Cyclist
Petition launched to save free-to-air Tour de France coverage in the UK
A petition has been set in motion this week in an attempt to keep the Tour de France on free-to-air TV in the UK from 2026.
The appeal hopes to see the Tour become a Category A event under the British broadcasting code. This would guarantee live race coverage on a major UK terrestrial channel, much like the FIFA World Cup, Olympic Games and Wimbledon finals.
This comes in response to ITV’s departure from broadcasting the sport after this summer, which is exacerbated by the recent TNT Sports price hike. If 100,000 people sign the petition, the topic would have to be debated in Westminster.
Increasing visibility and accessibility
The petition reflects a broad disgruntlement within the UK cycling community over recent cycling broadcasting news. ITV will lose its right to air the Tour de France, meaning all live road cycling outside of international competitions will be placed behind a £30.99 per month paywall on TNT Sports.
This will mark the end of almost 25 years of free Tour coverage on ITV, and a further 40 years of coverage on terrestrial TV in the UK. As a result, Warner Brothers Discovery, the parent company of Eurosport and TNT Sports, has tied up an exclusivity contract for the Tour de France and Tour de France Femmes in the UK from 2026 until 2030. On a more local level, the ability to watch domestic racing has also subsided as a result of increased costs and the scarcity of domestic racing in the UK since the pandemic.
‘Cycling is one of the most accessible sports to take up but one of the least accessible to watch,’ the petition’s creator Peter Treadway says. ‘British Cycling is in a dire state right now, with the UK’s last UCI Continental team, Saint Piran, recently closing down. If we want to inspire more people to ride, especially the next generation, we need to keep the biggest race in the sport freely available. Right now, we have a chance to change that before it’s too late,’ he continues.
The British cycling scene has greatly benefitted from Tour coverage in the past, particularly in fostering an improved cycling culture in the UK. Having the world’s biggest race on free-to-air TV is widely accepted as offering the biggest advert for cycling, whether that be for racing, leisure or utility. If the Tour is kept behind a paywall, the only chance for casual viewers – and potential future riders – to catch a road race on free-to-air TV would be as part of the Olympics, Commonwealth Games or World Championships.
What is a Category A event?
The aim of the petition is to ‘make the Tour de France a Category A event to ensure it remains free-to-air in the UK’. Under British broadcasting law, premium sporting events are classed based on their cultural importance and popularity. ‘A’ is the highest of two categories, and as such, receives strict legal oversight.
This structure, known as the Ofcom Code on Sports and Other Listed and Designated Events, was created in the early 1990s to protect the availability of sporting events on free-to-air terrestrial TV. In the UK, this includes the BBC, ITV/STV/UTV, Channel 4 and Channel 5. Live broadcasting is a necessity for a Category A event, although paywalled coverage can be provided as an alternative.
Football currently occupies a lot of space inside this classification. The men’s and women’s FIFA World Cups, the men’s and women’s Euros and the FA and Scottish Cups are all required to be on free-to-air TV. The Rugby World Cup final, Rugby League Challenge Cup final and the men’s and women’s Wimbledon finals make the cut as well, as do the Grand National and Epsom Derby horse races, and of course the Olympics and Paralympics.
Cycling has never been protected by this code. This includes Category B, which requires events to have ‘sufficient secondary coverage’ (ie, highlights or a delayed broadcast). This tier includes the World Athletics Championships, Cricket World Cup final, semi-finals and Home Nations matches plus other test matches played in England, the Six Nations rugby tournament and Rugby World Cup games before the final, golf’s Open and Ryder Cup championships and the Commonwealth Games. In cycling’s case, this level of protection would at least guarantee the continuation of daily Tour de France highlights on a free-to-air channel.
For comparison, the Tour de France is protected by similar broadcasting rules in Belgium and France. In those countries, other bike races are required to be broadcast on free-to-air channels, including the Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Italy uses a similar broadcast protocol to guarantee free coverage of the Giro d’Italia, but not the Tour.
The future of free-to-air coverage in the UK
With ITV pulling its coverage of the Tour de France from the end of 2025, there are no obvious successors to take on the mantle of broadcasting the Tour, or, indeed any racing on free-to-air TV in the UK. When its deal with ASO and the European Broadcasting Union came to an end, ITV decided not to commit to an extension, and no other bidders were named.
If the Tour made it onto Category A status, live broadcasting on free-to-air channels would be an Ofcom requirement. Given that the other events in Category A are covered in their entirety live, we would expect the Tour to be treated in a similar manner, with live coverage from start to finish.
Despite the impending paywall, it has been confirmed that the Tour de France and Tour de France Femmes Grand Départs will come to the UK in 2027. There is some uncertainty as to whether race coverage will return to free-to-air TV while the races take place on British soil. Given ITV’s cycling exit and TNT Sports’ exclusivity deal, a new broadcast agreement would need to be reached in time for July 2027.
Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme is ‘optimistic’ that the race will be available to watch on one of the UK’s free terrestrial channels. ‘I do hope, and I do believe that the stages in the UK will be live and free-to-air in 2027,’ he said at the 2027 Grand Départ announcement in Edinburgh.
A pathway to Parliament
If the petition hits 10,000 signatures, the Government is required to respond. At 100,000 signatories, the issue must be debated in Parliament. No political party has shared an opinion on the matter as of yet. However, with UK Sport and the UK Government involved in financing the Grand Départs in 2027, it may be of interest for them to bring the racing onto free-to-air channels to fulfil their grassroots aims.
The campaign, which is available to sign through the UK Parliament’s official petition portal, was launched on 1st April. It will be available to sign for a six-month window. This means it will close at the beginning of October, so perhaps some will be motivated to back the petition after ITV’s last dance this July.
It is unclear whether this petition includes the Tour de France Femmes as part of its lofty aim. Given that gender parity is given for football, the Olympics and tennis events currently in the A category, it would make sense for the Tour de France Femmes to join them.
- Sign the petition here.
The post Petition launched to save free-to-air Tour de France coverage in the UK appeared first on Cyclist.
