Lance Armstrong's return to le Tour has resulted in strong ratings for Versus, the network that broadcast the bike race in the States. 

Through the first nine days of the Tour, Versus viewer numbers are up 83 percent from last year, as well as 18 percent from 2005 when Armstrong last raced. In addition, traffic on Versus.com has soared 131 percent and the website has generated 6 million video views compared with 6.5 million for the entire race last year.

Versus has broadcast the Tour de France for 9 years with a contract that runs through 2013.