A VPN is essential for streaming the biggest UCI WorldTour events across the globe. You may think the cycling season is winding down after the Tour de France, its thrilling climax on the Champs-Élysées, and Tadej Pogačar securing his fifth yellow jersey.
Check out the best VPN deals at NordVPN.
However, plenty more is to come, including the Tour de France Femmes (1-9 August), Vuelta a España (22 August-13 September), and the UCI Road World Championships in Montréal, Canada. (20-27 September) A VPN ensures you won't miss a single turn of a wheel.
But why should you get a VPN to watch the live cycling? And which are the best VPNs for streaming? Cyclingnews is here to offer some guidance.
First, you might be asking: what exactly is a VPN? It stands for Virtual Private Network, a type of software you can install on your computer, phone, or even a smart TV to help keep your online activity secure.
It works by hiding your real location, encrypting your internet connection (there’s more going on behind the scenes, but that’s the basic idea), and allowing you to enjoy your cycling streaming subscriptions from anywhere as if you were at home.
Luckily, our tech wizard experts at TechRadar and Tom's Guide know everything there is to know about VPNs. They’ve tested hundreds of them, and we’ll be leaning on their expert opinions as we take a look at some of the key benefits of VPNs when it comes to streaming cycling or any other of your favourite sports online.
Benefits of a VPN for streaming cycling
Use a VPN to watch your usual cycling streams from anywhere
The biggest advantage of a VPN for those looking to stream TV is that it allows you to do so from anywhere.
What if you’d been on holiday or on a work trip during the Tour de France and missed out on what was one of the most exciting finales ever seen at the Tour?
A VPN will allow you to access your usual streaming coverage from another country, so you never have to miss a moment like Mathieu van der Poel holding off the peloton to take the win in Paris.
Pretty much all streaming platforms these days are geo-restricted – in other words, they work only in the host country. For example, Peacock TV, which holds the exclusive live streaming rights to the Tour de France in the United States through to 2029, only works in the US. If you try to watch from abroad, you’ll find yourself geo-blocked.
A VPN gets around this by re-routing your connection through a remote server, which replaces your device’s IP address (a sort of unique digital passport). The best VPN providers will have server options in pretty much every country in the world – often multiple servers – so when you connect through one of them, it will appear that you are in that country.
Heading on holiday or spending time away from your home country doesn’t mean you have to be locked out of the services you subscribe to and pay for. It’s a good way to make sure you’re getting full value out of your subscriptions.
Use a VPN to improve picture quality
Another advantage of a VPN is improved streaming quality for live events like cycling or football.
Your internet provider may advertise high speeds, but in reality, performance is often reduced by throttling, especially during peak times or when streaming in high definition.
A VPN masks your activity by routing your connection through its servers, making it harder for your ISP to throttle your speed based on what you are doing.
Use a VPN to stay safe while streaming
While unblocking region-locked content is a huge perk of a VPN, ironclad digital privacy remains its true superpower. Let's face it: in today's hyper-connected landscape, cyber anxiety is real. Plenty of tools can disguise your location, but a quality VPN acts as your primary digital shield, locking your personal data against hackers and data brokers.
By wrapping your internet traffic in heavy-duty encryption, a VPN renders your online activity totally unreadable to outside eyes. Sensitive information like passwords, banking details, and credit cards stay strictly off-limits, which is critical the moment you connect to unsecured airport, cafe, or public Wi-Fi networks.
Best VPNs for watching cycling
TechRadar and Tom's Guide both recommend NordVPN as the best VPN. It's one of the most affordable and ranks among the top VPN's for unblocking streaming services. There are plenty to choose from, and below you'll find the top-rated services from our tech-savvy colleagues, showing the current deals and recommended packages from each provider.
These are some of the best VPN offers currently available, and perfect for uninterrupted live cycling viewing in 2026 and securing your VPN service for 2027 and beyond. So you can subscribe now knowing you've secured a great VPN deal.
Below you'll also find all the best VPN deals from other providers with pricing relevant to your location.
We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example: 1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service). 2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad. We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.
