How to Watch the Tour de France Abroad (Without Missing a Single Stage)
You're outside your home country, the Tour de France is on, and suddenly the stream you've used for years just shows you a blank page and an error message. Infuriating. Especially when the peloton is already halfway up Alpe d'Huez.
The good news: this is completely fixable, it takes about five minutes, and you only have to do it once.
Why You Can't Watch From Abroad
Broadcast rights for the Tour de France are sold country by country. That means the service you pay for at home — GCN+ in the UK, Eurosport in much of Europe, NBC Sports in the US — is only licensed to show the race to viewers physically located in that territory.
The moment you cross a border, your IP address gives away your location and the stream shuts you out. It doesn't matter that you're a paying subscriber. It doesn't matter that you've watched every Tour for the last decade. The rights deal says no.
Here's how the main services break down:
- GCN+ (Global Cycling Network) — Has rights in the UK and select other regions. If you're a UK subscriber travelling abroad, you'll hit a geo-block.
- Eurosport / Discovery+ — Holds rights across much of Europe, but each country's version is locked to that country. A German Eurosport account won't work in France, for example.
- ITV4 / ITVX — Free to watch in the UK, but completely blocked outside it. This one catches a lot of people off guard because they forget it's still geo-restricted even though it's free.
- NBC Sports / Peacock — US rights, US-only access.
A VPN routes your connection through a server in your home country, giving you a local IP address. The streaming service sees a UK (or US, or German) IP, assumes you're home, and lets you in.
The VPN We'd Actually Recommend
We'd go with NordVPN here, and not just because it's well-known. Live cycling coverage is demanding — you need a VPN that's fast enough not to buffer at the critical moments, and NordVPN's server network is big enough that you can almost always find a fast server in your home country. It also has a consistent track record of unblocking GCN+, ITVX, Eurosport, and Peacock.
It costs around $4–$6/month (about £3.20–£4.80 / €3.70–€5.60) on a longer-term plan, which is honestly less than a single stage race pay-per-view used to cost.
If NordVPN doesn't suit you, ExpressVPN is a strong alternative — slightly pricier but with a reputation for speed that cycling fans appreciate. Surfshark is worth a look if budget matters to you, and it allows unlimited simultaneous connections so you can cover every device in the house.
Step-by-Step: How to Set It Up
On Desktop (Mac or Windows)
- Go to NordVPN.com and sign up for a plan.
- Download and install the NordVPN app for your operating system.
- Log in and open the app.
- In the country list, select your home country (e.g. United Kingdom, United States, Germany).
- Click Connect. Wait about five seconds for the connection to establish.
- Open your browser and go to your streaming service as normal. It should load as if you're home.
If you're not sure which server to pick, use the "Quick Connect" feature first — it'll automatically choose the fastest available server, though you may want to manually select your home country if the auto-selection picks somewhere else.
On Mobile (iOS and Android)
- Download the NordVPN app from the App Store or Google Play.
- Log in with your account — same account works across all your devices.
- Tap the country you want to connect through.
- Hit Connect and wait for the VPN icon to appear in your status bar.
- Open your streaming app (GCN+, ITVX, Discovery+, etc.) and it should work normally.
One thing to watch: if you downloaded the streaming app while abroad, there's a chance it's showing you the wrong regional version. Delete it, change your App Store or Play Store region to your home country, then re-download. It's annoying, but it's a one-time fix.
On a Smart TV
Smart TVs are trickier because most don't support VPN apps directly. You've got a couple of options:
- Router-level VPN: Set up NordVPN on your home router (NordVPN has guides for this). Everything on your network goes through the VPN automatically, including your TV.
- Use a streaming stick: A Fire TV Stick or Nvidia Shield runs Android, which means you can install the NordVPN app directly on it.
- Chromecast from your phone: Connect your phone to the VPN, open the stream, and cast it to your TV. Simple and it works.
Will a Free VPN Work?
Short answer: probably not, and it's not worth the hassle.
Free VPNs have small server networks, and streaming services actively block the IP addresses associated with known VPN servers. Free VPN servers get blacklisted fastest because they're shared by thousands of users. You'll spend more time troubleshooting than watching.
Beyond that, free VPNs have to make money somehow — often by logging your browsing data and selling it. For something like live sport, a paid VPN subscription is genuinely the only reliable option. And at under $5/month on a longer plan, it's not a big ask.
Common Problems and How to Fix Them
The stream still shows geo-block error after connecting: Try a different server in the same country. Sometimes specific IP addresses get flagged. Disconnect, pick a different city server, and try again.
Buffering or poor picture quality: You're probably connected to a slow server. In the NordVPN app, look for the "Specialty Servers" section and try one optimised for streaming. Or just manually pick a city server closer to your actual location.
The app says you're not in the right region: Clear the app's cache, or log out and back in with the VPN already connected before you open the app. Some apps check your location at login rather than continuously.
VPN works on phone but not on TV: The TV is probably bypassing the VPN. Use the Chromecast workaround mentioned above, or set the VPN up at router level.
FAQ
Is using a VPN to watch the Tour de France legal?
Using a VPN is legal in most countries. It may technically breach the terms of service of your streaming platform — but that's a civil matter between you and them, not a criminal one. The realistic consequence is that your account could get suspended, though this is very rarely enforced against individual subscribers.
When does the Tour de France start?
It traditionally kicks off on the first Saturday of July and runs for three weeks, finishing in Paris. Check the official Tour de France site for stage dates each year — the schedule is usually confirmed several months in advance.
Can I watch it for free?
If you're a UK resident (or connecting via a UK VPN server), ITVX carries live coverage of the Tour de France for free. It's ad-supported and doesn't require a subscription — just a free account. This is genuinely one of the better deals in sports broadcasting.
What's the difference between GCN+ and Eurosport coverage?
GCN+ tends to offer more cycling-specific commentary and analysis, while Eurosport covers the Tour alongside other sports in its broader schedule. For pure cycling fans, GCN+ is generally the preferred option. But if you already have a Discovery+ subscription that includes Eurosport, that works fine for the race itself.
Will my VPN slow down the stream?
A good paid VPN will add minimal latency — we're talking milliseconds. For live sport you might notice a very slight delay compared to a raw connection, but buffering shouldn't be an issue as long as you're on a reasonable internet connection. If you're on hotel WiFi with inconsistent speeds, that's the bigger problem, not the VPN.
Do I need a different VPN server for each streaming service?
Not necessarily, but it depends on where your services are based. If your GCN+ account is UK-based and your Eurosport account is German, you'd need to switch server locations between them. It takes about thirty seconds. Just connect to the right country before opening each app.
Our Honest Recommendation
If you're a cycling fan living or travelling abroad, the setup is straightforward: get NordVPN, connect to your home country, and watch the race on the service you already subscribe to. Done.
If you're in the UK or connecting via a UK server, don't forget ITVX gives you live coverage for free — it's an underrated option that a lot of people overlook.
The Tour de France is three weeks of the best racing on the planet. Don't let a geo-block keep you from it.
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