Tour 2011 - the Tour de France iPhone app

When I can, and this might sound pretentious, I like to follow the tour from the road beside each stage. This requires that I fly to France and spend three weeks galavanting around the countryside. I don't have a problem with that, but my wallet and my employers do. So most of my pursuit of the Tour is done electronically and online.

As many Tour fans know, Eurosport isn't available in this country as the satellite they use to beam the signal to Europe is situated in the wrong spot in the sky. Some folks in SOUTHERN FL can grab the signal, but for the rest of the United States, it's impossible.

The other option for following Tour coverage is the sometimes lame, sometimes great programming on Versus. They've done the Tour for years, but they are still relegated to the whims and programming/filming choices of the Eurosport staff. *This might change now that Versus has the power of NBC behind them. We'll see.

So, many folks either find themselves watching the Versus recaps at night and trolling the Internet for simulcast Ustream or Livestream feeds that Europeans are kind enough to share. I'll be doing some of that this year too.

But the best option I've found - and I did this last year too - was to load a few apps onto my iPhone and follow the tour that way. My favorite for this year (and it cost about $2) is the "Tour 2011" app. They have lots of news feeds, a stages overview section, rider features and facts, a live stream that has been pretty feature rich so far (only stage 1 mid-way right now), and a leaderboard.

This app is as well appointed as the dispatches you can get at Le Tour - the official TDF site - or elsewhere on the Web.

Other apps I've gotten to supplement my enjoyment are the team apps for Radio Shack and others. And I'm following a number of riders on Twitter.

Your mileage may vary, but I prefer to immerse myself in the race and this is a great way to do it.