The news that global cycling streaming app GCN+ would be shuttering its doors caught the cycling world by surprise last fall.
The streaming service and app were highly popular worldwide for providing a convenient way to watch pro cycling's biggest events. In the U.S. GCN+ was particularly cherished among bike fans, as it offered rare access to a consistent stream of live bike racing, a sport not commonly found on mainstream services in North America. Where would dedicated TV domestiques get their live-action bike racing now?
While GCN+’s website and YouTube channel do live on, the live racing feeds will now be delivered to European fans via Eurosport or discovery+. American fans won't have such a clean-cut alternative, however.
While alternative services to watch the 2024 cycling season have taken shape, die-hard fans will, annoyingly, have to piece-meal the season together with subscriptions to multiple streaming services.
To make your viewing experience somewhat easier, here's a rundown of where you can catch the pro peloton this year.
PEACOCK
Peacock is NBC’s streaming service and will be showing both the 2024 Tour de France as well as all Olympic events this summer, including cycling. Peacock and Le Tour inked a six-year deal giving Peacock exclusive U.S. media rights to the Tour through 2029.
According to a 2023 press release, Peacock will also stream La Vuela a España, La Vuelta Feminina by Carrefour.es, the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, men’s and women’s Paris-Roubaix, La Fleche Wallonne, Liege-Bastogne-Liege, Criterium de Dauphine and Paris Tours.
At the time of publication, Peacock is $6/month or $60/year.
MAX
Max is owned by Warner Brothers Discovery (WBD), who also owned GCN+’s streaming channel. As a result, WBD has pushed much of the racing featured on GCN+ to its other streaming service, Max, FKA HBO Max.
According to WBD: "Live cycling coverage on Max will include more than 300 of the world’s biggest racing events, including the prestigious Giro d’Italia, all race weekends of the UCI Mountain Bike World Series, all rounds of the UCI Track Champions League, 53 Women’s WorldTour broadcasts, the E3 Saxo Bank Classic, Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne, and more.”
Max claims it will showcase more live cycling than any other platform in 2024.
Max subscribers will also have access to The Breakaway, the Eurosport-produced pre- and post-race coverage which is shown in the UK and Europe. If other sports such as Major League Baseball, the NBA, U.S. Soccer and more are up your alley, Max provides streaming of those sports, too.
At the time of publication, a subscription to Max is $10/month with ads, $16/month without ads and the options of bundling your subscription into one-time payments of $100/year or $150/year.
FLOBIKES
FloBikes is the third option for those hankering to watch their favorite races unfold. FloBikes is part of a larger organization, FloSports, that covers everything from track and field to hockey.
Multiple races stream on FloBikes each month, including the Tour of Oman, Paris-Nice, men’s and women’s Dwars door Vlaanderen and men’s and women’s Tour of Flanders.
FloBikes also includes news articles and exclusive interviews with popular riders.
FloBikes is by far the most expensive option per month priced at $30/month or $150/year at the time of publication, which is on par with Max’s one-time yearly subscription payment. Opting for the $150/year one-time payment does save viewers $210 a year, which is worth considering if you want to make FloBikes your primary pro cycling streaming platform.
Sadly, there is no perfect solution here - GCN+ was thought to solve for the problem of needing to purchase multiple streaming services to follow the action of pro cycling. However, if you're a dedicated fan, all of these streaming services may be just a small price to pay to stay up-to-date with the pro peloton.
