# GCN+



## PBL450 (Apr 12, 2014)

Reviving the “where do I watch cycling” thread... Is anyone using the GCN subscription? It looks really interesting but the site is confusing. Are the documentaries an extra package subscription? It’s tough right now with NBC kind of in the dark about their races... GCN says they have both live and on demand coverage? That’s great! Reasonable price as well. Looks like I can watch it via the app on Apple TV like I did with FUBU and many others... I miss track racing so that looks like a real incentive. 

Sorry for beating the dead horse, hopefully not beating the dead sport...


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## KoroninK (Aug 9, 2010)

Don't know, but I'm looking at picking it up for this year to check it out, esp with the February price deal. They have said they are working on an app for Roku which would be great.


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## il sogno (Jul 15, 2002)

I just saw an ad for GCN. I'm keeping them in mind for cycling season.


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## PBL450 (Apr 12, 2014)

il sogno said:


> I just saw an ad for GCN. I'm keeping them in mind for cycling season.


I’m going to sign up and pay the $25.00 and check it out. I’ll report back... haha


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## DaveG (Feb 4, 2004)

PBL450 said:


> Reviving the “where do I watch cycling” thread... Is anyone using the GCN subscription? It looks really interesting but the site is confusing. Are the documentaries an extra package subscription? It’s tough right now with NBC kind of in the dark about their races... GCN says they have both live and on demand coverage? That’s great! Reasonable price as well. Looks like I can watch it via the app on Apple TV like I did with FUBU and many others... I miss track racing so that looks like a real incentive.
> 
> Sorry for beating the dead horse, hopefully not beating the dead sport...


What races does it cover? TdF?


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## burgrat (Nov 18, 2005)

DaveG said:


> What races does it cover? TdF?


Would like to know this as well, and if there are any geo-restrictions on any races. Looks like they have a lot of interesting content (docs, etc.)


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## Marc (Jan 23, 2005)

DaveG said:


> What races does it cover? TdF?


ASO races are exclusive to NBC in the USA. Thanks ASO. Can always VPN outside the USA to watch those races on GCN


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## KoroninK (Aug 9, 2010)

DaveG said:


> What races does it cover? TdF?


They have the Italian races (including the Giro), and it appears some of the Spanish races. They won't have any races for the US that NBC has US broadcast rights for and won't have races that FloBikes has rights for.


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## Marc (Jan 23, 2005)

KoroninK said:


> They have the Italian races (including the Giro), and it appears some of the Spanish races. They won't have any races for the US that NBC has US broadcast rights for *and won't have races that FloBikes has rights for.*


This year....Flobikes has basically no rights to _any _bicycle races, last I checked. Basically their entire cycling calendar is unavailable in the US. Hence I cancelled my Flo subscript.


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## PBL450 (Apr 12, 2014)

Not sure this link will work, but it’s the USA calendar from the website. I’m going to check out the Tour de Provence today. I watched a season preview show last night. It worked OK once it loaded, it took 2 or 3 tries starting over but then it was fine. There isn’t an Apple TV app that I could I find. I cast it from my phone. A little clunky... 









United States of America


We're really excited to bring you the 2021 racing schedule for GCN+ subscribers in USA. Schedules are subject to change and we'll be adding to and updating the schedule so please be sure to check t...




help.globalcyclingnetwork.com


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## DaveG (Feb 4, 2004)

PBL450 said:


> Not sure this link will work, but it’s the USA calendar from the website. I’m going to check out the Tour de Provence today. I watched a season preview show last night. It worked OK once it loaded, it took 2 or 3 tries starting over but then it was fine. There isn’t an Apple TV app that I could I find. I cast it from my phone. A little clunky...
> 
> 
> 
> ...


So there does seem to be a lot of content but not the big tours. How are you streaming it? Chromecast?


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## PBL450 (Apr 12, 2014)

DaveG said:


> So there does seem to be a lot of content but not the big tours. How are you streaming it? Chromecast?


I view it on my iPhone and cast it to Apple TV. I’m hoping that between GCN and NBC I’ll get the whole UCI calendar?


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## il sogno (Jul 15, 2002)

PBL450 said:


> Not sure this link will work, but it’s the USA calendar from the website. I’m going to check out the Tour de Provence today. I watched a season preview show last night. It worked OK once it loaded, it took 2 or 3 tries starting over but then it was fine. There isn’t an Apple TV app that I could I find. I cast it from my phone. A little clunky...
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Wait. They only have highlights for the Tour and the Vuelta.


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## PBL450 (Apr 12, 2014)

Yeah... Still need NBC.


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## Marc (Jan 23, 2005)

il sogno said:


> Wait. They only have highlights for the Tour and the Vuelta.





PBL450 said:


> Yeah... Still need NBC.


Or VPN into the EU and you get, I think, whole calendar. ASO makes their races exclusive to NBC. Tools.


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## DaveG (Feb 4, 2004)

il sogno said:


> Wait. They only have highlights for the Tour and the Vuelta.


I could probably live with highlights. I usually only watch the TT's and mountain stages. I dont really bother with flat stages


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## il sogno (Jul 15, 2002)

Marc said:


> Or VPN into the EU and you get, I think, whole calendar. ASO makes their races exclusive to NBC. Tools.


How do we get VPN into the EU?


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## DaveG (Feb 4, 2004)

il sogno said:


> How do we get VPN into the EU?


You need a VPN provider located in the country that has access to the content. You can do a search on "Global VPN" or "international VPN" and you will get many hits. I imagine doing this violtes the terms of service with the content provider and I'm not sure it's any cheaper than just getting the NBC coverage


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## PBL450 (Apr 12, 2014)

I’m no expert... I have looked into this option and it’s clunky in practice (I think), others will be better able to address what I saw as shortcomings... Time zones... On demand viewing is a priority for me. I’m also not interested in investing much time and energy in understanding making this work... That’s not a criticism, not by any means, that’s just stuff I have no interest in or affinity for. Plenty of folks on RBR use this method. If it’s an upside, it does make you kind of invisible online?


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## 4Crawler (Jul 13, 2011)

PBL450 said:


> I’m no expert... I have looked into this option and it’s clunky in practice (I think), others will be better able to address what I saw as shortcomings... Time zones... On demand viewing is a priority for me. I’m also not interested in investing much time and energy in understanding making this work... That’s not a criticism, not by any means, that’s just stuff I have no interest in or affinity for. Plenty of folks on RBR use this method. If it’s an upside, it does make you kind of invisible online?


I've had good luck with PureVPN (Get PureVPN at amazing discounts), multiple UK servers to choose from as you sometimes have to change server to find one that passes the geo-filter.

Originally when I started using Eurosport, the time zone thing was a real issue. It was hit or miss if you could actually figure out what local time some race would be on, especially trying to look at the schedule and then work back to your local time. I think they were somehow trying to do something to correct the times but they did it wrong, at least to the point it was hard to figure out when a given race would be on, for sure not just subtract X hours and call it good. And it was the sort of issue you can't just contact customer support and say "It's hard to watch your content here in the US due to this time zone issue".

Eurosport finally sorted all that out in the last few years and the times are correct, although I've not found a long range schedule like they used to have. But they have added a lot more recap episodes during the day and often have on-demand playbacks on the major events. In fact they now seem to have the entire race coverage on replay after the race finishes.

I usually get the hang of figuring out what time zone a race is being held and then what time the coverage is likely to start, usually between 6AM and 8AM Pacific). But it's not like programming your DVR to record a given broadcast like I used to do in the old days when I had Direct and the sports package..

Not sure what GCN+ does with the time zone differences, though.


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## KoroninK (Aug 9, 2010)

I went ahead and bought this year's subscription. The two races this weekend Tour du Var and UAE are on there and you have the option to watch the stages/races after they are over. It appears they have this coverage for all the Italian races and most of the Spanish races. Catalonia is the only one it appears they don't the rights to stream to the US. Also they don't have la Vuelta as NBC has the rights to it.
It appears you can watch races on your own timing. They also have a bunch of their own programing that covers a few different categories like training, tech, and adventure. For a little over $25 (there are taxes) for this year, I think it's worth it. Not sure it'll be worth it after this year for me personally.


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## DaveG (Feb 4, 2004)

KoroninK said:


> I went ahead and bought this year's subscription. The two races this weekend Tour du Var and UAE are on there and you have the option to watch the stages/races after they are over. It appears they have this coverage for all the Italian races and most of the Spanish races. Catalonia is the only one it appears they don't the rights to stream to the US. Also they don't have la Vuelta as NBC has the rights to it.
> It appears you can watch races on your own timing. They also have a bunch of their own programing that covers a few different categories like training, tech, and adventure. For a little over $25 (there are taxes) for this year, I think it's worth it. Not sure it'll be worth it after this year for me personally.



Is it a raw feed? Is there commentary in English?


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## KoroninK (Aug 9, 2010)

DaveG said:


> Is it a raw feed? Is there commentary in English?


Sorry Tour du Var is highlights not full race, but the highlights are in English for that one.

However, I've heard there isn't a full broadcast of that race that anyone can actually find.

Classica Almeria is full race (can watch full race in replay) and it's English commentary. They said English Eurosport through GCN.


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## PBL450 (Apr 12, 2014)

Just watched Stage 1 of the UAE Tour n GCN+. It was “on demand” and worked well. It took 2 tries to get it to start up but worked fine afterward. The quality was excellent.


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## Ed Wiser (Oct 5, 2020)

Watching the UAE tour in the morning this week live. While doing my indoor cycling seasons. The films will be good too to watch while riding.


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## il sogno (Jul 15, 2002)

Is GCN available on Roku?


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## saddle tramp (Feb 22, 2006)

How to watch pro cycling in the US in 2021 - CyclingTips


Streaming bike racing is complicated; here’s how to watch cycling in the US.




cyclingtips.com


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## Ed Wiser (Oct 5, 2020)

il sogno said:


> Is GCN available on Roku?


They just announced a android tv app. No word on a Roku app.


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## PBL450 (Apr 12, 2014)

I’ve had some glitches with reliability, like no coverage for the 9K of a stage 4 sprint stage... Saturday kicks off The Classics, so I’ll be on GCN+ plenty on the weekend... 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## PBL450 (Apr 12, 2014)

Hot mess. Not a GCN+ fan ATM. No Omloop at all and without warning, the app says replay is available. It is most definitely NOT available. Turns out Flobikes has the race. Tech trouble in Kuurne, the live feed sh*t the bed apparently, I’m watching the replay, which crashed 3 times before running reliably (knock wood, 16K to go).


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## saddle tramp (Feb 22, 2006)

As the quest for profit at all costs diminishes customer satisfaction on all and everything from healthcare to tv and everywhere in between ain't we exceptional. F it, no more pennies on this inferior crap ....


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## Ed Wiser (Oct 5, 2020)




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## DaveG (Feb 4, 2004)

KoroninK said:


> I went ahead and bought this year's subscription. The two races this weekend Tour du Var and UAE are on there and you have the option to watch the stages/races after they are over. It appears they have this coverage for all the Italian races and most of the Spanish races. Catalonia is the only one it appears they don't the rights to stream to the US. Also they don't have la Vuelta as NBC has the rights to it.
> It appears you can watch races on your own timing. They also have a bunch of their own programing that covers a few different categories like training, tech, and adventure. For a little over $25 (there are taxes) for this year, I think it's worth it. Not sure it'll be worth it after this year for me personally.


I decided to sign up right as the offer was getting ready to expire. In the end I thought "Its only $25"


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## Rashadabd (Sep 17, 2011)

Count me as another person that abandoned Flowbikes to move to GCN+. Looking forward to watching my favorite races like Strade Bianche, Milan San Remo, and the Giro live without searching around the net. I need to figure out what they have for the Ardennes, if anything though. Like everyone else, I catch the TdF and Vuelta on cable without much hassle, so this is exciting for me.


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## DaveG (Feb 4, 2004)

Rashadabd said:


> Count me as another person that abandoned Flowbikes to move to GCN+. Looking forward to watching my favorite races like Strade Bianche, Milan San Remo, and the Giro live without searching around the net. I need to figure out what they have for the Ardennes, if anything though. Like everyone else, I catch the TdF and Vuelta on cable without much hassle, so this is exciting for me.


I tried it the other day. My approach was to use Chromecast to my tv. The title appeared on my TV, things went dark and it just hung. I tried it several times with no success. Any tricks to try?


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## Rashadabd (Sep 17, 2011)

DaveG said:


> I tried it the other day. My approach was to use Chromecast to my tv. The title appeared on my TV, things went dark and it just hung. I tried it several times with no success. Any tricks to try?


I watched Le Samyn on my laptop last night without issue. It worked great. I haven't tried pushing it to the tv or anything like that yet though.


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## Rashadabd (Sep 17, 2011)

It looks like they have La Fleche Wallonne and Liege Bastogne Liege too! I'm digging that.


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## DaveG (Feb 4, 2004)

Rashadabd said:


> I watched Le Samyn on my laptop last night without issue. It worked great. I haven't tried pushing it to the tv or anything like that yet though.


I tried it again tonight - running through Chromecast - and it worked without issue. No idea why it didn't work last time. I didn't do anything differently


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## Wetworks (Aug 10, 2012)

Strade Bianche was pretty much great today, no complaints.


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## PBL450 (Apr 12, 2014)

I’ve been casting from my phone to the TV. It dropped out 5 times today. Not a huge deal, I could reload it and skim back to where it cut out. Picture was fabulous.


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## DaveG (Feb 4, 2004)

PBL450 said:


> I’ve been casting from my phone to the TV. It dropped out 5 times today. Now a huge deal, I could reload it and skim back to where it cut out. Picture was fabulous.


I have never found Chromecast to be the most reliable way to get stuff on your tv. Better to have the app running on your smart tv if possible. I dont understand why its an issue. It seems pretty simple in concept. You are just forwarding packets of video data to your Chromecast device and it renders them. Doesn't seem hard


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## PBL450 (Apr 12, 2014)

Is that the same as mirroring my iPhone with Apple TV? I may not be using the proper terminology... I open the GCN app on my phone and go to racing TV. I open the race then I pull up the option to mirror my phone to Apple TV. Not sure why it’s losing the data periodically?


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## JSR (Feb 27, 2006)

PBL450 said:


> Is that the same as mirroring my iPhone with Apple TV? I may not be using the proper terminology... I open the GCN app on my phone and go to racing TV. I open the race then I pull up the option to mirror my phone to Apple TV. Not sure why it’s losing the data periodically?


I was having trouble using that configuration for some apps. I developed a theory that my WiFi was getting overloaded. Download the feed through the WiFi router, send it back to the WiFi router for retransmission to the AppleTV. I never ran the numbers to see if the theory made sense, but here’s what I did.

I installed a tp-link Ethernet-over-power device at the AppleTV box. It sends signals over the power lines in the home to a companion device located the WiFi router. The two tp- link boxes are attached with wired Ethernet cables to the AppleTV and WiFi router. There is also a mini WiFi router in the tp-link box. The tp-link boxes are cheap, like $45 on Amazon. My dropouts and cutouts have gone away.


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## PBL450 (Apr 12, 2014)

That’s good, I think? I’m gone after “WiFi overloaded.” Although I think that’s a factor? I wish I understood anything beyond that...


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## Rashadabd (Sep 17, 2011)

I watched both the men's and women's races today later in the day after sleeping in and going on a run and they worked great. Fun races and I am thoroughly enjoying the commercial free service and not worrying about searching around the web to find the races I want to watch. No complaints from me yet either.


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## PBL450 (Apr 12, 2014)

Rashadabd said:


> I watched both the men's and women's races today later in the day after sleeping in and going on a run and they worked great. Fun races and I am thoroughly enjoying the commercial free service and not worrying about searching around the web to find the races I want to watch. No complaints from me yet either.


Paris-Niece on NBC hasn’t had a hiccup. Perfect. Maybe it is WiFi over demand? But NBC isn’t being shaky at all...


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## Marc (Jan 23, 2005)

PBL450 said:


> Paris-Niece on NBC hasn’t had a hiccup. Perfect. Maybe it is WiFi over demand? But NBC isn’t being shaky at all...


Well...NBC had several years where their service was shit--and after their platform has matured a ton. Also, Paris Nice footage comes from the pros at ASO--who signed the exclusive with NBC in the USA this year.

This whole GCN/Eurosport collab is a new thing. Tirreno is mostly working well.


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## rufus (Feb 3, 2004)

Anyone having issues with this lately? Been trying to catch up on Romandie this weekend, and every time I click on a replay to get it streaming, it begins to start and stop, and then the whole app just freezes.


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## PBL450 (Apr 12, 2014)

Buggy. If anyone is looking through this thread to learn more about GCNs performance, check out the 2021 Giro thread. There is some excellent content on this topic over there. 


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## DaveG (Feb 4, 2004)

PBL450 said:


> Buggy. If anyone is looking through this thread to learn more about GCNs performance, check out the 2021 Giro thread. There is some excellent content on this topic over there.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


I wouldn't think streaming would be that complicated. I assume you would just buy that software not code it yourself. It has been working better for me than when I signed up


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## PBL450 (Apr 12, 2014)

DaveG said:


> I wouldn't think streaming would be that complicated. I assume you would just buy that software not code it yourself. It has been working better for me than when I signed up


Not sure what that even means. That’s not a cogent post. It’s been dropping and crappy every stage. The pre-show and post-show are good additions. They are obviously figuring out things as they go. They were clearly not ready to promote a Grand Tour. I’m not sure what your post means beyond the simplistic stuff I can reply. 


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## Marc (Jan 23, 2005)

Has worked fine here on a desktop web browser. Apps on a mobile platform are always a problem


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## JSR (Feb 27, 2006)

It worked perfectly today on my AndroidTV app.


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## DaveG (Feb 4, 2004)

PBL450 said:


> Not sure what that even means. That’s not a cogent post. It’s been dropping and crappy every stage. The pre-show and post-show are good additions. They are obviously figuring out things as they go. They were clearly not ready to promote a Grand Tour. I’m not sure what your post means beyond the simplistic stuff I can reply.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


There was some wine involved so maybe I did not explain it well! I was only addressing the streaming aspect not the coverage itself. What is meant is that lots of apps have tackled redirecting video to Chromecast/Firestick/Apple etc. I don't understand why the GCN app has trouble handling that as I imagine one can purchase software that supports that without having to develop it independently. While it has not worked flawlessly for me, it seems better that when they launched it


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## PBL450 (Apr 12, 2014)

DaveG said:


> There was some wine involved so maybe I did not explain it well! I was only addressing the streaming aspect not the coverage itself. What is meant is that lots of apps have tackled redirecting video to Chromecast/Firestick/Apple etc. I don't understand why the GCN app has trouble handling that as I imagine one can purchase software that supports that without having to develop it independently. While it has not worked flawlessly for me, it seems better that when they launched it


Oh, that I get! Haha. Thanks! 


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## JetSpeed (Nov 18, 2002)

So, NBC Sports Gold only has early 2021 cycling dates. Is NBC GOLD ALSO completely done broadcasting cycling?
Anybody find a reliable way to watch TDF yet?


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## PBL450 (Apr 12, 2014)

JetSpeed said:


> So, NBC Sports Gold only has early 2021 cycling dates. Is NBC GOLD ALSO completely done broadcasting cycling?
> Anybody find a reliable way to watch TDF yet?


Is TDF not on NBC? 


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## Marc (Jan 23, 2005)

JetSpeed said:


> So, NBC Sports Gold only has early 2021 cycling dates. Is NBC GOLD ALSO completely done broadcasting cycling?
> Anybody find a reliable way to watch TDF yet?


Remember, NBC's cycling calendar starts just before TDF. This is reflected in their pricing--as they gradually prorate the service as the time gets closer to TDF. Their cycling calendar is almost certainly only showing races on the current subscription period.


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## PBL450 (Apr 12, 2014)

Marc said:


> Remember, NBC's cycling calendar starts just before TDF. This is reflected in their pricing--as they gradually prorate the service as the time gets closer to TDF. Their cycling calendar is almost certainly only showing races on the current subscription period.


Yes, I just checked. They are shutting down at the end of 2021. TDF ‘21 is on NBCSN. 


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## Marc (Jan 23, 2005)

PBL450 said:


> Yes, I just checked. They are shutting down at the end of 2021. *TDF ‘21 is on NBCSN.*
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


NBCSN is shutting down at the end of the year. All programming is getting reshuffled to USA or reg NBC--and the rest left on the cutting-room floor.

Given how unwatchable all of NBC's sports programmings are....not much love is lost from me. I'd rather deal with VPNing into the EU than those clowns.


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## JetSpeed (Nov 18, 2002)

OH, did not know as TDF approaches, pricing and "things" change. I don't have cable FWIW, just streaming basic stuff. So, buying NBC GOLD is the only way to go for me I assume??? Scared. Thanks guys.


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