The Tour de France will not be broadcast free-to-air in the UK after 2026, as Warner Bros. Discovery and Eurosport have been awarded the exclusive rights to broadcast the race until 2030.

The new agreement between the race owners and broadcasters means that the last Tour de France will be broadcast in the UK in 2025, unless ITV chooses to end its current contract early.

The deal will also end free-to-air broadcasts of highlights from other ASO-owned races, as well as race commentary by well-known ITV journalists including Ned Boulting, David Millar, Daniel Freebe, and Gary Imlach.

Britain hopes to host the Tour de France Grande Pearl in 2027, but it is unclear how the declining profile of professional cycling in the UK fits in with the multi-million pound bid. The news comes less than a year after the closure of the popular streaming app GCN+, which forced many cycling fans to pay higher prices to watch their favorite races.

The loss of the Giro d'Italia's free broadcasts resulted in a significant drop in viewership, affecting the race's visibility, race sponsors, and team sponsors.

Ironically, the new agreement is part of a broader agreement between ASO, the organizer of the Tour de France, and the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to support free coverage throughout Europe.

The agreement means that all or part of the men's and women's races owned by ASO will be broadcast free of charge by EBU members in Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland Meaning.

Eurosport/Warner Bros. Discovery has signed a sublicensing agreement with the EBU to broadcast the Tour de France, Vuelta a España and 16 other ASO races throughout Europe.

Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) Sports Europe said the move “solidifies its position as the home of cycling and ensures broad access to millions of viewers across Europe.”

The European rights package also includes Paris-Roubaix, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the men's and women's versions of La Flèche Wallonne, Paris-Nice, Criterium du Dauphiné, and much of Volta a Catalunya After 2026, this rights package will be exclusive to the UK.

Eurosport first broadcast the Tour de France and many of the big races in 1991 and now has a contract that runs until at least 2030.

The Tour was first televised in the UK by Channel 4 in the 1980s, then moved to ITV in 2001. Free-to-air broadcasting contributed to the development of professional cycling in the UK at a time when the Tour de France was being held in the UK and Team Sky was enjoying success. 23]

“Over the years, we have become a trusted administrator of cycling and have worked tirelessly to maximize opportunities for fans to get involved in their favorite sport,” said Troisi Troisi, SVP, Sports Rights Acquisitions and Syndication of WBD Sports Europe

. [Our commitment to cycling has seen us invest in the most comprehensive live broadcast rights portfolio, including all the men's and women's Grand Tour races.” We are delighted to now enter our fifth year of expanding our relationship with our partners ASO and EBU to cover the world's greatest races, including the Tour de France.