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TechRadar

Simon Warren

How to watch Tour de France live stream — 2023 stages and schedule

Tour de France France Tour (Event) Tadej Pogačar ITVX S4C the Basque Country

Tadej Pogacar racing Jonas Vinegaard up a hill

Watch Tour de France: live streams

Watch Tour de France 2023: preview

This year’s Tour de France is less ‘La Grande Boucle’ (The Big Loop) and more a giant belt around the country’s waist. Riding west to east the ‘Grand Depart’ takes place outside France for the second year in a row across the border in the Basque Country in northern Spain. This region, home to some of the world’s most fanatical cycling fans, lives and breathes the sport so is sure to provide an entertaining opening weekend with two very hard, relentless hilly stages. Make sure you know how to watch a Tour de France free live stream from anywhere.

From here the race travels west through the Pyrenees across legendary mountains such as the Col du Soudet and the mighty Col du Tourmalet before heading to the Massif Central and a return to the iconic Puy de Dome. Not climbed since 1988 this dormant volcano will provide a spectacular arena for the culmination of stage 9 and the end of the long first week.

Continuing west to The Jura mountains there is a summit finish on top of the Grand Colombier and then two days later another summit finish in the Alps at Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc. With just one time trial on the route: a 22km mainly uphill test on stage 16. This is without doubt a race for the climbers whose battles will finish in the forested peaks of The Vosges on the slopes of the evil Col du Platzerwasel.

As for the contenders, the two main protagonists, Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) and Jonas Vinegaard (Jumbo-Visma) are on paper so far ahead of anyone else that the rest appear to be just support actors.

Vinegaard’s dominant display at the recent Critérium du Dauphiné, where he won at a canter, suggests he is in the same sparkling form that saw him take last year’s race but the condition of his great rival Pogačar is not so certain.

The Slovenian he hasn’t raced since he crashed in Liège-Bastogne-Liège on April 23, breaking his wrist. Until that point pretty much all he had to do was to start a race to win it. His return of 12 victories from 19 starts is remarkable in the modern age but having not raced for so long will he be back at his very best?

Other star riders who will fancy their chances for the overall win – but more likely just racing for the third step on the podium – are Adam Yates, Enric Mas, Mattias Skjelmose, Ben O’Connor, Jai Hindley, Richard Carapaz, Romain Bardet and David Gaudu.

Aside from those gunning for the general classification, the start list is packed with talent as the world’s best are here to put on a show with likely key instigators Mads Pedersen, Christophe Laporte, Mathieu van der Poel, Tom Pidcock, Wout Van Aert, Thibaut Pinot, Biniam Girmay and Fred Wright all hunting for stages and in the mix for the coveted Green Jersey.

There is another compelling sub-plot to this year’s event which is sure to dominate the headlines: can Mark Cavendish get to Tour stage win number 35?

In his final participation before retirement he needs just one more to pass the great Belgian Eddy Merckx’s total of 34 but to do so he’ll have his work cut out to beat the host of world class sprinters who are riding including Jasper Philipsen, Dylan Groenewegen, Sam Bennett, Calen Ewan and Fabio Jakobsen.

These fast men could have a possible eight chances to flex their legs with stage 7 into Bordeaux and the final stage on the Champs-Élysées the ones they would all love to win.

In the run up to the start of the race we will have a more detailed look at the teams taking part, their key riders and objectives for the three weeks.

AG2R Citroën Team

AG2R will be throwing all their weight behind their star rider, the Australian Ben O’Connor. 4th in the 2021 Tour de France and third in this year’s Criterium du Dauphine he will fancy his chances of being in the mix for a very high placed finish. RIDERS: Ben O’CONNOR, Nans PETERS, Oliver NAESEN, Benoît COSNEFROY, Aurélien PARET-PEINTRE, Felix GALL, Clément BERTHET and Stan DEWULF.

Arkéa–Samsic

Arkéa–Samsic’s best hope of a successful Tour will be somehow getting a win from a breakaway with French Favourite Warren Barguil their best hope of delivering this goal. RIDERS: Laurent PICHON, Simon GUGLIELMI, Jenthe BIERMANS, Warren BARGUIL, Luca MOZZATO, Clément CHAMPOUSSIN, Anthony DELAPLACE and Matis LOUVEL.

Astana Qazaqstan Team

Alexey Luttsenko is Astana’s best hope for the overall classification but even the most optimistic fan won’t really believe he has a chance of victory. The main goal for the team, from a British perspective that is, is for Mark Cavendish to win his prized 35th stage. RIDERS: Harold TEJADA, Gianni MOSCON, Alexey LUTSENKO, Yevgeniy FEDOROV, Mark CAVENDISH, Cees BOL, David DE LA CRUZ and Luis León SÁNCHEZ.

Bora–Hansgrohe

Jai Hindley, the 2022 Giro d’Italia winner should be well in the mix for a spot on the podium but he is still a way off the level needed to compete for the win. Stranger things have happened though so keep an eye on the young Aussie. RIDERS: Marco HALLER, Patrick KONRAD, Bob JUNGELS, Jordi MEEUS , Emanuel BUCHMANN, Jai HINDLEY, Danny VAN POPPEL and Nils POLITT.

Cofidis

Much like Arkéa–Samsic, Cofids’ hopes lie in a win from a break with seasoned winners, Ion Izagirre, Guillaume Martin and Simon Geschke leading their charge. Also watch out for their sprinter Bryan Coquard, who on his day, if everything fell into place could upset the bigger sprint names. RIDERS: Alexis RENARD, Simon GESCHKE, Axel ZINGLE, Anthony PEREZ, Victor LAFAY, Bryan COQUARD, Ion IZAGIRRE and Guillaume MARTIN.

How to watch a FREE Tour de France live stream

One of the best things about the Tour de France is that it's completely free to watch in lots of countries around the world. For example:

UK – ITV4 and ITVX streaming service / S4C and S4C on BBC iPlayer

France – France TV Sport

Belgium – RTBF

Italy – Rai Sport

Australia – SBS

If you're from any of the countries listed above but you're abroad right now, don't worry about missing out on that free coverage. All you need to do is subscribe to a VPN to watch a free Tour de France live stream and re-connect to your home streaming coverage.

How to watch Tour de France 2023 from outside your country

If you're keen to watch the Tour de France but you're away from home and the coverage is geo-blocked, then you could always use a VPN to access it (assuming you're not breaching any broadcaster T&Cs, of course). You may be surprised by how simple it is to do.

Use a VPN to get a Tour de France live stream from anywhere.

Using a VPN is as easy as one-two-three...

1. Download and install a VPN - as we say, our top choice is ExpressVPN.

2. Connect to the appropriate server location - open the VPN app, hit 'choose location' and select the appropriate location.

3. Go to the broadcaster's live stream - so if you're from the UK, just head to ITVX and watch the cycling as if you were back at home!