The cycling world in the UK has been in uproar following the news that Eurosport will no longer be available to them after February 2025.
Instead, the coverage of professional men’s and women’s cycling will now move under the TNT Sports umbrella – which requires a subscription of £30.99 a month – with Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), the parent company of the two channels, saying they are aligning their sports offerings in a “single destination”.
That’s a huge increase – 343% to be precise – from the current £6.99 for Discovery+ subscribers. And even more for those who currently get Eurosport ‘for free’ as part of their current package – it’s is a ‘no extra cost’ addition for both Sky TV and Virgin Media customers in the UK.
In 2025 the Tour de France, cycling’s jewel in the crown, is the exception to that rule as it will air for free on ITV to UK viewers but that is the last year of that deal and WBD has also confirmed that it doesn’t plan to provide any free-to-air live coverage of Le Tour in the UK from 2026, when its exclusive rights deal kicks in.
All of which prompted British publication ‘Cycling Weekly’ to suggest ‘Eurosport closing might just be the beginning of the end for pro cycling in the UK‘.
But what does this have to do with triathlon? Plenty.
Record-breaking numbers on Eurosport
There are many similarities in the UK between the two sports beyond the obvious one that cycling is an integral part of swim, bike and run.
And the two organisations which have done most in recent times to try and take triathlon mainstream – the PTO, with its T100 Triathlon World Tour, and Supertri – have both claimed huge viewing figures, in triathlon terms, via Eurosport.
Indeed S