July 1st will see the start of the biggest race on the planet, the men’s Tour de France!
This year’s event should be a great one, with Jonas Vingegaard (Team Jumbo Visma) looking to defend his 2022 title from 2-time winner Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates). The Slovenian looked ridiculously good in the early season though the Dane looked strong in his last race too so it should be a good battle. My 10 cents is on Pogi.
2019 champion Egan Bernal (Ineos-Grenadiers) returns to the Tour for the first time since a life-threatening accident. Unfortunately Remco and Roglic won’t be attending, which is a shame as their presence would have really stirred the pot. Hopefully next year.
The Tour de France Femmes will also be aired, from 23rd July to 30th of July. Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar) won last year and is the top favourite again in 2023, but Demi Vollering and Kasia Niewiadoma will be looking to upset that particular apple cart. Things should really kick off on Stage 7, which features the Tourmalet.
But where can you watch both these events?
GCN+ offers a monthly package for NT$355 per month and NT$1980 per year. A VPN is not needed to access this channel in Taiwan. If you’re into watching bike racing all year long then this platform is great and IMO it’s a pretty good deal. Better with the volume down though when certain commentators are on..!
Australian broadcaster SBS offers excellent Tour coverage and it’s free, however you will need a VPN to access the channel. I used to use this before GCN+ arrived.
There are some US and Canada-based channels too but you have to pay, so if you’re looking for a free and reliable service, SBS is the way to go. They also have the big one day events and the other big tours.
There are other streaming services that are free however they tend to be unreliable at times.
Time to clip in folks! Yeeha!
