The biggest week of Belgian cycling reaches it peak on Sunday 6 April at the Tour of Flanders, with the elite men and women once again tackling the cobbles of Flanders on a brutal day.
The men start in Bruges and finish in Oudenaarde, while the women start and finish in Oudenaarde, just south of Ghent. All the famous climbs are involved, from the Muur van Geraardsbergen to the Oude Kwaremont. It’s like a greatest hits of Belgian racing, the culmination of all the action from the warmup races.
This year’s Tour of Flanders is the 22nd for women, and the 109th for men, and is organised by Flanders Classics.
Both are WorldTour events, with star male riders including Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek). Meanwhile, Lotte Kopecky and Lorena Wiebes (both SD Worx-Protime), Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek) and Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ) will be present in the women’s race.
Below, Cycling Weekly has compiled everything you need to know about broadcasters and live streams, so you can watch the Tour of Flanders wherever you are in the world.
Quick guide to watching the Tour of Flanders
How to watch the Tour of Flanders in the UK
In the UK, the Tour of Flanders, like pretty much all pro cycling, will be shown on TV on TNT Sports and online on Discovery+ on Sunday April 6. Both platforms are owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and require a subscription.
TV viewers, head to TNT Sports 1 for the men’s race from 9am, and for the women’s race hop to TNT Sports 2 from 1.45pm.
Online viewers, head to Discovery+, where you’ll find both races ready to stream at the times noted above.
Discovery+ costs £30.99 a month since the price rise one month ago. TNT Sports is also £30.99 a month, but is cheaper with certain TV packages.
How to watch the Tour of Flanders in the US and Canada
Flobikes is in charge of this year’s Tour of Flanders coverage in North America, as with almost all Belgian races. Subscriptions cost CA$39.99 a month in Canada, while in the US there is a monthly fee of $29.99, with big savings for long-term plans.
The Flobikes TV app is available on Roku, Fire TV, Chromecast and Apple TV, as well as on iOS and Android.
Can I watch the Tour of Flanders for free?
Fans in Australia can watch the Tour of Flanders for free, as can those in the host country of Belgium, and in France and the Netherlands too.
In Australia, the Tour of Flanders is part of public broadcaster SBS’s portfolio of races, with live streaming available on their free platform, SBS On Demand.
In Belgium, you can watch Gent-Wevelgem for free thanks to VRT and its Sporza brand – you can watch on terrestrial TV, on VRT Max, or simply on the Sporza website.
Meanwhile, in France it’s on free-to-air television on FranceTV, while in the Netherlands, it’s on NOS through NPO Start.
Coverage is geo-restricted. To access your usual streaming services from abroad you’ll need a VPN – more on that below.
How to watch the Tour of Flanders while abroad
Most streaming platforms have geo-restrictions these days, which means they only work in certain countries. But being locked out of the races is a thing of the past thanks to a VPN.
A Virtual Private Network is a piece of internet security software that can alter your device’s location, so you can unblock your usual streaming services, even when you’re abroad.
Want to know more? We have an explainer on the benefits, costs, and considerations…
– Should I use a VPN to watch cycling?
What time is the Tour of Flanders on?
UK coverage of the Tour of Flanders begins at 9.00am BST on TNT Sports 1 for the men’s race, which runs until about 4.00pm when it’s followed directly by the women’s race through 5.30pm. The women’s race begins on TNT Sports 2 at 1.45pm. Online, it’s a similar picture.
In North America, streaming for the men’s Tour of Flanders runs from 4.00am to 10.30pm ET, while the women’s race streams from 7.00am to 11.45pm ET.
It’s a late one for fans in Australia – 7.00pm-2.00am AEDT for the men’s race and 0.00am-4.00am AEDT for the women’s race on SBS On Demand.
See also: Cycling TV and streaming guide
We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example: 1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service). 2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad. We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.
