Chris Horner, the only American Grand Tour champion of the last 29 years, will make his Tour de France commentary debut with NBC Sports next month.

Horner, who became the oldest Grand Tour winner at the 2013 Vuelta a España at age 41, will be part of NBC Sports’ traveling studio coverage of the Tour de France, hosted by Paul Burmeister, with retired American cyclist Christian Vande Velde reprising his role.

Bob Roll will move from the studio to call the action with Phil Liggett for the Tour that starts July 6. Liggett’s longtime partner, Paul Sherwen, died Dec. 2 at age 62 after being involved in 40 Tours de France.

Horner made his NBC Sports commentary debut for Liège-Bastogne-Liège on April 28.

“Completely different than anything I’m used to,” he said. “I really just learned that it’s harder than it looks on TV. On TV, [viewers] just can’t understand how you miss that call or that play, but when you’re [a commentator] watching it on the screen and picking up some facts on the computer, looking down, looking up, it makes it kind of difficult to catch all of the action.”

Horner, a 2012 Olympian, competed in seven Tours with a best finish of ninth in 2010. His Grand Tour career ended at the 2014 Tour, but he still rides, having done the Cascade Classic in his native Oregon three weeks ago.

“I still carry a pro license, but I don’t really consider myself a pro by any means,” Horner said. “It’s no longer my job or my career or anything like that. I just love racing my bike. It’s an easier transition to keep racing a little bit and transition into the non-bike racing world.”

Watch world-class cycling events throughout the year with the NBC Sports Gold Cycling Pass, including all 21 stages of the Tour de France live & commercial-free, plus access to renowned races like La Vuelta, Paris-Roubaix, the UCI World Championships and many more.

MORE: NBC Sports launches Cycling Pass for 2019-20 season

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