It's Day 4 of the 2020 UCI Road World Championships and that means it's the Men's Elite Road Race. There are six GB riders competing alongside the top two from the 2020 Tour de France, Tadej Pogacar and runner up Primoz Roglic.
Now in its 93rd edition, the UCI Road World Championships takes place on some of the most challenging routes in Italy. Here's a complete guide to watching the race for the rainbow jersey wherever you are.
The 2020 UCI Road World Championships is free-to-air in the UK on BBC Sport (opens in new tab) and BBC iPlayer (opens in new tab). It's also free to watch on Rai Sport (opens in new tab) in Italy, France Sport (opens in new tab) in France, and on Sporza (opens in new tab) and RTBF (opens in new tab) in the Netherlands and Belgium. If you're a citizen from those places but stuck abroad, don't forget to download a VPN (opens in new tab) to make sure you can access a free 2020 UCI Road World Championships live stream wherever you are.
The 2020 UCI Road World Championships was was originally due to be held in Switzerland, but had to be switched because of coronavirus restrictions. The men's race will now be held on a 260km route that includes a punishing 5000m of climbing, while the women will tackle a 144km course that ascends over 2750m. The action will take place in the stunning Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, with the event set to start and finish on the historic Imola motor racing circuit.
Gerraint Thomas will compete for Great Britain in the time trial, while former world champion Lizzie Deignan will lead the charge for the Great Britain women's team. Defending UCI Worlds champion Mads Pedersen won't be there to retain his title as he doesn’t think the course suits his talents. That could leave the door open for former winner Alejandro Valverde – the Spaniard will be hoping to notch up yet another victory before the Olympics in 2021.
Whether you're in the UK, US or Europe, this guide will let you know the TV channel for all the live action, how to live stream the UCI Road World Championships online, and even how to watch for free.
UCI Road World Championships free live stream and on TV
Looking for the best UCI Road World Championships live stream? British TV license holders can watch the 2020 UCI Road World Championships on the BBC Sport (opens in new tab) and BBC iPlayer (opens in new tab) websites without paying a penny!
If you're a UK citizen trying to view from abroad, then don't forget you can use a VPN (opens in new tab) to be able watch the free UCI Road World Championship coverage.
The race will also be shown for free online live on a handful of Europe's biggest broadcasters, including Rai Sport (opens in new tab) in Italy, France Sport (opens in new tab) in France, Sporza (opens in new tab) and RTBF (opens in new tab) in Belgium. So, no need to get a VPN if you're in those destinations.
Watch the UCI Road World Championships for free from abroad using a VPN
We'll look at the TV and live stream options for fans based in the US, Canada, Europe and Australia below, but even if you have subscribed to the relevant services, you won't be able to use them when outside your own country. The service will know your location based on your IP address, and will automatically block your access.
A Virtual Private Network (VPN) helps you get around this obstacle. A VPN creates a private connection between your device and the internet, such that the servers and services you’re accessing aren’t aware of what you’re doing. All the information passing back and forth is entirely encrypted.
There are many VPN providers out there, with some more reliable and safe than others. As a rule, we’d suggest a paid-for service such as ExpressVPN (opens in new tab) or NordVPN (opens in new tab).
(opens in new tab)Once you’ve made your choice, all you need to do is sign in to your VPN service through whichever device you’d like to use to watch the match. When prompted to select a server, you need to pick one which is based in the country whose content you’d like to access. Then navigate to the relevant video streaming app or website and you’re in.
How to watch the UCI Road World Championships in the UK
The BBC will broadcast live coverage of the 2020 UCI Road World Championships. You can watch on a TV, or online using the BBC Sport or BBC iPlayer website, to catch up with repeats and highlights on BBC Two. It's all completely free provided you hold a TV license.
Eurosport is the paid-for option and will broadcast the cycling in HD. You can subscribe to Eurosport Player (opens in new tab) and watch live coverage of the event – plus major cycling, tennis, snooker and darts events – in HD quality. A monthly pass (opens in new tab) costs £6.99 per month, but you save big with the annual pass (opens in new tab), which costs just £39.99 for the whole year.
(opens in new tab)The other option is to subscribe to Amazon Prime and sign up for a free 7-day Eurosport trial (opens in new tab). After the trial ends, you can subscribe at the usual £6.99 per month.
For daily highlights, you can always pay the UCI YouTube (opens in new tab) channel a visit.
How to watch the UCI Road World Championships in the US
The UCI Road World Championships is being shown on the Olympic Channel (opens in new tab), which streams via NBC Sports Gold. US viewers can watch every stage live, ad-free and on-demand. Subscription to the NBC Gold Cycling Pass (opens in new tab) costs $54.99 per year. The race is also being shown daily on NBC Sports Network, which is available on most local cable and satellite packages.
(opens in new tab)How to watch the UCI Road World Championships in France, Italy and Belgium
The Tour will be shown live on a handful of Europe's biggest broadcasters, including Rai Sport (opens in new tab) in Italy, France Sport (opens in new tab) in France, and Sporza (opens in new tab) (Dutch language) and RTBF (opens in new tab) (French language) in Belgium.
How to watch the UCI Road World Championships in Canada
FloBikes, a platform dedicated to live streaming top cycling events, will show the UCI Road World Championships in Canada. A FloBikes subscription (opens in new tab) costs from $12.50 per month or $150 for the year, and includes the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and a brace of top UCI events races.
How to watch the UCI Road World Championships in Australia
Reside on the other side of the world? No problem! The UCI Road World Championships will be broadcast live on the SBS (opens in new tab) and SBS Viceland channels, or catch a free live stream through SBS On Demand (opens in new tab).
2020 UCI Road World Championships schedule
All times in British Summer Time (BST)
Thursday 24th September – Women Elite individual time trial
13:30-16:00 - LIVE Women's Elite individual time trial
Friday, 25 September
13:15-16:00 - LIVE Men's Elite individual time trial
Saturday, 26 September
11:25-16:20 - LIVE Women's Elite road race
Sunday, 27 September
08:35-16:30 - LIVE Men's Elite road race
Full Men's Elite entry list (opens in new tab)
Full Women's Elite entry list (opens in new tab)
