How to watch this year’s Tour in the UK, US and Australia
With 21 stages over three weeks, there’s a lot to watch if you want to follow the 2023 Tour de France.
You can watch the entire race end-to-end in many territories if you’ve got five-plus hours to spend each day. For the more time-pressed, there are plenty of highlight options to compress the day’s action down into an hour or so.
If you’re really stuck for time, there are the daily five-minute highlights on the Le Tour website, which are also posted to YouTube.
From the Grand Départ in Bilbao right through to the final sprint on the Champs-Élysées three-and-a-bit weeks later, you can expect wall-to-wall coverage.
Unlike many other big cycling races, terrestrial broadcasters pay attention to the Tour de France, so you can watch at least some of it subscription-free in most territories. There’s a full list of broadcasters by country on the official Le Tour site.
!["17/07/2022]("https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/21/2022/07/20220717TDF0001-A.S.O.-Pauline-Ballet-3c0dde4.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413" "\"17/07/2022")
There’s also the option to use a VPN to stream from a country with free terrestrial coverage, although most VPNs with decent geographic coverage and streaming speeds will require a subscription.
How can I watch the Tour de France live in the UK?
In the UK, ITV4, Eurosport, discovery+ and GCN+ are broadcasting live. ITV4 is free to air (as is S4C for Welsh speakers), while the other options require a subscription. GCN+ is ad-free and available both live and on-demand.
All of the above offer evening highlights and analysis of the day’s action too.
How can I watch the Tour de France live in the US?
!["Tour]("https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/21/2022/07/20220713TDF0012-A.S.O.-Pauline-Ballet-b047b7b.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413" "\"20220713TDF0012-A.S.O.")
Viewers in the US can enjoy daily coverage on NBC, NBCSN and Peacock. You can watch on NBC on demand too – there’s no additional charge above your cable, satellite or telco TV provider’s subscription cost.
Peacock access requires a subscription to its premium tier, priced at $4.99 plus tax a month. You can escape the ads by paying $9.99 a month for Premium Plus.
The good news for US viewers is NBC has signed up to cover a range of ASO-organised races until 2029. That includes the Tour de France Femmes, Vuelta a España and Paris-Roubaix, among others.
How can I watch the Tour de France live in Australia?
Cycling fans in Australia can enjoy every stage live on SBS. Handily, there’s a free on-demand service if you’re not an insomniac, while there are daily highlights on the SBS Sport website.
Stages and start times
!["Keep]("https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/21/2022/07/20220705TDF0091-A.S.O.-Pauline-Ballet-fe24f8a.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413" "\"05/07/2022")
Like the race itself, stage start times are a moveable feast, with starts as early as 12.15pm CET and as late as 4.30pm CET. End times will vary significantly too, depending on stage length, how hard the terrain is and how fast it’s ridden.
Fortunately, the Tour de France has organised a few of these races before, so it’s got a pretty good idea of when the first riders are likely to reach the finish. Again, that’s highly variable – anything from 5.03pm CET to 7.47pm CET, so you need to be on your toes to make sure you’re watching early enough not to miss the end-stage action.
Here’s a table, taken from the official Le Tour website, of expected start and best-case (and worst-case) end times. If you want to see particular action, the time the race is expected to reach intermediate points is set out on the site too, right down to railway level crossings and tiny villages in la France profonde.
| Date | Stage | Scheduled start time | Earliest end time | Latest end time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 July 2022 | 1 | 12:30 | 17:15 | 17:42 |
| 2 July 2022 | 2 | 12:15 | 17:04 | 17:31 |
| 3 July 2022 | 3 | 13:00 | 17:19 | 17:43 |
| 4 July 2022 | 4 | 13:10 | 17:12 | 17:34 |
| 5 July 2022 | 5 | 13:05 | 17:21 | 17:51 |
| 6 July 2022 | 6 | 13:10 | 17:08 | 17:33 |
| 7 July 2022 | 7 | 13:15 | 17:07 | 17:27 |
| 8 July 2022 | 8 | 12:30 | 17:07 | 17:32 |
| 9 July 2022 | 9 | 13:30 | 18:05 | 18:33 |
| 10 July 2022 | Rest day | |||
| 11 July 2022 | 10 | 13:05 | 17:19 | 17:44 |
| 12 July 2022 | 11 | 13:05 | 17:19 | 17:42 |
| 13 July 2022 | 12 | 13:05 | 17:21 | 17:46 |
| 14 July 2022 | 13 | 13:45 | 17:12 | 17:32 |
| 15 July 2022 | 14 | 13:05 | 17:18 | 17:51 |
| 16 July 2022 | 15 | 13:05 | 18:00 | 18:36 |
| 17 July 2022 | Rest day | |||
| 18 July 2022 | 16 | 13:05 | 17:36 | 17:36 |
| 19 July 2022 | 17 | 12:20 | 17:03 | 17:45 |
| 20 July 2022 | 18 | 13:05 | 17:31 | 17:53 |
| 21 July 2022 | 19 | 13:15 | 17:11 | 17:31 |
| 22 July 2022 | 20 | 13:30 | 16:54 | 17:17 |
| 23 July 2022 | 21 | 16:30 | 19:28 | 19:47 |
| All times Central European Time | ||||