It was announced last week that TNT Sports would absorb ‘the home of cycling’ Eurosport in a move that will see pro cycling bundled into the platform’s £30.99-per-month premium package, with no option to pay a lower amount just for the cycling coverage. As such, it amounts to an effective 300% increase in monthly streaming costs and has rightfully got fans wondering how they are going to afford to stay in touch with the two-wheeled sport.
Despite this eye-watering increase, there are at least some options to save on a TNT Sports subscription and prevent cycling from breaking the bank if you’re tuning in from the UK. We trawled the internet for money-saving deals to find ways to cut costs legally and still follow races like the Tour de France and Paris-Roubaix.
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Free-to-air coverage
The cheapest way to watch live racing is (obviously, given the name) through free-to-air coverage. The name isn’t a trap either, watching cycling on these channels is genuinely free – well, apart from the caveat of having a British TV licence.
In the UK, ITV will provide free-to-air coverage of the Tour de France and the Tour of Britain during 2025. This will include highlights packages on ITV4, however, ITV’s Tour de France coverage will not continue through to 2026 as TNT Sports will become the sole broadcaster of the French race in the UK.
If you’re looking for other coverage, TG4‘s live Tour de France coverage will continue in 2025. The Irish-language channel is available to watch online for free in the UK. The Galway-based channel also broadcasts the Tour de France Femmes for free, but that will come to an end after 2025 due to TNT Sports’ exclusive rights deal.
As part of TNT Sports’ big launch, some free-to-air cycling coverage will appear on Quest in both the UK and Ireland. The Ultimate Cycling Show hosted by Orla Chennaoui and Adam Blythe will be aired each week on Quest. The hour-long magazine show will begin broadcasting on February 27th and will be shown every Thursday until the Grand Tours roll around in May. Its hosts claim that it will act as a crossover between YouTube and traditional TV formats.
VPNs
In brief, VPNs (Virtual Private Networks) protect your network connection by making it private. A VPN works by encrypting your device’s data to reroute your internet traffic through a server elsewhere, hiding your device’s actual location from your internet service provider. Not only are they useful for remaining secure online, but they also allow you to access content that is normally geo-blocked – ie, intended only for some countries or territories and not others. This is useful when travelling abroad or, importantly for cycling fans, accessing coverage when there are no or limited rights holders in your country.
For instance, by connecting to a French network, a VPN would allow access to France Télévisions, the free-to-air broadcaster of ASO's French races (such as the Tour de France, Paris-Nice and Paris-Roubaix). Likewise, a VPN can grant you access to Dutch broadcaster NOS, Belgian channel Sporza and Italian Rai. All together, VPNs could keep you in the loop for most WorldTour events – and certainly all three Grand Tours and Monuments.
On these channels, however, commentary will remain in the native language, so you may need to brush up on that Dutch-language Duolingo in time for the Classics if you're going to explore this route.
One such example is ExpressVPN, which is very well reviewed, helps users to find free-to-watch cycling, and costs start from around £5 per month. Besides ExpressVPN, other options include NordVPN, Surfshark and Kaspersky.
How to get discounted access to TNT Sports
If you're unwilling to part ways with Sean Kelly's commentary or Eurosport's wall-to-wall coverage and analysis, there are some thrifty ways to save at least some money on your TNT Sports subscription. By following some of these tips and tricks, you can save up to 50% on the £30.99 monthly pricetag.
People on social media have reported that you can access a discounted price when cancelling a subscription. Yes, if you try to cancel your membership, TNT Sports offers you a 50% reduction on your fees, taking it down to £15.99 per month. For this, you must be an existing Discovery+ or TNT Sports customer. However, we'll add that it seems safe to assume that this policy will change should subscribers suddenly start looking to exploit this loophole in their thousands.
TNT Sports can also be offered as part of your existing phone, internet or TV contract. If you have a deal with BT, Sky or Virgin Media, you're likely to get some discount on your TNT Sports package.
Some EE phone contracts include TNT Sports as an 'inclusive extra'. Elsewhere, a TNT Sports add-on can be bundled into some Virgin Media contracts for an extra £15 per month (depending on your existing plan). Similarly, BT customers can add TNT Sports to their package for between £20-£25 per month while Sky customers can also receive some discounts when TNT Sports is bundled in with Sky Sports.
Nevertheless, it is worth checking with your internet or TV provider whether there is a way to add TNT Sports for a reduced rate.
