How to watch the 2024 Paris Olympic Games
Catch all the action on the road, track and mountain bike for free this August
With the Tour de France having recently drawn to a conclusion, we cycling fans don't have to wait long before more action hits our screens at the Paris Olympic Games (July 26-August 11).
The racing begins on days two and three of the Games with road cycling and the women's and men's time trials. BMX and mountain bike events follow during the week, before the flagship cycling events of the road races come at the weekend (August 3-4).
After the conclusion of the outdoor cycling events, the action moves indoors for a week of racing on the track, taking in sprints, keirins, omniums, madisons, and team pursuits.
Dates: July 26-August 11
Free streams: CBC (Canada), BBC (UK), Channel 9 (Australia)
USA: Peacock TV
UK: BBC, Discovery+
Australia: Channel 9
Watch anywhere: Try NordVPN, 100% risk-free
A plethora of star names will be heading to Paris hoping to pick up a medal across the two weeks of cycling. Four golds are up for grabs in the road events, another four in BMX, two on the mountain bike, and 12 on the track.
Look out for star names from the men's and women's pelotons competing across the countless events.
Among the familiar faces heading to Paris are Mathieu van der Poel, Remco Evenepoel, Lotte Kopecky, Demi Vollering, Tadej Pogačar, Mads Pedersen, Lorena Wiebes, Elisa Longo Borghini, Wout van Aert, Biniam Girmay, Kasia Niewiadoma, Marianne Vos, Matteo Jorgenson, Tom Pidcock, Pfeiffer Georgi, and Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig.
Olympic Games live in the USA
NBC hold the broadcasting rights for the Olympic Games in the USA. The race will be broadcast live on NBC, as well as the network's streaming service, Peacock TV and the network's TV channels including NBC, MSNBC, and the USA Network.
Peacock TV offers a seven-day free trial for those who want to try before you buy. A full subscription to the service via Peacock Premium starts from $7.99 per month. The ad-free Peacock Premium Plus costs $13.99 per month.
NBC is available via cable plans and, if you're a cord-cutter, you can watch the network via Hulu ($7.99 per month with a 30-day free trial), DirecTV (from $64.99 per month with a five-day free trial), and FuboTV (from $74.99 per month with a seven-day free trial).
Olympic Games live in Canada
If you live in Canada, you can catch the Olympics across several broadcasters, including CBC, TSN, and Sportsnet.
CBC will be offering plenty of events throughout the Games for free on CBC Gem. Access to the broadcaster's ad-free on-demand library costs $4.99 per month, though the ad-supported version is free of charge.
A TSN subscription will set you back $19.99 per month or $199.90 per year, while a Sportsnet SN Now subscription costs $14.99 per month or $149.99 per year.
Olympic Games live in the UK
In the UK, cycling fans will be able to catch all the cycling events at the Games via the BBC for free. You can watch the Games online via the BBC iPlayer.
However, you won't be able to watch every last event on the streaming service. The Olympic Games will also be streamed live on Discovery+.
A 'standard' subscription to Discovery+, which includes Eurosport's cycling coverage, will set you back £59.99 per year, or, in a special Olympics deal, £3.99 per month to the end of 2024. The package includes year-round cycling streams as well as other live sports, including snooker, tennis, motorsports, and more.
A premium subscription, which includes all that plus TNT Sports (Premier League, Champions League and Europa League football plus rugby, wrestling, UFC, and MotoGP), costs an additional £29.99 per month.
Olympic Games live in Australia
In Australia, cycling fans can watch the Olympic Games in full and for free on Channel 9 and 9Gem.
Viewers across the country can tune in to the 9Now streaming service across the smart device of their choosing to catch all the action this August.
Watch the Tour de France live on any streams
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.
In this case, a VPN service will come in handy, allowing your computer to pretend it's home and let you log into your streaming accounts to catch all of the racing action.
Our colleagues at TechRadar thoroughly tested several VPN services and came up with a few great recommendations below.
1. NordVPN - get the world's favorite VPN We've put all the major VPNs through their paces and we rate NordVPN as the best for streaming Netflix as our top pick, thanks to its speed, ease of use and strong security features. It's also compatible with just about any streaming device out there, including Amazon Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, Xbox and PlayStation, as well as Android and Apple mobiles.
There are a couple other very good options that are safe, reliable and offer good bandwidth for streaming sports. Check out two other top options below - ExpressVPN and the best budget option, Surfshark.
2. Try ExpressVPN risk-free for 30 days
ExpressVPN offers a 30-day money back guarantee with its VPN service. You can use it to watch on your mobile, tablet, laptop, TV, games console and more. There's 24/7 customer support and three months free when you sign-up.
3. Surfshark: the best cheap VPN
Currently topping our charts as the fastest VPN around, Surfshark keeps giving us reasons to recommend it. It's a high-value, low-cost option that's easy to use, full of features, and excellent at unblocking restricted content.
With servers in over 100 countries, you can stream your favorite shows from almost anywhere. Best of all, Surfshark costs as little as $2.30 per month, and it comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee to try it out.
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Dani Ostanek is Senior News Writer at Cyclingnews, joining in 2017 as a freelance contributor and later being hired full-time. Before joining the team, they had written for numerous major publications in the cycling world, including CyclingWeekly and Rouleur.
Dani has reported from the world's top races, including the Tour de France, Road World Championships, and the spring Classics. They have interviewed many of the sport's biggest stars, including Mathieu van der Poel, Demi Vollering, and Remco Evenepoel. Their favourite races are the Giro d'Italia, Strade Bianche and Paris-Roubaix.
Season highlights from the 2024 season include reporting from Paris-Roubaix – 'Unless I'm in an ambulance, I'm finishing this race' – Cyrus Monk, the last man home at Paris-Roubaix – and the Tour de France – 'Disbelief', gratitude, and family – Mark Cavendish celebrates a record-breaking Tour de France sprint win.