The 2026 WorldTour seasons kick off in Australia this weekend, with the women's and men's Tour Down Under returning to our screens from Saturday, and Cyclingnews is here with all the broadcast information covering live streaming and TV coverage.
• Date: Saturday, January 17 to Sunday, January 25
• Location: Adelaide, South Australia
• US: Peacock/NBC
• UK: Discovery+/TNT Sports
• Aus: Seven Network, 7plus
• FREE: 7plus (Australia)
• Watch anywhere: Get NordVPN (save up to 70%)
The women's Tour Down Under gets underway on Saturday, January 17 in Adelaide, and will feature stars like world champion Magdeleine Vallieres and the USA's Chloé Dygert.
The men's race follows with a prologue and five road stages starting on Tuesday, January 20, and will host southern hemisphere favourites Jay Vine and George Bennett, plus defending champion Jhonatan Narváez.
There is also the inaugural Women's One Day Race on January 21.
Ready and raring to go for the 2026 racing season? Here's how to watch every stage of the Tour Down Under – including free streams, options for if you're travelling abroad, and a handy timezone schedule down below.
Tour Down Under free live stream
Good new for cycling fans in Australia, because you can watch the Tour Down Under for free on 7plus, Channel 7's streaming service, as well as on Seven West Media's free-to-air TV channels, with TDU stages set to be shown on 7Mate and 7two.
To use 7plus, you have to register an account, but no payment is needed. However, coverage is geo-restricted to those in Australia.
Australian but travelling away from home when the Tour Down Under is on? You can still use your 7plus account with the help of a VPN – more on that below.
Watch Tour Down Under from anywhere
If you are outside of your home region and need to access your live streaming services to watch the action, you may find your access to be geo-restricted. But that doesn't mean you can't watch the races.
In this case, a VPN will come in handy. A Virtual Private Network – to give it its full name – allows your computer to pretend it's in a different country, letting you log into your streaming accounts to catch all of the racing action.
Our expert colleagues at TechRadar recommend using a VPN for streaming as well as enhanced cyber-security – they know a thing or two about VPNs and right now they rate NordVPN as the best VPN on the market.
Watch Tour Down Under in the US and Canada
In the US, fans can watch the men's and women's Tour Down Under on Peacock, NBC's streaming service.
A Peacock Premium subscription costs $10.99 monthly or $109.99 per year for an ad-supported plan, or the ad-free Peacock Premium Plus costs $16.99 a month or $169.99 a year. Peacock and NBC are also the US broadcasters of the Tour de France.
In Canada, the Tour Down Under will be on FloBikes, the cycling streaming specialist. FloBikes is the North American broadcaster for loads of races throughout the year, not just the Australian season opener. Monthly plans cost US$29.99 or CA$39.99, but you'll save big with an annual plan at US$149.99 or CA$203.88.
Watch Tour Down Under in the UK
Fans in the UK can stream the men's and women's Tour Down Under on Discovery+.
Discovery+ is the streaming platform for TNT Sports. A Sports package subscription costs £30.99 a month (£25.49 if you pay annually) and the service is home to pretty much the entire cycling calendar.
You can also watch on television if you add TNT Sports to your TV package, but Discovery+ streams at any time, with highlights too, so UK fans can watch the action from down under at a more sociable time.
Watch Tour Down Under in Australia
As we've said above, all stages of the men's and women's Tour Down Under will be shown for free on TV on 7Mate and 7two, and online on 7plus for fans in Australia.
Note this is different to most of the year, where SBS show most cycling races – Seven West Media have exclusive broadcast rights for the Tour Down Under.
Not at home when the races are on? You should still be able to use 7plus with the help of VPN – like we said above, NordVPN is a good choice.
Tour Down Under schedule
Women's Tour Down Under
Start and finish time (local) |
Start and finish time (GMT) |
Start and finish time (ET) |
|
January 17: Stage 1 |
11:10 - 15:02 |
00:40 - 04:32 |
19:40 - 23:32 (Jan. 16) |
January 18: Stage 2 |
11:10 - 14:49 |
00:40 - 04:19 |
19:40 - 23:19 (Jan. 17) |
January 19: Stage 3 |
11:10 - 15:04 |
00:40 - 04:34 |
19:40 - 23:34 (Jan. 18) |
January 21: Women's One Day Race |
15:30 - 18:08 |
05:00 - 07:38 |
00:00 - 02:38 |
Men's Tour Down Under
Start and finish time (local) |
Start and finish time (GMT) |
Start and finish time (ET) |
|
January 20: Prologue |
18:00 - 20:30 |
07:30 - 10:00 |
02:30 - 05:00 |
January 21: Stage 1 |
11:10 - 14:03 |
00:40 - 03:33 |
19:40 - 22:33 (Jan. 20) |
January 22: Stage 2 |
11:10 - 15:02 |
00:40 - 04:32 |
19:40 - 23:32 (Jan. 21) |
January 23: Stage 3 |
11:10 - 14:52 |
00:40 - 04:22 |
19:40 - 23:22 (Jan. 22) |
January 24: Stage 4 |
11:10 - 15:39 |
00:40 - 05:09 |
19:40 (Jan. 23) - 00:09 (Jan. 24) |
January 25: Stage 5 |
11:10 - 15:26 |
00:40 - 04:56 |
19:40 - 23:56 (Jan 24) |
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