The 2026 Tour de France is lurking just around the corner, kicking off in Barcelona on Saturday, July 4, and concluding three sweaty weeks later on the Champs-Élysées on July 27. Spanning 21 stages and 3,333 kilometres, this year’s route also visits all five of France’s major mountain ranges.
For the first time since 1971, the race will start with a team time trial. The updated rules, which we think are stupid, mean individual competitor times will be recorded rather than a collective team time.
The line-up is already shaping up. Tadej Pogačar arrives fresh off an emphatic demolition of the Tour de Suisse, while Jonas Vingegaard was equally untouchable at the Giro d’Italia in May. Throw in Remco Evenepoel and 19-year-old wildcard Paul Seixas looking to disrupt the hierarchy, and you have zero excuse to miss a single pedal stroke.
What Channel is the 2026 Tour de France On?
Let’s keep it simple. There’s more information further down the page, but this is the cheat sheet for what channel you tune your TV to if you want to watch the Tour.
- Global: FREE HIGHLIGHTS ON CYCLRY TV EVERY DAY!!!!!!!
- United Kingdom: TNT Sports & HBO Max (Premium) or Channel 5 (Free highlights)
- United States: Peacock
- Canada: FloBikes
- Australia: SBS
- France: France.tv (Live on France 3)
- Belgium: VRT / RTBF
- Italy: RAI Sports
- Spain: RTVE
- Netherlands: NOS
How to Watch the 2026 Tour de France in the UK
TNT Sports and HBO Max remain the exclusive premium broadcasters for full, live multi-platform coverage in the UK, complete with on-demand replays, pre-race analysis, and studio punditry. An annual subscription package scales out to £25.99 per month, allowing you to stream across tablets, mobile, and smart TV setups. Orla Chennaoui leads the broadcast block, flanked by Robbie McEwen and Adam Blythe on analysis duty.
If you refuse to hand over your cash to a subscription model, you have terrestrial options. Channel 5 is hosting free-to-air evening highlights at 7:00 PM BST each day.
Alternatively, if you want your daily recaps entirely stripped of fluff, Cyclry TV will be dropping free 8-minute daily highlights.
How to Watch the 2026 Tour de France in the USA
For American viewers, NBC retains the keys to the kingdom, funneling all live stages and comprehensive catch-up replays through its paid premium streaming service, Peacock. A basic, ad-supported plan starts at $7.99 a month (or $79.99 annually), while an ad-free experience will run you $16.99 a month. If you try to cancel, they’ll give you like a whole year for $5, hint hint.
If your Peacock account is being used to stream Telemundo World Cup highlights, we’ll have free daily highlights here on Cyclry.
How to Watch the 2026 Tour de France in Canada
Canadian fans are once again forced into the niche cycling streaming ecosystem. FloBikes holds the exclusive rights north of the border, requiring a hefty subscription of CAD$49.99 per month, or a slightly more palatable $216 for a full 12-month pass. We’re not a fan of this one, to be honest. Quite expensive.
Many people are saying this: Canadians can watch free daily highlights from the 2026 Tour de France on Cyclry TV.
Free Terrestrial 2026 Tour de France Streaming in Australia
If you’re a cycling fan in Australia, we’re jealous of your bank account. Terrestrial broadcaster SBS will be streaming every single stage live, unedited, and completely for free. If you’re asleep during the race, or just busy doing bogan activities, you can watch the 2026 Tour de France on demand on the aptly-named SBS On Demand.
You can also watch daily 8-minute highlights on Cyclry TV if that is somehow more convenient than SBS.
Free Terrestrial 2026 Tour de France Streaming in Europe
Across continental Europe, public television networks actually pay attention to cycling, meaning you can bypass the paywalls entirely if you reside in (or use a VPN to digitally locate yourself within) the following territories:
- France: France.tv (Live on France 3)
- Belgium: VRT / RTBF
- Italy: RAI Sports
- Spain: RTVE
- Netherlands: NOS
No matter what European country you decide you want to live in, Cyclry TV has free daily highlights.
2026 Tour de France Stage Start Times
Stage start and end times are notoriously fluid depending on how fast the peloton decides to ride, but the A.S.O. schedules mean you need to plan your couch time accordingly. While the final day’s sunset parade into Paris finishes late, most standard mountain and transition stages are slated to wrap up around 5:00 PM CEST.
Note the hyper-early start for Stage 20’s brutal mountain showdown to Alpe d’Huez. If you roll out of bed too late, you’ll miss the Pogacar rocket booster.
| Date | Stage | Route | Start (CEST) | Finish (CEST) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 July | 1 | Barcelona Team Time Trial | 17:05 | 19:16 |
| 5 July | 2 | Tarragona to Barcelona | 13:45 | 17:26 |
| 6 July | 3 | Granollers to Les Angles | 12:10 | 16:54 |
| 7 July | 4 | Carcassonne to Foix | 13:10 | 17:23 |
| 8 July | 5 | Lannemezan to Pau | 14:05 | 17:37 |
| 9 July | 6 | Pau to Gavarnie-Gèdre | 12:25 | 17:29 |
| 10 July | 7 | Hagetmau to Bordeaux | 13:15 | 17:13 |
| 11 July | 8 | Périgueux to Bergerac | 13:15 | 17:20 |
| 12 July | 9 | Malemort to Ussel | 13:35 | 17:47 |
| 13 July | – | Rest Day in the Mountains | – | – |
| 14 July | 10 | Aurillac to Le Lioran | 13:10 | 17:12 |
| 15 July | 11 | Vichy to Nevers | 13:50 | 17:31 |
| 16 July | 12 | Magny-Cours to Chalon-sur-Saône | 13:30 | 17:29 |
| 17 July | 13 | Dole to Belfort | 13:00 | 17:46 |
| 18 July | 14 | Mulhouse to Le Markstein | 13:10 | 17:24 |
| 19 July | 15 | Champagnole to Plateau de Solaison | 13:10 | 17:41 |
| 20 July | – | Rest Day | – | – |
| 21 July | 16 | Évian-les-Bains to Thonon | 13:00 | 17:50 |
| 22 July | 17 | Chambery to Voiron | 13:20 | 17:18 |
| 23 July | 18 | Voiron to Orcières-Merlette | 12:35 | 17:12 |
| 24 July | 19 | Gap to Alpe d’Huez | 14:00 | 17:24 |
| 25 July | 20 | Le Bourg d’Oisans to Alpe d’Huez | 11:20 | 16:11 |
| 26 July | 21 | Thoiry to Paris Champs-Élysées | 16:15 | 19:30 |
Once the men are done tearing each other apart in Paris, you can reset your streaming alerts for the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, which sets off on August 1 to prolong the mid-summer cycling fix.
