Tour de France handed major free-to-air UK TV boost after TNT Sports and HBO Max coverage concerns

The Tour de France will regain a free-to-air television presence in the UK from 2026, with 5 confirming daily coverage of both the men’s race and the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift.

The announcement arrives after a major shift in how British viewers follow the sport. Full live Tour de France coverage has moved deeper into the Warner Bros Discovery ecosystem, with TNT Sports now central to the UK rights picture and streaming coverage moving through HBO Max.

For long-time Tour viewers, that has meant the end of the familiar ITV route into the race. The new agreement does not reverse the wider rights move, but it does give both Tours a confirmed free-to-air platform in the UK for the next three editions.

5 will show daily highlights of the Tour de France and Tour de France Femmes from 2026 to 2028 as the exclusive English language free-to-air partner in the UK. Its 2026 Tour de France coverage begins on Saturday 4 July and will be fronted by Rebecca Charlton.

The biggest live element of the deal comes in 2027, when Britain hosts the joint Grand Departs of the Tour de France and Tour de France Femmes. All six British stages across the two races will be shown live on 5. The men’s Tour begins in Edinburgh on Friday 2 July, with the opening three stages taking the race from Edinburgh to Carlisle, Keswick to Liverpool, and Welshpool to Cardiff.

The Tour de France Femmes will then begin in Britain for the first time later that month. Stage one runs from Leeds to Manchester on Friday 30 July, before further stages from Manchester to Sheffield and then in London.

Grand Depart GB Managing Director Paul Bush OBE welcomed the announcement, saying: “We want to bring the 2027 Grands Départs to as wide an audience as possible, so it is fantastic news that fans can look forward to following this year’s edition with free-to-air coverage to build their excitement for what to expect when the Grand Départ arrives in Britain in 2027.”

The deal gives organisers a wider UK platform before one of the biggest cycling events staged in Britain since the 2014 Tour de France Grand Depart. TNT Sports will continue to carry extensive live coverage of the Tour de France and Tour de France Femmes, but 5’s involvement restores a free-to-air presence at a time when cycling coverage in Britain has become increasingly tied to paid platforms.

The shift has been felt sharply since the closure of GCN+ and the move away from ITV’s long-running Tour de France coverage. For dedicated cycling fans, the paid model still offers deep race coverage across the season. For casual Tour viewers, the route into the sport has become less straightforward.

The 2027 British Grand Depart will now avoid being shown only through a paid sports package, with 5 carrying live coverage of the stages in Edinburgh, Carlisle, Liverpool, Cardiff, Leeds, Manchester, Sheffield and London.

Full details of 5’s 2026 and 2027 coverage will be announced in due course.