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NBC Sports Gold launches 2019-20 Cycling Pass for Tour de France, more

By OlympicTalkMay 29, 2019, 6:38 PM EDT

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NBC Sports Gold will live stream every 2019 Tour de France stage, commercial-free and from start to finish, with its “Cycling Pass” that also offers live streaming coverage of 18 total events from July through April 2020.

The Tour runs from July 6-28. “Cycling Pass” subscribers will have access to full stage video replays, a live GPS tracking map of riders, highlights and more.

The “Cycling Pass” also includes the last Grand Tour of the season, the Vuelta a España in August and September, and the world road cycling championships in late September.

Then in 2020, spring classics including Paris–Roubaix and Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

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NBC Sports Gold “Cycling Pass” events

Tour de France – July 6-28, 2019
Arctic Race of Norway – August 23, 2019*
UCI Mountain Bike World Championships – August 28-September 1
Vuelta a Espana – August 24 – September 15, 2019
Madrid Challenge by La Vuelta – September 19, 2019
UCI Road World Championships – September 22-29, 2019
Paris-Tours – October 6, 2019
Tour of Croatia – October 9, 2019*
Saitama Criterium – November 13, 2019*
China Criterium – November 13, 2019*
Tour of Hainan – November 13, 2019*
Santos Tour Down Under – January 13-19, 2020
UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships – February 1-2, 2019
Tour of Oman – February 21, 2020*
Paris-Nice – March 1-8, 2020
Paris-Roubaix – April 6, 2020
La Fleche Wallonne – April 15, 2020
Liege-Bastogne-Liege – April 19, 2020
Tour of Turkey – April 23, 2020*
UCI Track Cycling World Cup – TBD
UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup – TBD

2026 Winter Olympic host: Milan-Cortina

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By Nick ZaccardiJun 24, 2019, 12:05 PM EDT

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Italy will host the 2026 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, with Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo winning an IOC vote over a Swedish-Latvian bid centered on Stockholm.

Milan Cortina won with 47 votes to Stockholm–Åre’s 34.

After Winter Games in Vancouver (2010), Sochi (2014), PyeongChang (2018) and Beijing (2022), they return to a traditional European site for the first time since Italy hosted in Torino in 2006.

The two bids were left after five others dropped out for various reasons, all in 2018: Calgary, Canada; Erzurum, Turkey; Sapporo, Japan; Graz, Austria and Sion, Switzerland.

With the 2024 and 2028 Summer Games hosts both decided two years ago (Paris for 2024, Los Angeles for 2028), next up is the 2030 Winter Games. The U.S. has already said that if it bids, it will be with Salt Lake City, which held the 2002 Winter Olympics.

Italy will host the Winter Games for a third time after Cortina d’Ampezzo in 1956 and Torino in 2006.

Its bid presentation Monday included all three Italian 2018 Olympic champions speaking — Arianna Fontana (short track), Michela Moioli (snowboard cross) and Sofia Goggia (downhill). The presentation ended with 15-year-old short track speed skater Elisa Confortola addressing more than 80 IOC members.

Italy’s initial bid declaration in March 2018 was for a joint Milan-Torino candidate. Cortina was added within a week to make it a three-pronged bid. By September, Torino dropped out after political infighting. The bid has since remained Milan-Cortina, sites separated by more than 200 miles.

Sweden has finished second or third in all seven of its Winter Olympic bid votes, including six straight from 1984 through 2002, according to the OlyMADMen. Stockholm–Åre was trying to become the first Winter Games held in multiple countries, with Latvia holding bobsled, luge and skeleton.

More on the Milan-Cortina bid:

Proposed Dates: Feb. 6-22 (Olympics), March 6-15 (Paralympics)

Venues
Milan — Figure skating, hockey, short track
Cortina d’Ampezzo (220 miles northeast of Milan) — Alpine skiing (women), bobsled, luge, skeleton, curling, biathlon (Antholz)
Val di Fiemme (160 miles northeast of Milan) — Cross-country skiing, ski jumping, Nordic combined, speed skating (outdoors)
Valtellina (85 miles northeast of Milan) — Alpine skiing (men, Bormio), freestyle skiing, snowboarding

Ceremonies
Opening Ceremony — San Siro (home of AC Milan and Inter Milan)
Closing Ceremony — Verona Arena (Roman amphitheatre 90 miles east of Milan)

Slogan
“Dreaming Together”

IOC Evaluation Group Report
“Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo combine the advantages of a big European city and those of a popular mountain resort region in the Italian Alps. The candidature benefits from the region’s strong winter sports history, tradition and experience, as well as the Italians’ love and passion for sport. The project can also leverage the economic strength and prosperity of the northern Italian region. While planning is still at an early stage, the project has the potential to achieve the long-term goals of the cities and the region in line with Olympic Agenda 2020/New Norm.”

MORE: Tokyo 2020 Olympic master schedule

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Milano-Cortina elected as Host City for the Winter Olympic Games 2026 @MilanoCortina26 #MilanoCortina2026 pic.twitter.com/v9MHpRMfLB

— Olympics (@Olympics) June 24, 2019

Japan’s gymnastics worlds team: no Kohei Uchimura, Kenzo Shirai

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By OlympicTalkJun 24, 2019, 6:20 AM EDT

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Not only is Kohei Uchimura going to miss the world championships, but so is 11-time world medalist Kenzo Shirai.

Japan finalized its five-man team for October’s worlds in Stuttgart, Germany, following a national-level meet this past weekend. Uchimura, arguably the greatest gymnast in history, was already out of the running, sidelined with his latest round of injuries.

Shirai, reportedly slowed by a left ankle injury this season, did compete this weekend. But he finished fifth on floor exercise and third on vault, his two best events, and did not earn one of the last two spots on the world team.

Uchimura, a two-time Olympic all-around champion with six world all-around titles, misses worlds for the first time since 2007. Shirai, a 22-year-old with four world titles between floor and vault, had competed in every worlds since debuting in 2013, just after his 17th birthday.

Without their two stars, Japan sends a relatively inexperienced team. Kazuma Kaya and Wataru Tanigawa, both 22, are the only men who have been to a worlds (and were part of the 2018 silver-medal team). The youngest member is 17-year-old Daiki Hashimoto.

Japan has earned a team medal at every Olympics and world championships since 2003, a streak bettered only by the U.S. women.

MORE: Olympic gymnastics team sizes return to five for Paris 2024

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