A deal renewal covering road cycling’s top European races has been struck with the European Broadcast Union (EBU) umbrella free-to-air broadcasters body, for the 2026-30 cycle.
It has been announced today that the EBU has extended its agreement with Amaury Sports Organisation (ASO), the rights-holder for road cycling events such as the iconic Tour de France, La Vuelta, and Paris-Roubaix, for another five years across 13 markets.
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The current agreement between the ASO and the EBU runs through the 2020-25 cycle, thanks to a tie-up unveiled in February 2020.
Unveiled simultaneously today is an extension to the sub-licensing deal between the EBU and the Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) media heavyweight, through which the latter broadcaster will also continue covering the continent's premier road cycling events – and, indeed, WBD has also added the UK as an exclusive market in terms of coverage of the iconic Tour de France. This addition means there is a strong possibility at this point that FTA coverage of the Tour de France in the UK, a feature since the 1980s, may come to an end following next year's event.
Channel 4, and latterly ITV, have been the UK broadcasters of that prestigious race for the last few decades.
WBD, primarily through its linear channel Eurosport, has had its current sub-licensing deal for these rights in place for the same time period as the EBU-ASO tie-up.
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By GlobalDataThe new EBU-ASO deal covers both men’s and women’s events, with EBU members from the following countries continuing with their rights to cover action: Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Switzerland.
The men’s races in the package include the Tour de France, La Vuelta, Paris-Roubaix, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, La Flèche Wallonne, Paris-Nice, Criterium du Dauphiné, Cyclassics Hamburg, Eschborn Frankfurt, Clasica San Sebastian, Paris-Tours, Tro Bro Leon and Volta Catalunya.
For the women’s action, meanwhile, the following races will be covered: Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, La Vuelta Femenina by Carrefour.es, Paris-Roubaix Femmes avec Zwift, Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes and La Flèche Wallonne Femmes.
The WBD-EBU sub-licensing deal, meanwhile, ensures every grand tour race will be shown across WBD’s various European channels and platforms (operating across most countries with the exception primarily of Russia and France) between 2026 and 2030.
In terms of specific notable changes to the previous cycle, the Tour de France will be shown exclusively by WBD in the UK during the next cycle – meaning no FTA coverage in that market – while the Tour de France Femmes will be exclusive to the broadcaster in both Norway and Ireland.
In addition, Norwegian fans will receive exclusive coverage of La Vuelta, while both that race and the women's edition will be covered solely by WBD in the Netherlands.
Live coverage of all races will be available across WBD’s linear Eurosport channels, while uninterrupted streaming will be provided by the Max service.
WBD has also said that local-language commentary will be available in up to 20 markets across the continent.
Trojan Paillot, senior vice president for sports rights acquisitions and syndication at WBD Sports Europe, has commented: “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.”
The previous Eurosport deal for ASO road cycling action has been valued by GlobalData Sport at $94.2 million in total.
Looking at both deals for the 2026-30 period, Yann Le Moenner, ASO’s managing director, has said the agreements will “enable the general public and sports fans to follow the most important international cycling events on major European free-to-air broadcasters as well as on Eurosport/WBD channels. These partners, who have been committed to promoting and broadcasting cycling for many years, will continue to showcase our events across Europe.”
Through the EBU tie-up, coverage across Europe for top races such as the Tour de France across Europe is currently provided by partners including ITV in the UK (as stated above, until 2025), NOS in the Netherlands, Spain's RTVE, and Rai in Italy. In France, meanwhile, France Televisions covers the race.
