With the European road racing season tentatively swinging into action amid a series of race cancellations, the Étoile de Bessèges has kicked off the European stage racing season, and will draw to a conclusion on Sunday.
After the cancellations of the Vuelta a San Juan and Tour Down Under, as well as the postponements of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, Vuelta a Andalucía and Volta ao Algarve, the five-day race has welcomed an unusually strong line-up this year.
Tour de France champions Egan Bernal, Geraint Thomas and Vincenzo Nibali headlined the start list, while Classics stars Greg Van Avermaet and Alberto Bettiol also line up alongside top sprinter Pascal Ackermann.
Cyclingnews will be bringing you full reports, results, news, interviews, and analysis throughout the race. Read on to find out how to watch the Etoile de Bessèges via live stream, no matter your location, with ExpressVPN.
Tim Wellens (Lotto Soudal) leads the race after four stages, taking a 44-second overall lead after soloing to victory from the break in Bessèges. Trek-Segafredo's Edward Theuns lies in second, with a cluster of 11 riders following within six seconds.
Christophe Laporte (Cofidis) and Timothy Dupont (Bingoal-Wallonie Bruxelles) won the opening two stages, with a reduced sprint on stage 1 and a mass, crash-marred finish on stage 2. Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) soloed to victory from the break on stage 4.
Ineos Grenadiers brought the starriest line-up to the race, with Bernal, Ganna and Thomas joined by Michał Kwiatkowski. Meanwhile, Nibali is joined by Bauke Mollema and ex-world champion Mads Pedersen.
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
AG2R Citroën send Classics duo Van Avermaet and Oliver Naesen to the race, while Lotto Soudal are led by Wellens, Philiippe Gilbert and John Degenkolb. EF Education-Nippo bring Rigoberto Urán, Michael Valgren, and 2020 runner-up Alberto Bettiol, and Bora-Hansgrohe can look to Felix Großschartner and Lennard Kämna.
Sprinters at the race included Ackermann, Laporte, Dupont, Edvald Boasson Hagen (Total Direct Energie), Nacer Bouhanni (Arkéa-Samsic), Giacomo Nizzolo (Qhubeka Assos), and Bryan Coquard (B&B Hotels p/b KTM).
Stage 5 brings a short time trial which will sort out the final podium once and for all. Read on for all the information on how to watch the 2021 Étoile de Bessèges.
Étoile de Bessèges live stream
Follow Cyclingnews on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for alerts on important stories and action during the race.
The Étoile de Bessèges will be aired in France online via L'Equipe TV, with around two hours a day of live coverage available. In Belgium, Sporza will also air the race.
In the USA, Canada and Australia, Flobikes is the only way to watch, with plans starting from $12.50 per month. Unfortunately, the race won't be shown on Eurosport or GCN.
If you live outside a broadcast zone or are on holiday outside your country and find that the live streams to be geo-restricted, you can get around this by getting access to them by simulating being back in your home country via a 'virtual private network', or VPN, for your laptop, tablet or mobile.
Our sister site TechRadar tested hundreds of VPNs and recommends the number-one VPN currently available as Express VPN. With ExpressVPN, you can watch on many devices at once including Smart TVs, Fire TV Stick, PC, Mac, iPhone, Android phone, iPads, tablets, etc.
Cyclingnews is the world's leader in English-language coverage of professional cycling. Started in 1995 by University of Newcastle professor Bill Mitchell, the site was one of the first to provide breaking news and results over the internet in English. The site was purchased by Knapp Communications in 1999, and owner Gerard Knapp built it into the definitive voice of pro cycling. Since then, major publishing house Future PLC has owned the site and expanded it to include top features, news, results, photos and tech reporting. The site continues to be the most comprehensive and authoritative English voice in professional cycling.
