Australian viewers to keep free-to-air Tour de France Femmes and La Vuelta Femenina coverage through to at least 2030

CHATEL LES PORTES DU SOLEIL, FRANCE - AUGUST 03: Pauline Ferrand-Prevot of France and Team Visma | Lease a Bike - Yellow leader jersey celebrates at finish line as stage and final overall winner winner during the 4th Tour de France Femmes 2025, Stage 9 a 124.1km stage from Praz-sur-Arly to Chatel Les Portes du Soleilon 1298m / #UCIWWT / August 03, 2025 in Chatel Les Portes du Soleil, France. (Photo by Szymon Gruchalski/Getty Images)
Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma-Lease a Bike) celebrates sealing victory at the 2025 Tour de France Femmes (Image credit: Getty Images)

Australian viewers will get free-to-air access to the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift through to at least 2030, with broadcaster SBS announcing that they have extended their initial four year deal for the women's race for another five years.

It brings the agreement into line with that of the men's Tour, with a deal penned in 2020 to seal the broadcast rights of that event through to the end of the decade, and SBS have also extended its agreement to broadcast La Vuelta Femenina by Carrefour.es to 2030 as well.

"We always believed the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift would resonate with our audience, and we’re proud to have supported its growth over the past four years," SBS Director of Sport Ken Shipp.

"The way it’s tracking, it’s clear the Tour has enormous potential and is on course for lasting, meaningful success. We’re excited to continue bringing women’s cycling to an appreciative and growing audience.”

Viewer numbers increased significantly in 2025, with over 100 million hours of the 2025 Tour de Frances Femmes watched across 50 European countries – which the release said was an 89% increase year on year – and almost 26 million French viewers for a 42% increase year on year. SBS achieved a Total TV Reach of 1.8 million for the 2025 Tour de France Femmes in Australia, and grew third-party platform views to 11.7 million, a 99% increase year on year.

The increase in viewers came in what was a suspense filled edition of the race, with a long list of favourites – including Australia's Sarah Gigante (AG Insurance-Soudal) – still in contention right up to the second-last stage of racing in the nine day event. The fourth edition of the rebooted version of the women's Tour de France was won by returning road rider Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma-Lease a Bike).

Simone Giuliani
Australia Editor

Simone is a degree-qualified journalist that has accumulated decades of wide-ranging experience while working across a variety of leading media organisations. She joined Cyclingnews as a Production Editor at the start of the 2021 season and has now moved into the role of Australia Editor. Previously she worked as a freelance writer, Australian Editor at Ella CyclingTips and as a correspondent for Reuters and Bloomberg. Cycling was initially purely a leisure pursuit for Simone, who started out as a business journalist, but in 2015 her career focus also shifted to the sport.

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