How to watch cycling in Australia

Looking for how to watch your favourite road cycling events from within Australia? Then you are in the right place! A quick run-down on where to find the best of the WorldTour, UCI races, World Championships and National Road Series action.

Basically there are two (legal) options for those looking for live broadcasts of road cycling events. If you want to look for illegal streams or VPN switch to other countries, this isn’t an article for you.

The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) is a free-to-air television channel and provides live, free broadcasts of all Amaury Sports Organisation (ASO) events. Think Tour de France, Vuelta a Espana, Paris-Roubaix, and the top Ardennes and cobbled classics.

In addition to the TV channels, you can stream the racing from the SBS Cycling Central website, or via the SBS On Demand App. They also have a separate app for the Tour de France, the SBS SKODA Tour Tracker App.

Not all races are covered by SBS, so a paid subscription is needed if you want to cover the many other races of interest on the calendar.

The mountains are calling – escape to France with us!

Don't miss a single moment of the 2020 @LeTour LIVE, FREE and EXCLUSIVE to @SBS.

Here's your guide to the dates and the times you'll need to firmly book your spot on the #couchpeloton

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— CyclingCentral (@CyclingCentral) August 9, 2020

Eurosport/Global Cycling Network (GCN) is the main broadcaster covering those events. Eurosport used to be available as part of a pay TV deal, but it got withdrawn from that and is now available via FetchTV. That involves buying a set-top box in addition to the subscription and the cheaper way to watch the same races is via the GCN App.

There is also a bit of crossover with SBS races, with non-exclusive SBS races also being shown on Eurosport/GCN. A GCN subscription currently costs $65 a year.

Schedule

August

• Critérium du Dauphiné – August 12-16 – SBS VICELAND + Eurosport/GCN Race Pass
  Stage 1 – Wednesday 12 August – 2245 AEST
  Stage 2 – Thursday 13 August – 2245 AEST
  Stage 3 – Friday 14 August – 2245 AEST
  Stage 4 – Saturday 15 August – 2305 AEST
  Stage 5 – Sunday 16 August – 2305 AEST
• Gran Piemonte – August 12 – Eurosport/GCN Race Pass
• Giro Il Lombardia – August 15 – Eurosport/GCN Race Pass
• Bretagne Classic – August 25 – Eurosport/GCN Race Pass
• GP de Plouay – August 26 – Eurosport/GCN Race Pass
• La Course by Le Tour de France – August 29 – SBS + Eurosport/GCN Race Pass
• Tour de France – August 29- September 20 – SBS, ŠKODA Tour Tracker
  Individual Stage details here
• Brussels Cycling Classic – August 20 – Eurosport/GCN Race Pass

September

• Tirreno-Adriatico – September 7-14 – Eurosport/GCN Race Pass
• Giro Rosa – September 12-20 – SBS
  Stage highlights nightly at 1630 on SBS
• Skoda-Tour de Luxembourg – September 15-19 – Eurosport/GCN Race Pass
• Grand Prix de Wallonie – September 16 – Eurosport/GCN Race Pass
• Giro della Toscana – September 16 – Eurosport/GCN Race Pass
• Coppa Sabatini – September 19 – Eurosport/GCN Race Pass
• UCI Road World Championships –  SBS Cycling Central streaming, UCI Youtube channel
  Women’s Elite Road Race – Saturday 26 September – 2230 AEST on SBS VICELAND
  Men’s Elite Road Race – Sunday 27 September – 2230 AEST on SBS VICELAND
• BinckBank Tour – September 29 – October 3 – Eurosport/GCN Race Pass
• Flèche Wallonne – September 30 – SBS + Eurosport/GCN Race Pass

October

• Giro d’Italia – October 3-25 – Eurosport/GCN Race Pass
  Individual stage details TBC
• National Road Series – Tour of the Tweed – October 4 – SBS VICELAND and SBS On Demand
  Sunday 4 October 1730 – Delayed Highlights
• Liège–Bastogne–Liège – October 4 – SBS VICELAND + Eurosport/GCN Race Pass
• Binche – Chimay – Binche – October 6 – Eurosport/GCN Race Pass
• De Brabantse Pijl – October 7 – Eurosport/GCN Race Pass
• Amstel Gold – October 10 – SBS VICELAND
• Gent-Wevelgem in Flanders Fields – October 11 – Eurosport/GCN Race Pass
• Paris – Tours Elite – October 11 – Eurosport/GCN Race Pass
• Gent-Wevelgem – October 11 – Eurosport/GCN Race Pass
• Scheldeprijs – October 14 – Eurosport/GCN Race Pass
• National Road Series – Tour of Gippsland – October 18 – SBS VICELAND and SBS On Demand
  Sunday 18 October 1700 AEST – Delayed Highlights
• Tour of Flanders – October 18 – SBS VICELAND + Eurosport/GCN Race Pass
• Vuelta a España – October 20 – November 8 – SBS + Eurosport/GCN Race Pass
  Individual stage details TBC
• Driedaagse Brugge-De Panne Womens – October 20 – Eurosport/GCN Race Pass
• Driedaagse Brugge-De Panne – October 21 – Eurosport/GCN Race Pass
• Paris Roubaix – October 25 – SBS + Eurosport/GCN Race Pass

November

• Madrid Challenge by La Vuelta – November 6-8 – SBS VICELAND + Eurosport/GCN Race Pass
• National Road Series – Grafton to Inverell – November 22 – SBS VICELAND and SBS On Demand
  Sunday 22 November 1700 – Delayed Highlights

December

• National Road Series – L’Etape Australia – SBS VICELAND and SBS On Demand
  Sunday 6 December – 1700 – Delayed Highlights 
• National Road Series – Tour of Tasmania – SBS VICELAND and SBS On Demand
  Sunday 20 December  – 1700 – Delayed Highlights