ITV4 are not showing the 2021 Giro d’Italia – here’s where you can see it
ITV4 will not be covering this year’s Giro d’Italia. The race is run by a different organisation from the Tour de France and many other major races and they don’t have the rights. That isn’t to say you can’t see it though. You still have options.
Live TV coverage
Eurosport do a great job of covering professional road racing. A lot of people have Eurosport as part of their TV package, but if you don’t, you can sign up for the Eurosport Player. It’s £6.99 a month – which will cover the entire race – or £39.99 for a whole year (for which you would get live coverage of pretty much all the other major bike races this season and for most of next season). The Eurosport Player means you can follow the entire race on your phone, your laptop or via a TV app (or even on your telly plugged into your laptop as a workaround).
The race is also again being broadcast live on S4C and S4CHD live, which is available free in the UK. Here’s where you can find it. It’ll be Welsh commentary, but there may be an option to toggle to English. (They offer that option with rugby.)
Highlights
A daily one-hour highlights programme will be broadcast on free-to-air channel Quest at 7pm. It’s a Eurosport production and seems to be of a different production standard each year. I wouldn’t want to venture a guess what it’ll be like this time around. The good news is that Quest is available on Freeview and most of the other UK TV platforms, so there’s a good chance that you’ll be able to get it.
If you go down the Eurosport Player option, full stages and highlights will be available on-demand.
Here
I’ll be covering the Giro, so why not follow it here? If you haven’t done so already, here’s why you should sign up for email updates and if you do already subscribe, please forward today’s email to someone who might be interested by way of recommendation. This act of kindness would be greatly appreciated and I’ll reward you by just sort of carrying on much as I would have done even if you hadn’t bothered.
This is an updated version of last year’s article about UK TV coverage of the Giro d’Italia.
It’s a pity they can’t come to some arrangement just for highlights. ITV4 do TDF and Vuelta and it would be lovely to see the Giro on the same channel as well.
I’m sure they’re interested, but it must be a cost thing. Maybe it works as a package or something. The Tour, Vuelta and Tour de Yorkshire all have the same organisers. Of races organised by RCS, the Giro is probably the only stage race ITV4 would be particularly interested in.
If cycling really is growing in popularity in the UK (never entirely sure this isn’t just a myth), maybe ITV 4 will one day get a bigger budget. Can’t imagine they’re awash with cash though.
Eurosport seem to have tied up the Italian races till 2020 at least:
http://www.eurosport.co.uk/cycling/eurosport-confirms-exclusive-giro-d-italia-rights-as-part-of-200-days-of-live-cycling-in-2017_sto6037134/story.shtml
Shame. ITV 4 coverage is so much better than Eurosport’s amateur commentary
Oh so true. Eurosport DO have some decent commentators, but they also have the utterly abominable and thankfully inimitable Carlton Kirby who appears to think that a pale imitation of Alan ‘Fluff’ Freeman is (a) funny and (b) appropriate. And then there’s Giggling Rob Hatch, who must surely be one of the most over-excited, fourth formers ever to have been left too close to a microphone.
At the first syllable of Carlton Kirby I turn to another channel, whilst Hatch is the reason mute buttons were invented.
Thank you ITV4. I shall be watching the Tour de Yorkshire.
Could not agree more Adrian,thought it was just me. Where do they get these commentators from.Kirby,Hatch and the like,do they really need to continually waffle on,just stop talking until there is need to,I would like just to watch and hear the back ground sound. So thank goodness for the mute button.
https://www.ipetitions.com/petition/get-rid-of-carlton-kirby
I believe there are many of us who find Kirby’s lame jokes and verbal filling (count the “indeed”s) irritating. It surprises me that there are apparently enough who tolerate him for Eurosport to continue using him. Because of him I will always choose an alternative channel where available.
Not sure what his name is, but the QUEST commentator I’m currently listening to is treating his Giro commentary as if it’s for some other sport (i.e. hyper-excited, ‘oh-my-god-this-is-SO-exciting’ voice). Is just not appropriate for anything but the end of sprints. The rest of the time, cycling is more a game of tactics. You wouldn’t scream in excitement when commenting on a chess march; nor should you with cycling.
It’s on S4C and S4CHD live. Available free in UK. Probably Welsh commentary, but not certain. If it’s like their rugby coverage depending on how your viewing it can be toggled to English.
Top tip. Thanks Toby.
Lers hope it gets back to ITV 4 sometime. Like others, I cant listen to the commentry on Eurosport. Rather watch it in Welsh with the sound down
Very useful; thank you. (I’ll try to catch the highlights on Quest.)
I watch Eurosport cycling on mute Rob talks incessantly and Carlton can be rather offensive I think.
Like Dave I prefer to watch it in welsh or in silence.
The highlights package on Quest is very poor – take out the ad/trail breaks and there’s barely 40 minutes. I know there are breaks on ITV4 but at least that don’t trail the programme you’re actually watching. Twice. And Wiggins might have won the tour, but he’s not nearly as insightful as Millar.
Would be nice if quest kept showing it!!!! Been taken off and if you record an episode it turns into snooker!!!!!
It says it’s still on. Was it not just the rest day?
either rest day, or when live snooker is on, giro highlights are on later at 10 or 11pm
couldnt itv4 have a different time for highlights of the vuleta, than quest have for the giro.
its the same market of fan wanting to watch, having 2 grand tour highlights shows being shown on freeview silmultaneously is just plain dumb.
Hi – are you absolutely sure Quest will have highlights of the Giro this year – 2021? There is no mention of the race that I can see on the Quest website so far (May 5th, 2021). Thanks 🙂
got to agree with the above
Quote; Do you think that will be good enough Sean
Reply; It depends what the others do
(or words to that effect)
If you have nothing to say, say nothing
Why are Quest showing stage 1 on Tuesday 12th?
This evening – Tue 11 May – I tuned into Quest HD on Freeview for the highlights of stage 4. I was puzzled to see a repeat of Stage 1 – the ITT from Saturday.
I don’t know if there was some technical issue with stage 4 coverage or if this was just a mistake by Quest or Freeview with transmission.
Why was stage 1 not stage 4 shown on Quest tonight?