Why are we forced to pay to look through cycling’s biggest shop window?
Ask any cyclist in the UK about their first memories of the sport and, chances are, many of them will become misty-eyed with memories of cheesy theme tunes, long, hot summers and images of the greatest riders in the world going toe-to-toe over the mountains of France.
But today, I’m sad. Really sad – because the Tour de France will no longer be free to view in the UK.
Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe has secured the Tour’s exclusive live broadcast rights with the ASO (Amaury Sports Organisation, organisers of the Tour) and the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), starting from 2026 until at least 2030.
With this, ITV has lost the right to broadcast the Tour de France live, having picked up coverage in 2001 following a 15-year stint on Channel 4, another of the UK’s free-to-air channels.
The new deal also locks in exclusivity to other ASO-owned stage races, such as Paris-Nice and the Critérium du Dauphiné, and classics Paris-Roubaix, Liège–Bastogne–Liège and La Flèche Wallonne.
Of course, I know our readers hail from all over the world, but the move is representative of a growing trend in sports media everywhere – whereby coverage is being hoovered up by broadcasters operating a subscription model.
This is devastating news to me – and many others in the BikeRadar team – who have fond memories of sitting down to watch the action unfold on terrestrial television for free.
We may have become keen riders and made our own careers out of cycling, but in many cases it all started with being able to watch the Tour for free.
Formative memories
I’m especially downbeat, because I believe sport (while certainly not the societal panacea many proclaim it to be) has the power to do good.
Cycling is a sport with more going for it than most – both as a competitive enterprise and a means of eco-friendly transport – and even though it has a chequered past, watching it served as one of the most transformative experiences of my youth.
I remember long summer days sat with my father watching live coverage of the Tour, transfixed at the exploits of Marco Pantani, Lance Armstrong and, latterly, Mark Cavendish and Bradley Wiggins.
Purely as a sporting spectacle, and as a fan ignorant (at the time) of the shadowy ways of the nineties and noughties, these images were formative – fundamental to my sense of self, even today.
They also (and more importantly, for me) conjured one of the key enduring links I have with my dad – it wasn’t really because he was a cyclist in his younger years that I now cycle, but because of the fun we had watching free-to-air coverage of the Tour de France.
It’s an experience shared by one of my colleagues, speaking up when this story broke and our team chat started pinging with reactions.
“This genuinely sucks,” wrote Rob Weaver. “I’ve nothing but fond memories of sitting with my dad watching the coverage of TdF on terrestrial TV as a kid. He still watches all the cycling he can if it’s free, but can’t get out there and actually ride a bike anymore. Rubbish that ITV have lost it.”
I’d even argue the journalist in me has been largely influenced by Gary Imlach’s presenting style and penchant for a funny quip, Phil Liggett’s (and Paul Sherwen)’s distinctive commentary, and even, later on, Ned Boulting’s initial roving reporter role.
I can’t help but think these experiences are set to be robbed from many homes and families in the UK – from people who can’t afford the subscription fee to continue watching it.
A bouncer on the door
To me, putting live coverage of the Tour de France behind a paywall is a bit like walking down the high street to your favourite store, only to be asked by a bouncer to pay for the privilege of going through the door.
If you don’t have access to the product, your ability to buy into it is diminished.
The Tour de France is, by far, the biggest cycling event in the world. No other race is as well known – in fact, I’d wager no other race is commonly known to those who don’t already have a keen interest in the sport (not even the Olympic road race or World Championships).
In taking free-to-air coverage away, the ASO, EBU and Warner Bros. have stopped those new to the sport from gaining free access to the spark of inspiration that establishes a lifelong passion.
Of course, it isn’t a simple case of ‘build it and they will come’ – coverage needs to be highly engaging however it’s served, and some argue that bike racing (on the road, at least) is too long-winded for a modern audience.
But, the fact is the experience of watching the Tour de France is now effectively reserved for those already inducted because, let’s be honest, how many of us are willing to spend hard-earned money on something we don’t yet care for?
Are there ways around this, especially today’s dominance of online media?
Well, social media coverage published by Warner Bros. and ASO could serve as a free-access advert for the sport – but, even with algorithms at play, you already need to be looking to be exposed to this.
Likewise, free trials and the enticement of other sports can also be used to push the door ajar – but it’s also true that these activations are rooted in temporarily hooking consumers in to pay for a service, rather than building lasting commitment to the sport.
To someone not familiar with the sport, watching riders such as 2024 Tours de France winners Tadej Pogaçar and Kasia Niewiadoma cross the line to win will mean very little. All they might see is a man or woman raising their arms aloft in triumph, or riding away from other riders, but with little-to-no backstory or context as to why they should care or invest more time.
The fact is, a sport will struggle to grow its base if access to it is restricted.
As my colleague Warren Rossiter put it: “Niche sports become more niche because nobody [only] mildly interested will watch – imagine what Wimbledon would be like without the BBC.”
What about highlights?
The announcement makes no mention of highlights packages.
Warner Bros. makes highlights programmes for practically all of its races for broadcast on Eurosport (be they organised by the ASO, Giro d’Italia owner, RCS, or otherwise), but the status of the highlights rights afforded to the UK’s current free-to-air provider, ITV, is unknown.
Are highlights enough?
In the past, perhaps. I remember, for a time early on in my cycling journey, I’d watch the highlights show not knowing who had won or what had happened, thanks to the fact that social media didn’t exist. I could watch the highlights and still be as entranced.
The worst it got was, having been away all day – probably at school – all I had to do was avoid the evening news on the TV (not hard for a 10-year-old) before the Tour highlights came on.
In 2024 and beyond, this is no longer an option. We can do our best to avoid news, but the flow of information is so pervasive to those already engaged that, the chances are, you’ll see it anyway and ‘ruin the surprise’.
On the face of it, football coverage in the UK might seem similar. The vast majority of live matches are covered by subscription broadcasters, while highlights are served by the ever-popular Match of the Day programme on the BBC.
The difference, though, is football is ingrained in the culture of the nation – everyone knows the score, so to speak, so it doesn’t need to work as hard to keep new fans coming through the door.
Cycling has no such luxury – I may be willing to wait for Messrs Imlach, Boulting and Millar’s take on the day’s action, but newcomers are likely going to be less so.
Ultimately, the sport of cycling – and the Tour de France – is weaker in the UK for the loss of free-to-air live coverage.
ITV declined to comment on this story.