One thing I most look forward to every sukmmer is the Tour de France - doping scandals notwithstanding, this is still one of the greatest sporting events on the planet.

So it was with eagerness that I opened the July issue of Starhub's Telescope magazine, hoping that with the planned price hike, we might perhaps enjoy improved coverage of the Tour this year, among other things.

(Last year, we got only one-and-a-half hours of live footage on alternate days, except for selected stages with consecutive-night coverage. Compare this with overseas networks' six-plus hours of the Tour live, daily. Not to mention that we either never see other great races like the Giro d'Italia, Vuelta a Espana and Paris Roubaix, or have unfriendly scheduling of recorded highlights tossed at us during working hours on weekdays.)

Believing that the price increase would offer better value all round, I was thus flummoxed to flip through July's Telescope and find not a word about the Tour.

I rang Starhub to ask about this, only to be informed that they were not even negotiating to purchase the rights to broadcast any part of the three-week event.

I must say that the gentleman who took my call was most polite and understanding in communicating my questions to the persons in charge, and conveying their responses to me. I appreciate his patience.

However, I can scarcely appreciate the relayed answers, the last of which was that 'these arrangements can be very last-minute, so maybe you can check again in two weeks?'.

That, however, is when the Tour starts. I would like to know if I have any hope of watching it live on telly, or if I'll end up trawling the Internet for ticker-tape reports.

It would be absurd to have to read Tour de France text updates on the Net while quietly shelling out more for cable sports subscriptions. It has reached the point where I am even willing purchase pay-per-view packages for big cycling races if it means I can be guaranteed more hours of live coverage instead of being left wondering if Starhub will make some "very last-minute" arrangements to show them.

Adele Ong Ser Sen (Ms)