Options to watch the men’s and women’s action live and on-demand in the UK, US and Australia

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Published: Friday, 02 August 2024 at 14:00 PM


The Olympic road races takes place on Saturday 3 August for the men and Sunday 4 August for the women.

Both start and end at the Place du Trocadéro, taking in some punchy climbing in the Île-de-France region around Paris. The race then returns to Paris for laps of an 18.4km finishing circuit, which includes a fierce climb on the Butte Montmartre.

The men’s Olympic road race is the longest ever at 273km with 2,800m of climbing, so get ready for a long session if you want to watch the whole thing live.

It’s a course that will favour the Classics riders, such as the host nation’s Julien Alaphilippe and, of course, world champion Mathieu van der Poel.

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The women’s road race takes place over 158km with 1,700m of climbing. It also starts and ends at the Place du Trocadéro in central Paris.

Favourites include world champion Lotte Kopecky – who is skipping the Tour de France Femmes in favour of the Olympics – and Lorena Wiebes, who will lead the Netherlands team.

We’ve got more details of all the cycling at the 2024 Paris Olympics and the riders to watch, but first here are the options to watch the racing for viewers in the UK, US and Australia.

How can I watch the Olympic road races live in the UK?

France’s own Alaphilippe starts as a favourite. – Dario Belingheri/Getty Images

In the UK, the BBC will cover the men’s and women’s road races.

‘BBC 1’s coverage darts between cycling and a range of other events, but there’s dedicated coverage of the cycling on Olympics Extra on the red button.

Coverage of the men’s race begins on Saturday 3 August from 10:00, running until 16:45.

Coverage of the women’s race begins on Sunday 4 August from 13:00, running until 17:30.

If you can’t watch live, there’s on-demand coverage on BBC iPlayer and online.

There’s also coverage on Eurosport/discovery+.

Men’s road race coverage begins on Saturday 3 August, running from 10:00 to 17:15 UK time. There’s high-definition coverage from 12:15 to 16:45 on Euro 4K. 

That’s followed on Sunday 4 August by women’s road race coverage from 13:00 to 17:45.

As usual, there’s catch-up coverage on demand too. 

How can I watch the Olympic road races live in the US?

Lotte Kopecky has chosen to skip the Tour de France Femmes in favour of her quest for Olympic gold. – Luc Claessen/Getty Images

Viewers in the US can enjoy coverage of the men’s and women’s races on NBC, NBCSN and Peacock. 

Coverage of the men’s race starts at 02:00 PDT, while women’s race coverage begins from 05:00 PDT.

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 $7.99 a month. You can escape the ads by paying $13.99 a month for Premium Plus.

How can I watch the Olympic road races live in Australia?

In Australia, free-to-air coverage of the men’s and women’s Olympic road races is on ABC channel 9 and 9HD.

Men’s race coverage is on Saturday 3 August and starts at 19:00 AEST, while women’s road race coverage is on Sunday 4 August beginning at 19:00 and finishing at 00:00 AEST.

Both are included in the coverage of a range of events.

How else can I watch the Olympic road races?

There’s live terrestrial and internet coverage globally live and on-demand. If you have a VPN, you may be able to sign in to watch.

YouTube is also an option, although the Olympics channel is dedicated to former games.