Versus is racking up record Web traffic for its coverage of the Tour de France, even though the cable network isn't offering live video of the cycling event on Versus.com.

The Website generated 9.2 million page views during the first 10 days of the race, which Versus says is a slight increase in page views compared to the first 10 days of the 2007 Tour de France. What's driving traffic is an explosion in the amount of video that's being consumed.

After the first 10 days of the race, Versus.com has delivered 3.4 million videos, which already tops the total the network generated during its Web coverage of the 2007 Tour de France, Versus said Wednesday.

Versus.com is averaging 341,000 videos viewed per day from this year's race, which is almost double the daily average of 170,000 videos during the 2007 race.

Versus ran limited live Web coverage of the first two stages of the 2008 race on July 5 and July 6, streaming live coverage from 6:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. ET for Stage 1, and from 7 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. for Stage 2. No live coverage was offered on Versus.com during the 2007 race.

Most of the on-demand video clips available on Versus.com run from 30 seconds to one minute. Network executives have said they believe the lack of live video won't hurt Web traffic.

"We, along with the Tour, decided that live video is really not needed at this time," Versus vice president of strategy and development Brad Friedrich said in a recent interview.

Versus said it is also posting significant ratings increases for its TV coverage of the Tour de France.

The network said Wednesday that through the first 10 days of the race, Versus has drawn a 91 percent increase in men 18 to 34 watching its live morning telecasts. Versus says total viewership for its live and taped coverage on the network has increased 45 percent compared to 2007.

The race, which began July 5, runs through Sunday, July 27.

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