In the US, I’m pretty sure you have to use Peacock or go the VPN route
Nope, just the internet
1 Like
I’ve been using Fubo streaming tv to watch some of the grand tours for years. I don’t know if 2023 TdF is included or not. I just watched the GCN+ (?!) coverage of the Giro. It’s on the BeIN Sports channels.
For those of us that remember watching virus-laden grainy feeds linked on steephill.tv (RIP) that seemed to be blocked at crucial moments, GCN + VPN has been incredible. So much racing, too little time.
2 Likes
The last two years Peacock also carried a commercial free feed with Ant McCrossan and a sidekick, which last year was Simon Gerrans. Works for me.
3 Likes
Exactly! So much racing to watch, and all in one place, plus the archive of old races! It’s a godsend as entertainment during TR workouts TBH.
Ok - I went down the rabbit hole this morning, and I believe you’re correct. As mentioned in other posts, it’s likely a violation of your TOS with GCN (or Netflix, or whoever), but it looks like there are no current laws (in most of the free world) against using the VPN to get there.
3 Likes
Excellent point and I meant to mention that earlier.
(However, I do find McCrossan and Gerrans to be pretty dry overall…but I’ll take them any day over Uncle Phil and Bobke.)
I’m not sure if they’re still allowing signups given the announcement of cancelling everyones free peacock.
Previously, if you had internet only and opted in for a free Flex streaming box, you were then able to sign up for for free Peacock. It was a bit of a convoluted process when I did it.
When they announced the end of free Peacock, they gave lower end internet subscribers a discounted rate and higher level internet customers 2 years free. I doubt that you’d get either option if you’ve not already signed up.
1 Like
I just checked my email and it says resubscribe several times. Maybe there is a way to sneak into the free peacock now and then get the deal, but since I am a current free sub (via the flex “trick”) have no way to test.
My partner actually preferred the US Feed over the others, I generally was indifferent. But was discussing with her this morning about doing the vpn/gcn way so guess I’m looking into that this year.
I like the British feed for bike races and always watch at least a few minutes of The Breakaway to see what they have to say or at least to see what Orla is wearing because she is my Irish crush. 
2 Likes
Anyone else realize that we are talking about paying $5 to watch the entire TdF live and/or with replays and that apparently being completely unacceptable?
6 Likes
#FirstWorldProblems
1 Like
If anything it sounds like giving it away for free with Xfinity was a mistake.
FWIW I’ve been using various things for decades to watch stuff that was unavailable to me so this isn’t a moral judgement or anything like that. I’ve just tried to move to paid services as they have been made available to me.
If you do end up signing up for Peacock I highly recommend Poker Face, the performances are pretty incredible and the setup of the individual episodes is sort of like Columbo, which is also on Peacock.
3 Likes
That’s why I tried so hard to stay away from the “why you no like VPN?” conversation. I am ok with making that moral judgement for myself and making a personal decision. I could care less what other people do because as other people pointed out, this is taking $5 from NBC, not deciding whether or not to fund world hunger relief. I even called myself “one of the stupid people who doesn’t do it”.
1 Like
Some of us were talking about GCN as the alternative. I think it’s totally worth $60/year to have every race with Eurosport coverage.
I used to use the pirate site Tiz but it was just too much of a PITA for ASO races. Low quality, feed constantly dropping at crucial points, needing to switch to 480p, etc.
1 Like
I should have signed up for GCN+ when it was half price, I didn’t realize the Giro wasn’t going to be available anywhere else and definitely missed it.
I’ve committed to not buying anything else until after I move at the end of the month, will need to put that on the list of things I want to get afterwards.
Many years ago we dumped Comcast / Xfinity and went with something (can’t remember, owned by Sony? and then defunct).
Been with Fubo.tv for many years now. Watched TdF for years, and Giro this year, can’t remember if Fubo had Vuelta last fall but I think so. Fubo is $75/month and we only have it because my wife likes having old school tv.
1 Like
For me, it’s another nail in the coffin. My provider is Comcast/Xfinity, who owns Peacock and NBC. I spend plenty with them every month. To me, this is an insult.
7 Likes
I get it, we’ve gone from paying a ton for cable to “cutting the cord” and now not only are we potentially paying more but some of the companies involved have been pulling content from their services so they can pay the people involved in making them less, it’s a mess and I get the frustration.
2 Likes