planned for Universal Sports, 9 for NBCSN, 6.5 for CNBC and 1 for NBC. Additionally, NBC Sports Live Extra will stream all NBC, NBCSN and CNBC telecasts, and UniversalSports.com will stream all Universal Sports coverage.
"Live streaming also will be available at Richmond2015.com and on a new Richmond 2015 mobile app for iOS and Android devices, which will be released later this week."
It's only the second time that cycling worlds have been held on US soil - you have to go back 29 years to Colorado Springs, Colorado, for the first visit - and the US has an excellent shot at winning several medals, most notably in the elite women's road race with Wall Street analyst turned bike racer Evelyn Stevens and in the elite women's time trial with Olympic gold medalist Kristin Armstrong.
This year's eight-day, 12-race UCI Road World Championships will showcase over 1,000 cyclists from 75 countries. Each race crowns a new world champion, and each champion wears the rainbow jersey for a year until the next championships.
Organizers expect 450,000 on-site spectators with another 300 million people tuning in to see the races broadcast worldwide. Lending importance to this year's world championships is next year's Olympics, because in Richmond we should get a preview of Rio 2016.
Here's the broadcast schedule for Universal Sports and NBC Sports:
All times Eastern. Schedule is subject to change. All coverage is live except where noted.| DATE | TIME (ET) | EVENT | NETWORK |
| Sun., Sept. 20 | 11 a.m.-1 p.m. | Women's Elite Team Time Trial | Universal Sports |
| 2-4 p.m. | Men's Elite Team Time Trial | CNBC | |
| Mon., Sept. 21 | 1-4 p.m. | Men's Under 23 Individual Time Trial | Universal Sports |
| 7-9 p.m.* | Men's Under 23 Individual Time Trial | NBCSN | |
| Tue., Sept. 22 | 2-5 p.m. | Women's Elite Individual Time Trial | NBCSN |
| Wed., Sept. 23 | 12:30-1 p.m. | Pre-Race Show | Universal Sports |
| 1-2 p.m. | Men's Elite Individual Time Trial | Universal Sports | |
| 2-4 p.m. | Men's Elite Individual Time Trial | NBCSN | |
| Thu., Sept. 24 | 5-6 p.m.* | Highlights Show | Universal Sports |
| Fri., Sept. 25 | 2-5 p.m. | Men's Under 23 Road Race | Universal Sports |
| 8-10 p.m.* | Men's Under 23 Road Race | NBCSN | |
| Sat., Sept. 26 | 12:30-1 p.m. | Pre-Race Show | Universal Sports |
| 1-5 p.m. | Women's Elite Road Race | Universal Sports | |
| Sun., Sept. 27 | 8:30-9 a.m. | Pre-Race Show | Universal Sports |
| 12-4:30 p.m. | Men's Elite Road Race | CNBC | |
| Mon., Sept. 28 | 7-8 p.m.* | Wrap-Up Show | Universal Sports |
| Sun., Oct. 4 | 12-1 p.m.* | 2015 UCI Road World Championships | NBC |
* Same Day or Tape Delay Coverage.
Interest in cycling in the US is growing. Some say that, at least for young professionals, cycling is the new golf.
Golf's popularity is waning, according to data from the National Golf Federation:
According to USA Cycling, the number of people taking out a license from 2002 to 2013 increased a whopping 76%:
