# BEin Coverage of the Giro D'Italia



## bigjohnla (Mar 29, 2010)

I got the extra sports package from my cable provider so I could have BEIn and Universal Sports. This really increased the amount of cycling I had available to enjoy. It is great so far, for the first time I got to actually watvch all of the Spring Classics. Not always live but at least I got see the races. With the GIRO starting this weekend I am all pumped up to watch it. I was setting up my DVR and found the first stage (in Ireland ?) listed for Friday morning on BEin but no listings for any stages after that. Is the entire race going to be aired on BEin? I am going to be disappointed if I don't get to watch it.


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## chudak (Jul 28, 2012)

Looking at their schedule here I see stage two scheduled at 8:30am saturday morning and stage three scheduled at 8:30am sunday morning, etc.


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## rufus (Feb 3, 2004)

Was just gonna post that.


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## Milan SanRemo (Feb 23, 2011)

Thanks for posting this, bigjohnla. I didn't realize BEin was going to cover the Giro - I'd have missed it all!


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## obed (Jan 12, 2014)

cool...I am normally riding at that time, so i would have had to do the dvr thing, now that i have figure out how it works... but the weather forecast for us here sucks for that time period, so I may just sit back and watch it...normally when i see bicycling on Bien it is entirely by accident.


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## Marc (Jan 23, 2005)

I was going to look it up on bein....then remembering how universally shitty Universal Sports got...I'm going to stream it less than legally.

Not that it matters much since bein is only available in the USA if your TV provider is DirectTV, Dish Network, or Verizon. Least Eurosport is carrying it, Sky Sports blows ass in the typical manner you'd expect a Fox-owned USA sports channel would.


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## Rokh On (Oct 30, 2011)

Marc, 

I have Xfinity (Comcast) and I have 2 beIN channels. beIN Sport en Español and beIN Sport.


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## chudak (Jul 28, 2012)

Marc said:


> I was going to look it up on bein....then remembering how universally shitty Universal Sports got...I'm going to stream it less than legally.
> 
> Not that it matters much since bein is only available in the USA if your TV provider is DirectTV, Dish Network, or Verizon. Least Eurosport is carrying it, Sky Sports blows ass in the typical manner you'd expect a Fox-owned USA sports channel would.


I have BEin on Cox here in San Diego. I sucked it up and subscribed to the two separate sports packages that have BEin and Universal Sports.


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## Marc (Jan 23, 2005)

chudak said:


> I have BEin on Cox here in San Diego. I sucked it up and subscribed to the two separate sports packages that have BEin and Universal Sports.


Heh, well good luck. I've quit paying for streaming as the streaming coverage in the USA has gotten as ad-laden as the TV...and worse, worthless idiot commentary that is not only seldom relevant if not distracting from the race at hand, but also usually wrong. All in place of actually covering the race.

I mean it really isn't all that hard...all they need to do is just take the TV feed from the host broadcasters, not **** it up, and use say the Eurosport commentators...and people would watch. But nope. Cannot leave something un****ed up. That would save time, effort, money, and make sense. We cannot have that in corporate USA.


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## 4Crawler (Jul 13, 2011)

Marc said:


> Heh, well good luck. I've quit paying for streaming as the streaming coverage in the USA has gotten as ad-laden as the TV...and worse, worthless idiot commentary that is not only seldom relevant if not distracting from the race at hand, but also usually wrong. All in place of actually covering the race.
> 
> I mean it really isn't all that hard...all they need to do is just take the TV feed from the host broadcasters, not **** it up, and use say the Eurosport commentators...and people would watch. But nope. Cannot leave something un****ed up. That would save time, effort, money, and make sense. We cannot have that in corporate USA.


After dropping DirecTV earlier this year (w/ BEin and USN), I've switched over to a Eurosport Player subscription and so far that is working well, under $7/mo. Only thing I have not worked out yet is a DVR type function. But between the multiple showings and the ~3 hour rewind buffer on the player, I can usually catch coverage at convenient times. Looks like the Giro coverage will be watchable in the morning.


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## LostViking (Jul 18, 2008)

My DVR is gonna be burning up - both the Giro and The Tour of Cali - my wife is gonna forget who I am!


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## rufus (Feb 3, 2004)

Too bad bein couldn't be bothered to show us the full stage today. Cut away just after the last team started to show their regularly scheduled show on SerieA soccer, or some other BS.


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## Marc (Jan 23, 2005)

rufus said:


> Too bad bein couldn't be bothered to show us the full stage today. Cut away just after the last team started to show their regularly scheduled show on SerieA soccer, or some other BS.


Color me completely un-surprised.

Eurosport showed the whole thing.


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## Monk (Jan 28, 2012)

rufus said:


> Too bad bein couldn't be bothered to show us the full stage today. Cut away just after the last team started to show their regularly scheduled show on SerieA soccer, or some other BS.


Exactly. If you're gonna show the race, do it in it's entirety. Should have guessed a Soccer channel would jack it up. Now, I'm left scouring the internet for details of the more important events (trying not to be a spoiler).


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## Marc (Jan 23, 2005)

Monk said:


> Exactly. If you're gonna show the race, do it in it's entirety. Should have guessed a Soccer channel would jack it up. Now, I'm left scouring the internet for details of the more important events (trying not to be a spoiler).


It isn't a "soccer channel" thing to do. It is just American broadcasters f'ing things up like they have so often in the past. How many times did OLN etc. dump the ends of stages for hockey or bull-riding? It was so many times, I lost track.


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## allenpg (Sep 13, 2006)

So, I got nothing today. My DVR was setup to the correct times. Don't know if it was an issue with my guide and timezones. I'm set to begin recording 5:30 AM PST tomorrow, but also setup to record whatever shows following. Hopefully, I can figure out what's up. Very frustrating!


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## Monk (Jan 28, 2012)

Marc said:


> It isn't a "soccer channel" thing to do. It is just American broadcasters f'ing things up like they have so often in the past. How many times did OLN etc. dump the ends of stages for hockey or bull-riding? It was so many times, I lost track.


Sarcasm Mr. Program Master...


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## David23 (Jun 5, 2012)

I have BEin through Direct TV, and it has worked out fine so far. I'm thrilled it is in HD, as I am so sick of watching Universal in Standard (Fuzzy) definition. I record everything and can then fast forward all the ads and spend much less time in front of the tv. It is already going to take up enough of my day between the Giro and the Tour Calif. Recording them both.


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## rufus (Feb 3, 2004)

Monk said:


> Exactly. If you're gonna show the race, do it in it's entirety. Should have guessed a Soccer channel would jack it up. Now, I'm left scouring the internet for details of the more important events (trying not to be a spoiler).


My Neri Sottoli boys were the last team to start, and I was looking forward to seeing 20-some minutes of them cruising the course in their day-glo yellow skinsuits. Alas...........


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## Rich Gibson (Jul 26, 2013)

rufus said:


> Too bad bein couldn't be bothered to show us the full stage today. Cut away just after the last team started to show their regularly scheduled show on SerieA soccer, or some other BS.


Absolutely outrageous. A critical moment of the race in which a team's crash changes the entire outcome and BMC starts out on an attempt to beat the leaders after the rain stops and they......switch to a football match? Yikes!! Not very smart. Why couldn't Universal or NBC sports show this critical race? Then during today's introduction by a host and someone pushes a button to play the recorded introductory promo. Amateur hour.

Rich


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## Rich Gibson (Jul 26, 2013)

Marc said:


> Color me completely un-surprised.
> 
> Eurosport showed the whole thing.


Forgive my basic question but is there any way to subscribe to Eurosport online? I subscribe to Cycling.TV but they have the lower ranked races (and not very many) and quickly pull off the "as live" and leave you only with highlights or race summary.

Rich


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## 4Crawler (Jul 13, 2011)

Rich Gibson said:


> Forgive my basic question but is there any way to subscribe to Eurosport online? I subscribe to Cycling.TV but they have the lower ranked races (and not very many) and quickly pull off the "as live" and leave you only with highlights or race summary.
> 
> Rich


Sure, I do. You will need a network connection in a covered geographical area to do so, but after that, just go to the sign-up page and enter your information:
- Eurosport Player

You can access via a web browser or they have apps for various mobile devices.

Unless you are in the same time zone as UK, you'll need to figure out the scheduling yourself. On the main Eurosport page, the TV schedule uses your system time and shows you the appropriate day on the schedule, but you need to do the TZ conversion yourself. For example now it is 8 hours difference for Pacific Time. On the player page, the TV guide uses your system time, but ignores the day, so that one is basically useless. The Live TV program display is correct in that is shows you what is playing now.


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## Rich Gibson (Jul 26, 2013)

4Crawler said:


> Sure, I do. You will need a network connection in a covered geographical area to do so, but after that, just go to the sign-up page and enter your information:
> - Eurosport Player
> 
> You can access via a web browser or they have apps for various mobile devices.
> ...


so....

"Sorry..Eurosport Player is not available in your country"r​..means I'm screwed?​
Rich


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## 4Crawler (Jul 13, 2011)

Rich Gibson said:


> so....
> 
> "Sorry..Eurosport Player is not available in your country"r​..means I'm screwed?​
> Rich


That..., or you (or your internet connection) are in the wrong country. I connect to a VPN server in the UK, problem solved.


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## Rich Gibson (Jul 26, 2013)

4Crawler said:


> That..., or you (or your internet connection) are in the wrong country. I connect to a VPN server in the UK, problem solved.


We have the familiar short cut 'terminology' communication problem. We're cycling fans here, not telecommunications specialists. Would you please explain whether or not that applies to someone not living in the UK and if it is a technique you can somehow use to get to Eurosport from a forbidden country? I'm certain all of us residing in the U.S. and others so denied good Giro streaming would be very grateful?

Thanks, Rich


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## Marc (Jan 23, 2005)

Rich Gibson said:


> We have the familiar short cut 'terminology' communication problem. We're cycling fans here, not telecommunications specialists. Would you please explain whether or not that applies to someone not living in the UK and if it is a technique you can somehow use to get to Eurosport from a forbidden country? I'm certain all of us residing in the U.S. and others so denied good Giro streaming would be very grateful?
> 
> Thanks, Rich


It applies to anyone anywhere with just about any website...so long as the website in question only uses the rather rudimentary IP address tracking and geolocating. Which is just about all websites including Google all get spoofed, but if someone is serious about tracing you they still can with enough effort...Oh, and your ISP doesn't screw with VPN tunneling connections (some do). But you need a VPN with enough bandwidth for streaming and one with a gateway in the EU. Most with enough bandwidth are not free. Ones like Private Internet Access (that I use) are $6.95/month (cheaper if bought for a year which I do) with no data caps and pretty sizable bandwidth and tons of privacy features.


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## rufus (Feb 3, 2004)

Rich Gibson said:


> Then during today's introduction by a host and someone pushes a button to play the recorded introductory promo. Amateur hour.
> 
> Rich


I don't think it was that, in this case. That host is totally unknowledgeable about cycling, and when he has to speak off the cuff, he just cannot do it. I think he was supposed to intro the program setting up the transition to the taped intro, and just couldn't find the proper way to do it. Instead he rambled and fumbled, and then the intro started. 

He's just not a smooth announcer. He was the same last year in the Tour of Switzerland, I think it was, and after two or three stages, the other guy who hosted The Express yesterday took over. He doesn't know much about cycling either, but he's a far better announcer when having to speak on the fly.


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## 4Crawler (Jul 13, 2011)

Rich Gibson said:


> We have the familiar short cut 'terminology' communication problem. We're cycling fans here, not telecommunications specialists. Would you please explain whether or not that applies to someone not living in the UK and if it is a technique you can somehow use to get to Eurosport from a forbidden country? I'm certain all of us residing in the U.S. and others so denied good Giro streaming would be very grateful?
> 
> Thanks, Rich


Virtual Private Network:
- Virtual private network - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

With the appropriate service, set up a connection to a server in the country you wish to appear to reside in and viola, you are there. I happen to run a VPN router/accelerator setup so I can switch any device in my local network onto a secure VPN connection with the click of a mouse. You can also install software-only VPN client applications and I think there are also some VPN-like apps for mobile phones (I'm not familiar with those).

Between the cost of the VPN account and the Eurosport Player subscription, I am paying about what I paid for DirecTV's Sports Package that I used to have to get BEin, USN, and NBCsports for cycling coverage. But now I only pay for that and nothing else. Much better picture than you get off the free streaming sites and always the same URL. VPN costs me a bit over $4/mo. (I use PureVPN but there are many similar services) and EuroSport about $6.75/mo on the yearly plan. I found it interesting that in the first Lemond on Cycling show, Greg mentioned about how he streamed EuroSport and he lives in MN, and no question from the EuroSport interviewer about that. They don't ask for any billing address with the credit card when you sign up. Just go to the Subscribe link on the EuroSport player site.


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## love4himies (Jun 12, 2012)

Rich Gibson said:


> We have the familiar short cut 'terminology' communication problem. We're cycling fans here, not telecommunications specialists. Would you please explain whether or not that applies to someone not living in the UK and if it is a technique you can somehow use to get to Eurosport from a forbidden country? I'm certain all of us residing in the U.S. and others so denied good Giro streaming would be very grateful?
> 
> Thanks, Rich


Watch Other Online - FromSport - SportLemon.tv

Download an ad blocker and you are on your way to watch every major cycling race.


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## Marc (Jan 23, 2005)

love4himies said:


> Watch Other Online - FromSport - SportLemon.tv
> 
> Download an ad blocker and you are on your way to watch every major cycling race.


Low res, make sure you have up to date comprehensive antivirus/net security/firewall. Yesterday my AV warned of one server serving a trojan. Made it past my Privoxy and Ad Block Plus.

VPNing costs money but is a ton less hassle and safer. Helps if you're a VPN subscriber to start with. I pay for it anyway. $8-9USD is pennies to waych all of Giro in 720p


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## Rich Gibson (Jul 26, 2013)

Marc said:


> Low res, make sure you have up to date comprehensive antivirus/net security/firewall. Yesterday my AV warned of one server serving a trojan. Made it past my Privoxy and Ad Block Plus.
> 
> VPNing costs money but is a ton less hassle and safer. Helps if you're a VPN subscriber to start with. I pay for it anyway. $8-9USD is pennies to waych all of Giro in 720p


That appeals to me. PM sent. Is Eurosport the best/only/one of the ones to use? I subscribe to cycling.tv but it's often crappy resolution, highly pixelated and then they pull down the 'as live' versions too soon. Where do you go to sign up with, say, Eurosport once you have signed up with a VPN?

Rich


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## Marc (Jan 23, 2005)

Rich Gibson said:


> That appeals to me. PM sent. Is Eurosport the best/only/one of the ones to use? I subscribe to cycling.tv but it's often crappy resolution, highly pixelated and then they pull down the 'as live' versions too soon. Where do you go to sign up with, say, Eurosport once you have signed up with a VPN?
> 
> Rich


Once you have a VPN hookup, got to Eurosport Player website is pretty clearly laid out. You'll get a popup (if you're VPNing into EU) asking for payment and making an account. Compared to the nightmare of Universal Sports streming it is really well and plainly laid out.

Note once signed up, the subscription is autorenew/deduct until you cancel it.

Eurosport is the standard English sports carrier over in EU. Some races are Sky Channel only for English, which sucks. Sky is owned by Fox (News Corp), and their content is as diluted as any US channel in terms of fluff and advertisements.


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## David Loving (Jun 13, 2008)

BeIn on DirecTV. Terrific coverage. Stage 3 was electric. I have a little trouble understanding the accents - especially when they get excited about the sprinters. Their analysis and technical views are interesting.


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## zosocane (Aug 29, 2004)

Rich Gibson said:


> Absolutely outrageous. A critical moment of the race in which a team's crash changes the entire outcome and BMC starts out on an attempt to beat the leaders after the rain stops and they......switch to a football match? Yikes!! Not very smart. Why couldn't Universal or NBC sports show this critical race? Then during today's introduction by a host and someone pushes a button to play the recorded introductory promo. Amateur hour.
> 
> Rich


Because Universal and NBC don't want to pay whatever the Giro organizers are charging for a license to telecast the race. BeIN is the new OLN/Versus that is aquiring "niche" programming to develop their name. Same thing ESPN did 34 years ago. 

I'm not complaining. The HD feed on BEin (i have DirecTV) is AWESOME and it's better than logging on to some dodgy pirate feed of Eurosport for those that can't get Eurosport


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## LostViking (Jul 18, 2008)

I second that, I am enjoying being able to watch/DVR both the Giro and the Tour of Cali - I'll complain when I can't do that anymore.


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## colnagoG60 (Jun 27, 2013)

David Loving said:


> BeIn on DirecTV. Terrific coverage. Stage 3 was electric. I have a little trouble understanding the accents - especially when they get excited about the sprinters. Their analysis and technical views are interesting.


OMG...the dude announcing the final sprint sounded like he was on PCP. I thought he'd have a heart attack.


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## colnagoG60 (Jun 27, 2013)

fornaca68 said:


> ...I'm not complaining. The HD feed on BEin (i have DirecTV) is AWESOME and it's better than logging on to some dodgy pirate feed of Eurosport for those that can't get Eurosport



I'm watching via "Dish Network"...was it just me, or did it seem like one of the cameras was set for a weird Sepia tone effect, on one of the cameras covering the front of the peloton? It seemed like a weird 80s music video where the sky was "blotted out"/"blue screened" with grey graphics effects. 

Other than that, its so nice to get 3hrs of coverage of the "Giro", in the US, when the most we used to get was some random 15 minute weekend update footage on ABC's WWofSports.


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