Where to watch cycling in Australia

There are two main types of bike racing. The kind of bike racing that goes vroom at hundreds of kilometres an hour with pad-clad riders strapped to incredibly powerful engines. And the lycra-adorned riders pedalling their hearts out to nab the top spot. This page is all about the latter, and the many ways you can watch live cycling in Australia, including from some of the best sports streaming services.

There are plenty of live cycling options in Australia, and not all of them charge for the price of admission. The best place to start is SBS On Demand, which is home to cycling Grand Tours. Alternatively, 7plus has some cycling, including the Santos Tour Down Under (full replays were available at the time of writing).

For more cycling, you’ll need to get a subscription. Stan Sport is home to UCI cycling events, including the UCI World Championships from 2022 (replays available for streaming). Prices for Stan Sport start at $27 a month for one SD stream. Otherwise, Stan Standard with Stan Sport costs $32 a month for three HD streams, while Stan Premium costs $37 a month total for up to four simultaneous 4K streams.

Kayo Sports and Foxtel Now also have content from AusCycling, including replays for the National Championship from February 2023. Foxtel Now costs $54 a month at least to access two HD streams but that includes entertainment plus sports content. Otherwise, Kayo One is $25 a month (one HD screen) and Kayo Basic costs $35 (two 4K streams) with 7-day free trial.

With the right virtual private network (VPN) service, there are even more cycling streaming options from around the world. Connect to a server in the UK, then sign up for a Eurosport or GCN Plus account for live cycling events, replays and highlights. Here’s a list of VPNs that worked well with UK streaming in my tests:

• Windscribe VPN
• ExpressVPN
• NordVPN
• PrivadoVPN
• Hola VPN

Connect to a US VPN server instead to access more cycling streams via Peacock TV or Hulu with their respective live TV add-ons. Below is a round-up of VPNs that offered fast streaming for Hulu and Peacock in my tests:

• Windscribe
• ExpressVPN
• PureVPN
• NordVPN
• Proton VPN
• PrivadoVPN
• Private Internet Access VPN
• VPN Unlimited

Because SBS is the home of cycling Grand Tours, the best place to stream the Tour de France and the Tour de France Femmes is SBS On Demand. The men’s Tour de France starts pedalling between 1 and 23 July 2023, while the women’s Tour de France Femmes starts 23 July and finishes 30 July.

Interested to see how the streaming services above stack up against the competition? Take a look at the table below for a comparison of your streaming options in Australia.