Wimbledon, the FA Cup Final, the Grand National. It does not seem too much of a stretch to suggest that the men's Tour de France should rank among these sporting behemoths, stand out events of the year. The thing that connects these trio is that they all are given 'Category A' status by the British TV regulators, Ofcom, meaning that they have to be broadcast on free-to-air television.
A petition is now trying to get the Tour in amongst this group, following the news that ITV's free Tour de France will end this year in the UK, and also the demise of Eurosport. With Warner Bros. Discovery - via TNT Sports - now owning exclusive rights to show the Tour, it seems like it will be much more expensive to watch the biggest bike race of the year next July. At the moment a new subscription costs £30.99 a month.
The current Category A events are: the football World Cup (both men's and women's); the football European Championships; the FA Cup Final; the Scottish Cup Final in Scotland; the Grand National and the Epsom Derby; the rugby league Challenge Cup final; the rugby union World Cup final; the Wimbledon finals; the Olympics; and the Paralympics.
There are also Category B events, where highlights have to be on free-to-air, which is: essentially all other international football involving the home nations; the athletics World Championships; England Test cricket and bits of the Cricket World Cup; the Open and the Ryder Cup in golf; rugby union's Six Nations and the rest of the World Cup; Wimbledon other than the final; and the Commonwealth Games.
Cycling does not - outside of the Olympics, Paralympics and Commonwealths - feature on this list at all, but the petition, started by Peter Treadway, wants this to change. It has reached 10,000 signatures, meaning that it requires a response from the government. The target, however, is 100,000, at which point it would considered for a debate in Parliament. Cycling's free-to-air issue has already been debated in the House of Commons, but only in a sparsely-populated affair.
"Cycling is one of the most accessible sports to take up but one of the least accessible to watch," Treadway said. "British Cycling is in a dire state right now, with the UK’s last UCI Continental team, Saint Piran, recently closing down. If we want to inspire more people to ride, especially the next generation, we need to keep the biggest race in the sport freely available. Right now, we have a chance to change that before it’s too late."
He said he had been "astounded" by the response. "Getting to 100,000 is definitely ambitious, but not out of the question, especially as we get closer to the Tour itself, when public interest will likely peak," he added. "It’s one of those rare topics where a lot of people agree: something this iconic should be accessible to everyone. No one would accept the Olympics or World Cup being hidden behind a pay wall and many of us feel that the Tour, being one of most watched annual sporting events, should receive the same legal protection under the 1996 Broadcasting Act."
WBD Sports Europe's senior vice president, Scott Young, has previously made clear that free-to-air live cycling is not on the broadcaster's "road map". He has also said that there are no concerns within WBD that putting the sport behind a paywall will stunt future fan growth.
The petition is open to UK residents, and can be found here. For more information on how to watch cycling in the UK and around the world, read our streaming guide.
