How to watch the Tour de France 2026
The 2026 Tour runs 4 to 26 July: 21 stages, opened by a team time trial on 4 July and closed in the usual way on the 26th. The one individual time trial falls on stage 16, 21 July, straight after the second rest day. The big mountain day, the only stage carrying more than 3,000 m of climbing on our sheet, came early: stage 3 on 6 July, rolled out at 12:20 to fit it all in. Rest days sit on 13 and 20 July. Five stages in, sixteen to go, and most of the race still ahead of you.
Where you can actually see it depends, as ever, on which rights deal your passport landed you in.
Broadcasters by country
| Country | Broadcaster | Coverage | Access | Verification |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| France | France Télévisions (France 2/France 3, france.tv) | Every stage live, free-to-air | Free | ⚠ VERIFY BEFORE PUBLISH |
| United Kingdom | TNT Sports / HBO Max | Every stage live, start to finish | Subscription, from £30.99/month | ⚠ VERIFY BEFORE PUBLISH |
| United Kingdom | Channel 5 | Daily highlights, 7pm | Free | ⚠ VERIFY BEFORE PUBLISH |
| United Kingdom (Wales) | S4C / BBC iPlayer | Seven stages live | Free | ⚠ VERIFY BEFORE PUBLISH |
| United States | Peacock (NBC Sports) | Every stage live | Subscription, $10.99/month | ⚠ VERIFY BEFORE PUBLISH |
| Canada | FloBikes | Every stage live, exclusive | Subscription | ⚠ VERIFY BEFORE PUBLISH |
| Australia | SBS / SBS On Demand | Every stage live, free-to-air | Free | ⚠ VERIFY BEFORE PUBLISH |
| Italy | RAI / RaiPlay | Live, free-to-air | Free | ⚠ VERIFY BEFORE PUBLISH |
| Spain | RTVE | Live, free-to-air | Free | ⚠ VERIFY BEFORE PUBLISH |
| Netherlands | NOS | Live, free-to-air | Free | ⚠ VERIFY BEFORE PUBLISH |
| Belgium | VRT / RTL | Live, free-to-air | Free | ⚠ VERIFY BEFORE PUBLISH |
| Germany | ARD | Live, free-to-air | Free | ⚠ VERIFY BEFORE PUBLISH |
| Rest of Europe | Eurosport via HBO Max / Discovery+ | Live, varies by market | Subscription | ⚠ VERIFY BEFORE PUBLISH |
The UK arrangement deserves a word. Four decades of free-to-air Tour coverage on ITV ended with the 2025 edition; Warner Bros. Discovery now holds exclusive live rights through 2030. £30.99 a month for July is a real ask, and the Channel 5 highlights slot plus S4C’s seven live stages (streamable UK-wide on iPlayer) are the consolation prizes. Not nothing. But not the same.
Everywhere else the pattern is familiar: public broadcasters keep the race free across most of western Europe, Australians keep SBS, and North Americans pay. Streams are geo-restricted, so a free feed stops being free the moment you cross a border.
Times
Start times here are local race time. The stage-by-stage times confirmed on our sheet so far run from 12:20 (stage 3, the mountain day) to 17:05 (the opening team time trial), with road stages 2 and 4 rolling out at 13:55 and 13:25. From stage 5 onwards the organiser publishes start times day by day, so check the daily schedule, and your broadcaster’s listings, before you build an afternoon around it.
Sources: Cyclingnews, BikeRadar, TNT Sports, BikeRadar on S4C/iPlayer, Domestique, Peacock