WARNER BROS. DISCOVERY DELIVERS PRODUCTION PLANS FOR THE WORLD’S BIGGEST CYCLING RACE

Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) Sports Europe will present all the wheel-to-wheel action throughout July with one of the world’s most prestigious bike races returning to the screens of millions of viewers as the Tour de France and Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift gets underway.

Every stage of the men’s and women’s race will be available to watch throughout Europe on Eurosport with uninterrupted streaming available for subscribers on discovery+*, the Eurosport App and GCN+. All the news and views on the race available at Eurosport.com. GCN+ will also provide cycling fans with live, ad-free coverage of the Tour de France and Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift for viewers in the Asia-Pacific region, plus live coverage of the women’s race in the Middle East and North Africa.

The mixed-reality Cube studio will return for WBD Sports’ Tour de France and Tour de France Femmes coverage to equip presenters with data-driven analysis features that will simulate the perils and performance of the peloton to help explain the action from France to the viewers watching around Europe.

Scott Young, SVP Content and Production at Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe, said: “Following the historic launch of the new-look women’s race last year, we will once again demonstrate our passion for cycling by producing back-to-back and localised coverage of the Tour de France and Tour de France Femmes in 2023. We enjoy being the Home of all Cycling and our approach to both Tours will give fans the front row seat they love. 

“No-one else has the expertise in cycling, matched with the multi-platform portfolio, to offer the scale of coverage for the sport’s biggest race to millions of viewers across Europe and beyond, and we look forward to telling the stories from each stage for the widest possible audience.”

The best cycling expertise

WBD Sports’ on-site presentation team for the Tour de France includes two-time Tour de France champion and one of the greatest cyclists of his generation, Alberto Contador. He will share reporting duties from Eurosport’s innovative motorbike camera position along with Tour de France stage winners Philippe Gilbert and Jens Voigt, as well as former British national champion Adam Blythe. 

They are joined by on-site reporters Laura Meseguer, Matt Stephens, Anders Mielke, Louis-Pierre Frileux who will bring viewers closer to the action with exclusive rider and team interviews before and after each stage. For the Tour de France Femmes, Dutch star Iris Slappendel will be WBD Sports’ presenter on-site alongside Manon Lloyd to offer her expert insights into competing in the peloton.

Philippe Gilbert, Eurosport GCN cycling expert, said: “The level of the riders is always at its best for the Tour de France. Everyone prepares for the Tour - the training and altitude camps, the recons - you don’t see that at the same level at the Giro or the Vuelta. The people, the riders, the teams invest a lot more to get the best out of the riders. When you go to the Tour, you have to be 100% as everything is harder. This is what makes it so special.”

Even more cycling content

On 30 June, Viewers in the UK will be treated to a special programme featuring one of the legend's of the sport. On the eve of his last ever Tour de France, record stage winner Mark Cavendish sat down with Eurosport's Orla Chennaoui to reflect on his friends, heroes and greatest moments as part of a 30-minute show airing on Eurosport 1 at 19:15 BST and streaming discovery+ and the Eurosport App.

Keeping cycling fans engaged for longer and telling the stories of its riders, WBD Sports will also offer a range of additional content during the Tour including “Uphill Climb, The Women Who Conquered The Impossible Race”, presented by Shimano premiering on Eurosport on Sunday 16 July with streaming on discovery+ and the Eurosport App. Through personal accounts of courageous female cyclists and insights from cycling commentator Phil Liggett, the 35-minute film shines a light on these trailblazing athletes who defied norms and paved the way for today’s Tour de France Avec Zwift. 

Cycling superfans will be able to go behind the scenes and into the history books of cycling’s greatest race with close to 200 cycling films available exclusively on GCN+. It has curated a collection that will bring users even more unmissable Tour content on demand on any device, worldwide, with documentaries covering the teams who shaped the Tour de France over the last century, from La Vie Claire to Team Sky; in-depth profiles of the legendary winners and icons of the men’s and women’s races; analysis of the climbs and routes that can turn the general classification on its head; plus challenges that display the incredible athletic feats of Tour de France and Femmes cyclists of the past and present.

GCN+ will also offer subscribers a one-stop shop for Tour content alongside racing live and on-demand, including the Racing News Show, World of Cycling, and short highlights available worldwide. The GCN App will include interactive features such as quizzes and polls; overviews of route information, key riders to watch, and stage previews; plus daily content spanning stage reports, results, and news round-ups.

Warner Bros. Discovery possesses an unmatched cycling portfolio spanning more than 300 days of live racing per year, with every UCI Women’s World Tour and men’s World Tour event, in addition to every race from the UCI Mountain Bike World Series, the UCI Track Champions League, and every UCI World Championship race across Road, Mountain Bike, Track and Cyclocross events.

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*Warner Bros. Discovery holds the rights to broadcast the Tour de France in Europe (exclusive in 37 countries) and Asia-Pacific (highlights in Australia and Japan only; excludes China and New Zealand). 

** Warner Bros. Discovery holds the rights to the Tour de France Femmes in Europe, Middle East and North Africa and Asia-Pacific regions.***Streaming is available on discovery+ in Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, the UK and Ireland.

 All racing coverage, original content and exclusive cycling documentaries are available year-round on GCN+ via the GCN App, all web browsers, Amazon FireTV, Samsung Smart TV, AndroidTV, Chromecast, AppleTV and Apple AirPlay.

Warner Bros. Discovery’s on-site Tour de France experts:

• Philippe Gilbert (stage 1-10)
• Alberto Contador (stage 1-3; 6-21)
• Jens Voigt (stage 10-15)
• Adam Blythe (stage 16-21)

WBD’s local studio shows will feature:

• UK – The Breakaway: Orla Chennaoui; Adam Blythe; Dan Lloyd and Robbie McEwen
• France – Les Rois de le Pédale: Geraldine Weber; Lesly Boitrelle; Guillaume Di Grazia; Jacky Durand; Steve Chainel
• Spain – La Montonera: Adrián Garcia; Alberto Contador; Eduardo Chozas; Dori Ruano; Saúl Miguel
• Germany – Velo Club: David Marcour; Bernie Eisel; Jens Voigt
• Italy – Tour 360: Giulia Cicchinè; Riccardo Magrini; Luca Gregorio; Moreno Moser; Wladimir Belli 

The 110th edition of the Tour de France (1-23 July) includes a Grand Départ from the Basque Country – the second time Spain has hosted the start of cycling’s most iconic race. The 21-stage route spans more than 3,400km with the previous two champions Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar set to go head-to-head in their quest for the coveted yellow jersey.

 The second edition of the reborn eight-stage Tour de France Femmes (23-30 July) will provide the ultimate test for riders, breaking away from the men’s race by departing from the Massif Central and arriving at Pau with a final time trial following 956km of racing. Cycling’s superwoman Annemiek van Vleuten currently holds the titles to every Grand Tour as well as the World Championship’s rainbow jersey and will be the rider to beat again in 2023.