Gear up for the 2024 Cycling Grand Tours on Australia’s Home of Cycling, SBS

All of the rivalry begins with the Giro d’Italia this weekend – just eight weeks until Tour de France 2024

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The Cycling Grand Tours begin with the Giro d’Italia this Saturday May 4, live and free on SBS and SBS on Demand, kick starting a magnificent cycling season of fierce rivalries, steep climbs and impressive stage wins.

Once a victor has been crowned with the pink jersey for the Giro d’Italia, the cycling Grand Tours continue with the world’s biggest annual sporting event, the Tour de France, setting off from Italy for the first time in history. Commencing in Florence on June 29, riders will trace a path east across the country before heading back west towards France and into the Alps.

The Tour de France will be followed by the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift which will be held as a standalone event for the first timefrom August 12. The Vuelta a España, the third and final Grand Tour of the year will gear up from August 17 finishing off an incredible season of cycling, excitement, and world thrilling sporting events across Europe.

Australia’s Home of Cycling, SBS, will deliver all the action of the cycling Grand Tours and competitive leg shaking stages to Australians with more than 300 hours of live cycling content, and a vast selection of highlights, podcast series and replays.

With spectacular passion and an impressive wealth of experience, the 2024 SBS Cycling commentary team of experts will provide trusted analysis taking viewers along the ride of every stage of the races that capture the attention and eyes of the world. For the Giro d’Italia Australia’s ‘voice of cycling’ Matthew Keenan will lead the commentary team, joined by former Giro d’Italia stage winner David McKenzie, dual-Australian road national champion Gracie Elvin, internationally renowned sprinter and lead-out specialist Mark Renshaw, along with the first Australian to have won a stage in all three Grand Tours Simon Gerrans, and Australian national time trial champion Dr. Bridie O’Donnell. For the 2024 Giro d’Italia SBS has also invited guest commentators, former professional Australian road racing cyclists Mitchel Docker and Patrick Shaw to provide their expert analysis and ensure audiences don’t miss any of the action.

SBS Director of Sport, Ken Shipp, said: “SBS is Australia’s unrivalled destination for cycling. This year with the Grand Tours we are expecting to see some of the biggest talent and fiercest rivalries we’ve seen in decades. The broadcast will be led by incredibly experienced experts who will work alongside our passionate production team to deliver action-packed coverage of the 2024 races. Cycling unites people from across the globe every year for the Grand Tours and we couldn’t be prouder to be Australia’s home of cycling.”

Headlining this year’s Giro d’Italia which gears up Saturday May 4, is a stellar line up of general classification contenders including two-time Tour de France winner, Tadej Pogačar, and fellow Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas. Contenders also include talented Australian hopefuls Ben O’Connor and Luke Plapp. There will also be plenty of sprinter strength with Australians Sam Welsford and Caleb Ewan to square off against Fabio Jakobsen, Jonathan Milan, Olav Kooij, Juan Sebastian Molano and Gerben Thijssen in the race. Competitors will race across the steep slopes of the Italian Alps, Dolomites and Apennines with the pink jersey being crowned to the victor on Sunday May 26.

The Giro d’Italia route features two-time trials and six summit finishes, with the highest point in the race, once again being the Stelvio Pass, the highest altitude ever reached by Giro d’Italia riders. With coverage of every pedal stroke, all 21 stages of the race will be available live in full on SBS On Demand with coverage on SBS Viceland starting later each night. There will also be hour-long highlights shows broadcast on SBS, with catch-up replays, extended highlights and analysis videos throughout the three-week race accessible on SBS On Demand.

After the Giro d’Italia concludes on Sunday May 26 the Tour de France commences Saturday June 29 until Sunday July 21 as the best male cyclists in the world battle it out to secure the yellow jersey. All 21 stages will be available to stream live and free on SBS and SBS On Demand with the race starting for the very first time in history in Florence, Italy. The best female cyclists will then gear up for the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift which commences on Monday August 12 after the 2024 Olympics with some riders planning to head straight back on the bike after competing in the Olympics. All 8 stages of the race will also be available to stream live and free on SBS Viceland with daily highlights and more on SBS On Demand.

For more information, visit the SBS Sport website: www.sbs.com.au/sport

For a PDF of this media release, click here.