TNT Sports
Tour de France to air exclusively on Warner Bros. Discovery in UK from 2026 after colossal rights deal
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Published 25/10/2024 at 09:30 GMT+1
Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe has secured exclusive UK rights to the Tour de France from 2026 through an extended deal with the EBU and ASO. The agreement runs until at least 2030 and also covers prestigious races like La Vuelta and the Classics. Eurosport, Max, and discovery+ will continue broadcasting live cycling across Europe, further cementing WBD's role as the Home of Cycling.
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- Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) Sports Europe extends its rights to show the world’s most prestigious men’s and women’s cycling races, including the Tour de France & Tour de France Femmes, La Vuelta a Espana & La Vuelta Femenina, and the Classics
- Long-term agreement with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) for the Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) properties from 2026 adds UK exclusivity for the Tour de France and extends Eurosport’s coverage of the most prestigious race beyond 40 years after it first broadcast the historic Grand Tour in 1991
- Live and on-demand linear, streaming and digital coverage will be scaled to millions of cycling fans across Europe on Eurosport, Max and discovery+
Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) Sports Europe today extends its rights to show a colossal collection of the world’s greatest cycling races until at least 2030. The move cements its position as the Home of Cycling and guarantees broad access for millions of viewers across Europe.
The new partnership with the EBU and ASO from 2026 features the Tour de France (and Femmes) and La Vuelta a Espana (and Femenina) to guarantee every Grand Tour will be shown on WBD’s channels and platforms across Europe.
The Tour de France will now be exclusively shown live by WBD in the UK with the Tour de France Femmes now exclusive in Norway and Ireland, alongside coverage for viewers in every market in Europe. Likewise, WBD has added exclusive coverage of La Vuelta a Espana in Norway and the Netherlands for the men’s and women’s races.
The package of rights in Europe also includes many of the men’s and women’s editions of the Classics, such as Paris-Roubaix, Liege–Bastogne–Liege and La Fleche Wallonne, as well as illustrious stage races Paris-Nice, Criterium du Dauphine and Volta a Catalunya. From 2026, this package of rights will be exclusive in the UK.
WBD will offer live coverage of each race for Eurosport’s channels with uninterrupted streaming available for Max subscribers across Europe. Local commentary will be available in up to 20 languages with stars of the peloton bringing their insights, experience and expertise to races on-site and for Eurosport’s local studio analysis shows in certain markets.
Trojan Paillot, SVP, Sports Rights Acquisitions and Syndication at WBD Sports Europe, said: “For many years, we have been trusted to act as the custodian for cycling and have worked tirelessly to maximise the opportunities fans have to engage with their favourite sport. Our commitment to cycling has seen us invest in the most comprehensive live rights portfolio, which includes every men’s and women’s Grand Tour race, and we’re delighted to now extend our relationship with our partners at ASO and EBU to take us into a fifth decade of covering the world’s greatest races including the Tour de France.”
Scott Young, Group SVP Production, Content and Business Operations at WBD Sports Europe, said: “Our role as the Home of Cycling has seen us harness the most passionate team of cycling experts to consistently elevate our coverage of the sport while telling its stories to the widest possible audience. From being the first broadcaster to offer every minute of the Grand Tours live across Europe in 2018, to developing unique innovations and studio analysis tools to better explain the action, our work in this sport continues to break new ground. Announcing our new rights agreements today means that we can continue to produce quality, immersive content that connects fans with their favourite races and riders for years to come.”
WBD is the Home of Cycling and possesses a comprehensive season-long road cycling portfolio featuring more than 300 days of live racing per year including all three Grand Tours, 100% of the UCI Women’s World Tour, every Classics race and the UCI World Championships. Its commitment to covering every form of the sport sees it show more Track, Cyclocross, BMX and Mountain Bike competitions than any other broadcaster including every UCI World Championship and every moment at the Olympic Games in addition to organising and promoting premier events such as UCI Track Champions League and the UCI Mountain Bike World Series.
Its proud cycling heritage means it tells stories across every platform, producing free content for its Eurosport Cycling YouTube channel; local language news, editorial and highlights on Eurosport.com in addition to live premium action on its linear channels and streaming platforms available across Europe including WBD’s enhanced streaming service, Max.
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