A mere 722 days after Mathieu van der Poel crossed the finish line victorious in Manchester in 2019, the biggest British cycling event returns to its familiar September slot on the calendar. Read on for your full guide on how to watch a Tour of Britain live stream, no matter where you are in the world.
Mark Cavendish (Deceuninck – Quick-Step), Wout van Aert (Team Jumbo – Visma) and Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck – Quick-Step) will be among the star name cyclists battling out across eight stages in this, the 17th edition of the event.
Covering a total of 1,310kms, the Tour's route begins in Penzance for the first time before ending in Aberdeen via Wales and the north of England with a rare team time trial thrown in at Carmarthenshire for good measure.
We've got all the info on how to watch Tour of Britain 2021 at every stage for free from anywhere. And if you're out of the country and can't access your preferred domestic broadcaster, you can always use a VPN to bypass any geo-restrictions.
When does the Tour of Britain 2021 take place?
Back in its regular summer slot in the sporting calendar, this year’s edition of the Tour of Britain takes place between Sunday, September 5 and Sunday, September 12.
Read on below for full stage times.
Where can I live stream Tour of Britain 2021 for free at every stage for free in the UK?
The brilliant news for cycling fans in the UK is that you can watch this year’s Tour for free live on ITV4.
ITV is free-to-air, though you should have a valid UK TV license, and you can watch coverage online via the network's streaming platform ITV Hub, which has excellent apps across a number of devices.
- Desktop: Windows, Mac
- Mobiles: iOS, Android
- Streaming devices: Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Roku, Now TV
- Consoles: Xbox One, Xbox One S, Nvidia Shield
- Smart TVs: Samsung TV (2012 and later), FreeSat, YouView (BT, Talk Talk, Sony), Freeview Play, Virgin V6 Box
How to watch a Tour of Britain 2021 live stream from anywhere
If you're out of the country during any of this year’s stages, you can still get access to a live stream of the 2021 Tour of Britain by making use of the best VPN to get past those geo-restrictions.
With most domestic broadcasters locking streaming services to their country, you may hit a wall when it comes to accessing the likes of ITV Hub or GCN when overseas. However, by getting yourself a handy streaming VPN, you can hop on a server within the US or UK (or anywhere else for that matter depending on where your online content is geo-restricted to), and this will switch your IP address to make it appear as if you're browsing right from the comfort of your own home.
How to live stream Tour of Britain 2021 anywhere else in the world
Cycling fans in the US, Canada and Australia will be able to watch all the action via dedicated online service FloBikes.
A monthly subscription will set you back $8.99, CAN$11.99, AUS$12.99 per month while a yearly account costs $49.99, AUS$64.99, CAN$59.99 which will also give you access to coverage of major cycling events throughout the year.
Start times vary, but folk in the States and Canada will need to set their alarms, as most of the stages begin at 6am ET / 3am PT or earlier.
For viewers Down Under, the action most days will start at the somewhat more convenient time of 7.30pm AEST.
2021 Tour of Britain: Full schedule
- Stage 1 - Penzance to Bodmin, 180.8km - Sunday, September 5 at 11am BST, 6am ET, 8pm AEST
- Stage 2 - Sherford to Exeter, 184km - Monday, September 6 at 11am BST, 6am ET, 8pm AEST
- Stage 3 - Carmarthenshire, 27.5km (TTT) - Tuesday, September 7 at 1.05pm BST, 8.05am ET, 10.05pm AEST
- Stage 4 - Aberaeron to Great Orme, Llandudno, 209.7km - Wednesday, September 8 at 10.30am BST, 5.30am ET, 7.30pm AEST
- Stage 5 - Alderley Park to Warrington, 152km - Thursday, September 9 at 11.30am BST, 6.30am ET, 8.30pm AEST
- Stage 6 - Carlisle to Gateshead, 192.7km - Friday, September 10 at 10.45am BST, 5.45am ET, 7.45pm AEST
- Stage 7 - Hawick to Edinburgh, 194.7km - Saturday, September 11 at 10.45am BST, 5.45am ET, 7.45pm AEST
- Stage 8 - Stonehaven to Aberdeen, 173km - Sunday, September 12 at 10.30am BST, 5.30am ET, 7.30pm AEST
How to use a VPN to unblock any restrictions
If you're outside of your preferred broadcaster's boundaries, you can use a VPN to unblock any geo-restrictions and watch a Tour of Britain live stream as if you were right at home. Here's our step-by-step guide on how to do just that.
- VPN - standing for virtual private network - offers security and anonymity as you browse online, using set protocols to encrypt your data and make it unreadable to outsiders.
- As a part of that, you can also switch your IP address, which identifies your location.
- Most VPNs offer a list of locations where its servers are based to join. Connecting to them switches your IP to appear as if you're browsing from that country/city. In turn, you can then access content locked to that country.
- When it comes to finding a VPN, you should make sure you find the best one that's suitable for your chosen device, with VPN providers offering compatibility for a ton of devices, including VPN for Mac, VPN for Android smartphones, an iPad VPN, and even a range of fairly nifty free VPNs.
- Once you've made the decision for the most suitable VPN for your device and your means for using a VPN, sign-up and install it.
- To live stream the Tour of Britain, all you need to do is select a country showing matches from its list of available servers and connect. You'll then be able to hop over geo-restrictions, with the likes of ITV Hub opening its online gates to you.
- We also want to ensure your money is well spent, so we would recommend going for a VPN that offers a risk free trial. ExpressVPN is one of many providers that has a 30-day money back guarantee.
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