It's better than nothing......

No Lance, No Matter for OLN

Outdoor Life Network's cycling coverage will be about the same as in 2005 even though the sport's biggest drawing card has retired. The Paris-Nice stage race kicks off the Sunday programming on March 5. Back at the mikes will be the three amigos -- Phil Liggett, Paul Sherwen and Bob Roll.

OLN also will offer a streaming feed of Monday-through-Saturday stages of the Giro d'Italia on its website, http://www.olntv.com, according to VeloNews.com. Access and pricing information has yet to be announced.

Here's this season's TV lineup. Most of these shows are same-day coverage. Check your local listings to make sure of broadcast times and any additional racing programs.

---March 5, 12: Paris-Nice, 5 p.m. ET
---March 19: Milan-San Remo and Tirreno-Adriatico, 5 p.m. ET
---March 26: Criterium International, 5 p.m. ET
---April 9: Paris-Roubaix, 5 p.m. ET
---April 23: Liege-Bastogne-Liege and Fleche-Wallonne, 5 p.m. ET
---May 7, 14: Giro d'Italia, 5 p.m. ET
---May 21, 28: Giro d'Italia, 4 p.m. ET
---July 1-23: Tour de France (schedule to be announced)

For some of us vets out there, this is awesome coverage. Beats the total of 3.5 hours of coverage of the Tour de France back in the 80s......although I was very thankful of that at the time, since it was the only racing on TV.