Huge news for UK Cycling fans - Free-to-air Tour de France coverage promised from this summer

Cycling fans in the UK have been handed some good news as free-to-air coverage of the Tour de France has been promised by this summer. Due to TV rights changes and the closure of Eurosport UK last year, British cycling fans haven't been able to access live coverage of major cycling races without a paid subscription.

Cycling in the UK took a major blow when it was announced that ITV will no longer show full live coverage of the Tour de France, making 2026 set to be the first year in decades that the race wasn't shown live and in full on free-to-air television. This came amid Warner Bros Discover (WBD), parent company of TNT Sports, acquired the full TV rights.

This season, fans hoping to watch races such as the ongoing Giro d'Italia would have to fork out as much as £30.99 for a monthly subscription to HBO Max with TNT Sports, although it can be purchased for £25.99 a month on a 12-month contract.

However, there is hope for UK cycling fans after a high-level WBD boss hinted that a free-to-air Tour de France coverage plan was being worked on. However, it was not confirmed what that coverage would look like or whether it will feature live racing.

"I think you need to have a free-to-air product. And there will be a free-to-air product," Scott Young, EVP at Warner Bros Discovery Sports Europe, said to journalists last week.

"It could entail having a partner that will show parts of the Tour de France to a free audience, but we're just working through how much [of the race], what duration, frequency, we're working through all the elements of that."

Young highlighted the need for free-to-air coverage of major cycling events for its subscription models to demonstrate the value of its service. He also stressed the importance of balance in ensuring fans who don't subscribe get to watch enough of the races for free.

"Companies like us and Sky invest in sport, and that's why sports like the [football] Premier League have been going since day one behind a paywall," Young added. "There’s a clear audience in this market that accepts paying for sport. Sport in this market generally sits behind a paywall one way or the other.

"We need to have a relationship with free-to-air to do exactly that for us to continue to have the value coming in through the subscription, so we can invest in sport and have a free-to-air partner, so that a certain amount of that content is also accessible to people who choose not to subscribe and maybe watch the entire 21 stages, but get to see enough of it through free."