The 2023 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships gets underway on Thursday, August 3, as the world’s bravest riders compete in a host of MTB events across two different venues in the wilds of Scotland.
Read on and we'll show you how to watch the 2023 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships from anywhere with a VPN, and potentially for FREE.
UCI Mountain Bike World Championship starts on Thursday (August 3) and finish on Saturday (August 12). Full schedule below.
► U.K. — BBC iPlayer (FREE)
► Australia — SBS on Demand (FREE)
► U.S. — FloBikes
► Watch anywhere — Try ExpressVPN 100% risk free
The biggest event on the mountain bike calendar has arrived, with a total of 17 rainbow jerseys up for grabs across the various disciplines. Held over ten days, junior, U23 and elite titles for men and women will be up for grabs in cross-country Olympic (XCO), cross-country marathon (XCM), short track (XCC), E-MTB, Team Relay and downhill events.
Taking place at Fort William, which regularly hosts UCI MTB World Cup events, the downhill races will see riders tackle jumps, bumps, rock gardens and berms at incredible speed. The 2.82km course has 555m of vertical drop and will provide a serious challenge for even the most fearless of competitors. French ace Loïc Bruni is the defending champion in the men’s event, while Austrian youngster Vali Höll triumphed in the women’s elite race last year.
For the XCO event, riders will race on the 3.5km loop in Glentress Forest which has elevation gains of 145m per lap. Grit, determination and stamina are vital for success as the rough terrain and steep slopes can cause mayhem, especially if the weather takes a turn for the worse. Swiss legend Nino Schurter and French superstar Pauline Ferrand-Prévot are the defending elite champions.
The rest of the events are also being held at Glentress Forest, with the XCC races taking place on a testing 0.9km course that requires striking the right balance between speed and skill. The XCR will see teams of six navigating the mud and attempting to come up with a strategy that allows them to share the burden of the hugely demanding course, while the XCM will see riders pushed to the absolute limit on a 96.5km course that features several punishing climbs.
In the E-MTB event, riders race a similar course to the XCO, but there is one huge difference, the bikes are battery-powered. Top speeds are capped at 25kph and racers must finish on the same bike and the battery they started with.
Read on as we explain how to watch a FREE 2023 Mountain Bike World Championships live stream from anywhere with a VPN. Full schedule and details of how to watch this UCI Cycling World Championships event below.
FREE UCI Mountain Bike World Championships live streams
If you live in the U.K., Australia, France, Italy, Spain or Belgium, then you can look forward to a FREE UCI Mountain Bike World Championships live stream in 2023.
That's because the free-to-air BBC and its BBC iPlayer streaming service in the U.K., SBS and SBS on Demand streaming service in Australia, France TV Sport in France, Rai Sport in Italy, RTVE in Spain, and Sporza in Belgium all have rights to the action.
But what if you're based in one of those countries but aren't at home to catch that free UCI Mountain Bike World Championships coverage? Maybe you're on holiday and don't want to spend money on pay TV in another country, when you'd usually be able to watch for free at home?
Don't worry — you can watch it via a VPN instead. We'll show you how to do that below.
UCI Mountain Bike Championships live streams around the world
It's only natural that you might want to watch a UCI Mountain Bike World Championships live stream from your home country, but what if you're not there when the event is on?
Look no further than a VPN, or virtual private network. A VPN makes it look as if you're surfing the web from your home country, rather than the one you're in. That means you can access the streaming services you already pay for, from anywhere on Earth. Or anywhere that has an internet connection, at least.
For instance, a Brit who's currently in the U.S. could watch UCI Mountain Bike World Championships live streams on BBC iPlayer even though they're not in the U.K.
They're totally legal, inexpensive and easy to use. We've tested lots of the best VPN services and our favorite right now is ExpressVPN. It's fast, works on loads of devices and even offers a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Using a VPN is incredibly simple.
1. Install the VPN of your choice. As we've said, ExpressVPN is our favorite.
2. Choose the location you wish to connect to in the VPN app. For instance if you're in the U.S. and want to view a British service, you'd select U.K. from the list.
3. Sit back and enjoy the action. Head to BBC iPlayer or another website and watch the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships.
How to watch UCI Mountain Bike World Championships live streams in the U.S.
The 2023 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships is being shown live on FloBikes in the U.S.
A FloBikes subscription costs $150 per year, which works out to $12.50 per month.
If you're currently out of the U.S. but still want to watch the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships, don't forget to explore the VPN route set out above.
How to watch UCI Mountain Bike World Championships live streams in the U.K.
The majority of the UCI Cycling World Championships action is being shown across BBC Two, BBC Three and via the BBC Red Button.
That means you can watch a UCI Mountain Bike World Championships live stream for free on BBC iPlayer, which is free to use and works across a wide range of devices including smart TVs, laptops, games consoles, mobile phones, tablets and streaming sticks.
If you're currently traveling overseas, don't worry, as you can use ExpressVPN to watch BBC iPlayer from abroad.
Should you want to watch every event and don't mind splashing out a bit of money for more comprehensive coverage, then you may want to try Discovery Plus or GCN Plus.
A Discovery Plus subscription costs £6.99 per month or £59.99 for the year, and lets you tune in on a wide range of devices, as well as the Eurosport TV channels.
GCN Plus costs £6.99 per month or £39.99 per year, and offers ad-free live coverage of loads of cycling events throughout the year.
How to watch UCI Mountain Bike World Championships live streams in Canada
Cycling fans in Canada can watch the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships on FloBikes, which costs US$150 per year (roughly CA$200).
Not at home right now? Use ExpressVPN or another VPN service to trick your device into thinking you're still in Canada.
How to watch UCI Mountain Bike World Championships live streams in Australia
As you may already be aware, Aussies can watch the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships for free on SBS and SBS on Demand.
Not in Australia right now? You can simply use a VPN, such as ExpressVPN, to watch the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships 2023 on your SBS account, as if you were back home.
UCI Mountain Bike World Championships 2023 schedule and events
MOUNTAIN BIKE DOWNHILL
Thursday, August 3
Qualifying
Friday, August 4
Qualifying & Finals
Saturday, August 5
Finals
MOUNTAIN BIKE CROSS-COUNTRY MARATHON
Sunday, August 6
Mountain Bike Cross-country Marathon
MOUNTAIN BIKE CROSS-COUNTRY
Tuesday, August 8
Cross-Country Short Track Qualifying
Wednesday, August 9
E-MTB Cross-Country
Cross-Country Team Relay
Thursday, August 10
Cross-Country Olympic Juniors
Cross-Country Short Track Finals
Friday, August 11
Cross-Country Olympic U23s
Saturday, August 12
Cross-Country Olympic Elite
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