The entire men’s and women’s Grand Tour season will be broadcast across Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) channels and platforms throughout Europe this season, including every stage of the Giro d’Italia from 8 to 31 May. The battle for the “Maglia Rosa” will be told through 107 hours of live streaming on HBO Max in Europe and the United States, as well as premium TV coverage on Eurosport in Europe and TNT Sports in the UK and Ireland.
Scott Young, Executive Vice President of WBD Sports Europe, said: “The Giro d’Italia is one of the most epic challenges any athlete can take on, and the ‘grande partenza’ marks the start of a fantastic summer of sport across our channels and platforms. As the home of cycling, broadcasting over 1,000 live races each season, our mission is to shine a light on this sport, its teams and its riders all year round, while helping it reach even more fans. Our dedicated cycling team includes more than 40 experienced presenters, reporters and commentators, with over 180 Grand Tours between them.”
More than 100 hours of live race coverage will be broadcast across channels and streaming platforms, enhanced with additional action through live pre- and post-race shows, highlights and bonus digital content. With expert storytellers leading our live coverage, cycling legends contributing post-race analysis, and dedicated talent presenting local programming, coverage from the exclusive rights holder will be truly immersive. “Our approach to telling every story across all platforms will bring audiences closer than ever to the first Grand Tour of the year, offering even more ways to engage with the Giro d’Italia as we capture the rhythm of the race, the tactics that define it, and share the stories that shape the quest for the coveted Maglia Rosa – from the first attack in Bulgaria to the final climb in Italy.”
Authentic Italy with a local flavour for fans across Europe
In Bulgaria, we are part of the pan-European coverage of the race, available in up to 20 languages and offering fans localised commentary throughout the Giro d’Italia. Grand Tour greats and dedicated presenters will lead the on-air team. A wide range of cycling and storytelling experts, along with experienced former Grand Tour riders, will come together to deliver analysis and commentary from every stage of the Giro d’Italia to audiences across Europe.
Jens Voigt, WBD cycling expert, said: “The Giro d’Italia is a really tough race with 21 stages. In total, it’s around 3,500 kilometres and close to 50,000 metres of climbing, more than five times the altitude of Mount Everest, making it a huge physical challenge. I’ll be on the motorbike from the start until the first rest day, documenting the race from inside the peloton to bring fans as close as possible. Then I’ll head to Munich for Eurosport Germany’s post-race studio coverage to share different perspectives. Jonas Vingegaard will try to win the Giro for the first time, and if he succeeds, he’ll enter an exclusive club of riders who have won all three Grand Tours, earning a special place in cycling history. Everything is in place to make this edition exciting. The recipe is there, now it’s up to the riders to deliver a great race.”
HBO Max: the streaming home of live cycling
Viewers across all European markets, including Bulgaria, can enjoy access to unmatched live cycling content on the platform, featuring over 1,000 live race broadcasts each season. Delivering the most complete, interactive and immersive cycling experience during the Grand Tours, innovative features available to HBO Max subscribers include:
Multiview: allows users to watch up to four live race feeds simultaneously on one screen
Key Moments: enables users to jump easily to important events during each stage, such as breakaways, attacks or decisive climbs
Language selection: offering a variety of commentary options
Watchlist: allowing users to personalise their Giro d’Italia experience by saving specific stages, highlights and other programmes
Engaging fans beyond the live action, HBO Max also tells the stories of teams and riders on and off the road through a slate of new documentary content. This includes new episodes of The Cycling Show, the mountain biking documentary series Race Bikes, and the original 60-minute film The Cycle: Becoming a Pro Rider, which explores what it takes to turn professional.
In addition to being the top digital destination for cycling, Eurosport’s social media platforms and websites will offer highlights and exclusive behind-the-scenes content from each stage of the Grand Tour. In Bulgaria, this content will be provided by local commentator Simeon Kichukov.
The 2026 Giro d’Italia will cover 3,459 kilometres with a massive 48,500 metres of elevation gain across 21 stages. The race will start in Bulgaria for the first time before heading to its home country from stage four, culminating in an iconic finale around the cobbled roads of the Fori Imperiali and the Colosseum in Rome on Sunday, 31 May. Two-time Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard of Team Visma-Lease a Bike is the race favourite, ahead of a strong field of Grand Tour podium finishers including Australia’s Ben O’Connor, Spain’s Enric Mas and Britain’s Adam Yates.
La Vuelta Femenina will take place from 3 to 10 May, with every stage broadcast live across Europe on Eurosport and TNT Sports (UK and Ireland), with streaming on HBO Max. The race will feature seven stages across Spain, with two-time champion Demi Vollering of the Netherlands aiming to defend her title against fellow Dutch rider Anna van der Breggen, Switzerland’s Marlen Reusser, Belgium’s Lotte Kopecky and reigning Tour de France Femmes champion Pauline Ferrand-Prévot.
WBD recently extended its exclusive broadcast rights for the Giro d’Italia, Giro d’Italia Women and the Italian Classics in Europe and the United States through a renewed partnership with RCS Sport. Its channels and platforms, including Eurosport, have a long and rich history of covering the race, having first broadcast the Giro d’Italia in 1998.
