How to Watch the Tour de France Live Stream
The 2021 Tour de France will cover 3,414 kilometers and feature five mountain top finishes. Kicking off in Brest on Sunday, June 26th the entire race will celebrate one hundred years of the yellow jersey and will be complete on July 18th with the traditional finish taking place in Paris along the Champs-Élysées. This is one Tour de France you wouldn’t want to miss.
Due to licensing agreements and channel availability, you may not be able to tune in if you are abroad. However, with a VPN connection, you will be able to catch every exciting sporting moment, no matter where you are. All you have to do is find yourself the perfect VPN, look for a channel broadcasting the annual international bike race and get comfortable. Keep reading for more information on streaming options, the best VPNs for Tour de France and the race itself.
How to Watch the Tour de France
Millions of fans will be tuning in to watch the biggest cycling event, with over 80 million viewers in the US alone. There are a few channels that will offer streaming of the Tour de France online free, but others will require a subscription. Whatever the case, it will be fairly problematic for non-native viewers to catch all the races.
Your best course of action would be to get a great VPN and then find a great streaming service showcasing the cycling phenomenon.
Free Streaming Options
ITV (UK)
You can watch The Tour de France, live, for free, on ITV Player (ITV is a British commercial TV network), just follow these simple steps:
- Choose a VPN from our list (We recommend using ExpressVPN).
- Connect to a UK server with the VPN you installed.
- On tvplayer you just need to select the channel ITV that broadcasts the Tour de France for free. Please note: tvplayer.com will ask you for some information, you will be required to enter a valid UK zip code. This can be obtained here. You can also go to Google map and choose a street name and copy the zip code (it must be a valid postcode). For example, I went to Google maps and entered “London restaurants”, clicked on a random restaurant and copied its zip code.
Francetv Sport (French)
FranceTV Sport is streaming the event for free, the entire event is broadcasted in French, just follow these 3-simple steps and start watching Le Tour de France 2021 en français.
- Here again, you can choose a VPN from our list (We recommend using NordVPN to access FranceTV Sport).
- Connect to a French server with the VPN you installed.
- Follow this link FranceTV Sport.
NBC Sports (may require a subscription) and ITV4 (Free) are set to cover the event as official streaming broadcasters – amongst many.
Here are a few more of the free live streaming channels which will be broadcasting the race:
- Rai Play (Italian free live stream)
- RTVE (Spanish free live stream)
- L’Equipe (French free live stream)
Paid Streaming Options
If you already have a subscription to a paid streaming site, or are looking to cut cable ties in favor of a live streaming option, we have all the answers with these top paid streaming channels:
DirectTV Now
With DirectTV Now you can subscribe to the basic package and still have access to channels like NBCSN which will stream the Tour de France 2021. You also get access to channels such as:
- BBC America
- Bravo
- CNN
- Discovery
- Disney Channel
- ESPN
- ESPN2
- Fox Sports 1
No matter what’s your platform, you can stream from devices such as smartphones, desktop computers, streaming players, tablets and laptops, and even have two simultaneous connections. With a seven day free trial, you have nothing to lose.
SlingTV
This is one of the more affordable options when it comes to online streaming which is great if you are a student or just starting a new life abroad. However, Sling is only available to people living within the US, so you can see why you would need a VPN to get you started with them.
There are various bundles you can purchase with Sling TV, and for the cheapest streaming of the Tour de France, you will need to subscribe to Sling TV Blue which will allow you access to NBCSN. Like DirectTV Now, Sling TV will not confine you with a contract, so that is one less thing to worry about. Also, you’ll have the option of testing out their service with a seven-day free trial.
Sling TV is compatible with: iOS devices, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Android smartphones, tablets, desktop computers, Xbox and Roku.
PlayStation Vue
With sporting channels such as ESPN, TNT and ABC we are sure you will be spoiled for choice when it comes to sporting events. The most important factor is that NBCSN is included in the primary package which means you will have full coverage throughout July as well as being able to watch an additional 45 channels.
PlayStation Vue is available to watch on devices such as PlayStation, Chromecast, Roku, iOS devices, Android mobile devices, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, and Apple TV. As with Sling TV and DirectTV Now, there is a seven day free trial period you can explore.
fuboTV
This is an alternative streaming choice to the three mentioned above. With access to over 60 channels, it does come at a slightly higher cost than some of the other options, but if you are a sports fanatic, this is the streaming channel for you. In addition to watching Tour de France on NBCSN, you will also have access to channels such as FOX Sports and other premium sporting channels.
You will have options for pretty much every device as well as the seven-day free trial option.
Tour de France 2021 stages, times and countries
Before you start getting ready for the big event, though, make sure you take a look the time table below to make sure you don’t miss out on even one minute of the race:
| Stage | Date | Start/Finish | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Saturday, June 26 | Brest – Landerneau | 197km |
| 2 | Sunday, June 27 | Perros-Guirec to Guerlédan | 183km |
| 3 | Monday, June 28 | Lorient - Pontivy | 182km |
| 4 | Tuesday, June 29 | Redon - Fougères | 150km |
| 5 | Wednesday, June 30 | Changé - Laval | 27km (ITT) |
| 6 | Thursday, July 1 | Tours - Châteauroux | 160km |
| 7 | Friday, July 2 | Vierzon - Le Creusot | 249km |
| 8 | Saturday, July 3 | Oyonnax - Le Grand-Bornand | 150km |
| 9 | Sunday, July 4 | Cluses - Tignes | 144km |
| 10 | Tuesday, July 6 | Albertville - Valence | 190km |
| 11 | Wednesday, July 7 | Sorgues - Malaucène | 198km |
| 12 | Thursday, July 8 | Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux - Nîmes | 159km |
| 13 | Friday, July 9 | Nîmes - Carcassonne | 219km |
| 14 | Saturday, July 10 | Carcassonne to Quillan | 183km |
| 15 | Sunday, July 11 | Céret - Andorra | 191km |
| 16 | Tuesday, July 13 | Andorra - Saint-Gaudens | 169km |
| 17 | Wednesday, July 14 | Muret to Col de Portet | 178km |
| 18 | Thursday, July 15 | Pau - Luz Ardiden | 129km |
| 19 | Friday, July 16 | Mourenx - Libourne | 207km |
| 20 | Saturday, July 17 | Libourne - Saint-Émilion | 30km (ITT) |
| 21 | Sunday, July 18 | Chatou - Paris (Champs-Élysées) | 108km |
If you find you might be overseas during any of these dates, you may face the frustration of not being able to tune in to the biggest cycling race in the world. Getting your hands on a VPN means that you can watch this huge sporting event from anywhere in the world (and from whatever device you wish), just as if you were sitting on your couch at home in the US.
How? A VPN will be able to redirect your internet traffic through a tunnel, encrypting it and connecting it to a server anywhere in the world. You could be sitting in Sweden and it will look like you’re connected to an internet server in the Bahamas.
So, which VPN should you choose, and what is the best option when it comes to watching the Tour de France? At the minimum, your VPN provider should be able to offer:
- Unlock gaming and TV show streaming services like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime
- Strong encryption
- Bypass ISP throttling
- Avoid ISP monitoring and tracking
- Easy setup
- Trusted military grade protection
- Circumvent any campus or office firewall
- Malware protection
- Protect your data from hackers
- Large amount of servers
- No logs
- Fantastic customer service
Best VPNs to watch the Tour de France
#1 ExpressVPN
As for the Tour de France, ExpressVPN even has a designated page on their website just for this sporting event which has links to free English and French streams as well as streams in other languages too. On their website, you can also find the Ultimate Stream Sports Guide for 2020-2021 complete with a calendar of all upcoming sporting events.
ExpressVPN has as many as 2,000 servers in virtually 100 countries, with 30 of those servers being in the US. Their headquarters are in the British Virgin Islands which means you will always remain anonymous and no user data will ever get handed over to third parties.
An easy to use interface and one-click startup mean that this VPN is suitable for beginners as well as the technologically advanced. There is also 24-hour live chat support for those having trouble with their VPN service.
Here are some of the top reasons to choose ExpressVPN for streaming the Tour de France:
- Unlimited bandwidth
- Ultra-fast streaming speeds
- Compatible with Android TV (Box) and Fire TV
- Apps available for every device
- Hides your streaming activity
- No connection logs
- No activity logs
- P2P possibility
- Ping times that are minimally affected
- ExpressVPN works extremely well in high censorship countries
- Military grade encryption
- Large international server network
- 30-Day money back guarantee
- Outstanding customer service
- 99% uptime guarantee
ExpressVPN also offers a special deal, get 3 months free and 49% savings with their annual subscription plan!
Want to find out more? Check out the full review here
#2 NordVPN
Additionally, NordVPN offers double VPN technology which means your data is passed through two servers, essentially encrypting it twice.
Here are some other cool features NordVPN has on offer:
- Over 5000 servers in 62 countries
- IP Leak protection
- Double VPN
- CyberSec
- Onion over VPN
- Simultaneous connections on up to 6 devices
- Automatic Kill Switch
- 30-day money back guarantee
- Set-up and installation takes just minutes
- 24-hour customer support
Want to find out more? Check out the full review here
#3 Surfshark
Also having their headquarters in the British Virgin Islands means you won’t have to worry about your online activities being shared with others.
Here are some more reasons why Surfshark is one of the best options for watching the Tour de France:
- Good download speeds
- Zero logging
- Unlimited bandwidth
- Unlimited platform protection
- Unlimited Server Switching
- Some servers work with Netflix
- Strong encryption
- Torrenting allowed
Want to find out more? Check out the full review here
#4 CyberGhost
CyberGhost offers a brilliant 45-day money back guarantee when you sign up to their plan, so if you change your mind, you will get your money back, no questions asked.
Here are some more reasons why we recommend CyberGhost for streaming the Tour de France online:
- Strict No Logs Policy
- High speeds
- Automatic Kill Switch
- Simultaneous connections on up to 7 devices
- Easy to use
- 256-bit AES Encryption
- Unlimited bandwidth and traffic
- OpenVPN, L2TP-IPsec and PPTP protocols
- Apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, Routers
Want to find out more? Check out the full review here
The Bottom Line
If you’re planning on going overseas during the month of July, chances are you will miss some, or even all, of the thrilling action the Tour de France promises to bring this year.
Make sure this isn’t the case with the help of a reliable VPN like ExpressVPN. This VPN service will provide you with the best connection and impeccable speeds so you can enjoy streaming the Tour de France on any device.
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