Tour de France stage 1, 2 and 3 dates: July 1 – July 3
Live streams: ITVX / S4C (UK)| GCN+ (UK) | SBS On Demand (AUS) | Peacock / USA Networks ($ USA) | FloBikes (CAN $) | Sky Sport (NZ $)
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Race preview
The unusually tough and hilly first stage of the Tour de France delivered an exciting finale on Saturday where Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) surged ahead of twin brother Simon Yates (Jayco-Alula) in the Basque city of Bilbao. After escaping in the final 10km, the pair kept an elite group of 13 chasers at bay.
Adam Yates takes the first coveted maillot jaune of race leader, with an eight-second lead on his brother in the general classification. Two-time winner Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) won the sprint for third place for the 4-second time bonus and sits third overall, 18 seconds back. Most of the other contenders finished together with defending champion Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma), Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe), David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) and Mikel Landa (Bahrain Victorious), all at 22 seconds down.
Two riders saw their hopes of finishing on the podium in Paris evaporate when Enric Mas (Movistar) and Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) crashed with 23 km to go. Mas abandoned the race while Carapaz gingerly finished, and ultimately crossed the line, over 15 minutes from Adam Yates.
The early battle for the general classification is expected to continue on the second day of racing with another hilly stage in the Basque region.
Sunday's Stage 2 uses some of the famous parts of the Clasica San Sebastian, with a 208.9 kilometre from Vitoria-Gasteiz to San Sebastián with the Jaizkibel (8.1km at 5.3%) among five classified climbs.
The roads level out for stage 3 on Monday, July 3, with 187.4 kilometres from Amorebieta-Etxano running mostly along the coast to Bayonne. It should be a wickedly fast stage even with four climbs early in the stage with an expected tailwind until the last 25km, where echelons could break the peloton up in the crosswinds.
It's a weekend of racing you will not want to miss and it's only just the start. See the entire 2023 Tour de France route for what's coming next and see if you agree with our list of Tour de France contenders.
Cyclingnews will be bringing you full reports, results, news, interviews, and analysis throughout the race. Read on to find out how to watch the 2023 Tour de France via free live streams, no matter your location. Use ExpressVPN to watch your usual stream from anywhere in the world, or one of the other highly-recommended VPN services below.
Check out our full live streaming guide, check out our comprehensive Tour de France guide, the Tour de France route, plus the Tour de France start list information powered by FirstCycling.
How to watch the Tour de France
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NBC hold the broadcasting rights for the Tour de France in the USA. The race will be broadcast live on NBC, as well as the network's streaming service, Peacock TV.
FloBikes will air the Tour de France in Canada. An annual subscription will set you back $12.99/month.
Viewers in the USA can watch the Tour live via the network, while highlights and on-demand streams will also be available.
In the UK, the Tour de France will be aired free to air on TV via Eurosport, ITV4, and Welsh-language channel S4C. Live coverage and highlights are all available.
The Tour will also be aired live and in full by GCN+ in the UK, with the same coverage also available via streaming on Discovery+ and on Eurosport's TV channel. Discovery+ is available for Sky Glass, Sky Q, and Sky Stream customers for no extra cost.
In Australia, national broadcaster SBS will carry live Tour de France coverage.
For a local feel and full French-language coverage of the race, head to France TV Around Europe, broadcasters include ARD in Germany, Sporza and RTBF in Belgium, Rai in Italy, and RTVE in Spain.
Best VPN for streaming the Tour de France
Geo-restrictions are the bane of cycling fans because they can prevent you from watching the Tour de France using your live streaming accounts if you are outside of your home country.
While you can always follow Cyclingnews for all the live coverage you can access your geo-blocked live streaming services by simulating being in your home country with a VPN - a 'virtual private network'.
Our experts have thoroughly tested VPNs for live streaming sports and recommend ExpressVPN. The service lets you to watch the race live on various devices – Smart TVs, Fire TV Stick, PC, Mac, iPhone, Android phone, iPads, tablets, etc.
There are a couple other very good options that are safe, reliable and offer good bandwidth for streaming sports. Check out the best two options below - NordVPN and the best budget option, Surfshark.
*Live television and streaming, as well as Cyclingnews' live coverage, always covers start to finish.
