As a ribbon of cyclists weaved through the Alps on Tuesday during stage nine of the Tour de France, early-morning patrons at Thump Coffee in downtown Bend jostled for prime position around a small flat-screen television.

Across town at Sunnyside Sports, bike mechanics and customers locked in to the screen as Colombian Juan Mauricio Soler streaked across the finish line of the 99.1-mile stage in just more than 4 hours and 14 minutes.

”They’re never going to catch him on that hill!” exclaimed viewer Terry Foley as Hernandez broke away from the pack in the final stretch of the race.

Since Sunnyside started showing live coverage of cycling’s most famous race seven years ago, Foley has been bringing his lawn chair to the shop to watch the race each morning.

”It’s like the Super Bowl for me,” says Foley, 65. ”There is nothing like watching the best do what they do.”

Foley is one of many local residents who gather – whether at a local coffee shop, in a living room or around a computer screen – to catch as much live coverage of the Tour de France as possible. Live coverage usually starts at about 5:30 a.m., and crowds each day tend to grow as the race draws to a close at about 8 a.m.

Thump Coffee typically opens at 6 a.m., and owner Kent Chapple says that since he rented a television to show live coverage of the race he has had customers showing up earlier and earlier, trying to catch the start of the day’s stage.

”There are these little noses pressed against the glass,” says Chapple. ”At first I was a little worried about not having everything ready, but we had drip coffee going and everyone comes in to watch. It’s such a cool crowd.”

Chapple and his wife, Hazel, a co-owner of the shop, decided to offer live coverage of the race after their shop, which opened just five months ago, quickly became home to a community of cyclists and other sports enthusiasts. Since the coffee shop started showing the Tour de France, Kent Chapple estimates that about 25 to 30 fans have been gathering in the shop to watch each morning.

”It’s just sort of evolved,” says Chapple of the shop’s regular crowd. ”It’s a really nice vibe and a terrific group.”

For Andrea Wiggins and Timothy Smith, who don’t own a television, the coverage offered at Thump has been a blessing. Tuesday was their first day of watching the Tour de France live, but they said they’ll be back next week as the riders head back into the Pyrenees mountains.

”Those mountain stages are just so fun to watch,” said Smith. ”They’re really exciting.”

But as exciting as the three-week race is, Sunnyside Sports co-owner Gary Bonacker says some cycling fans have been soured by the doping problems that surround the sport and the scandal involving last year’s Tour winner, Floyd Landis.

Bonacker thinks that increasing numbers of Tour de France fans are choosing to watch the race at home via expanded cable packages or online. He says that his shop’s once-larger crowds have dwindled in past years. He isn’t sure if modern media options, doping scandals, or the lack of a leading American rider could be to blame.

But no matter the circumstances, there are still faithful fans like Terry Foley and the Thump Coffee crowd who rise early each morning to catch the start of the day’s stage.

”People can choose to be soured on (the sport),” said Bonacker. ”Maybe that’s their protest and they’ll come back once it has cleaned up. But to me, (the Tour de France) is a part of the summer. To see it live and watch the best cyclists in the world, that’s pretty neat.”