Mountain biking on free TV: UCI World Cup on Eurosport - but only partially free of charge

What will be on show at the UCI MTB World Cup?

Live broadcast and background reports

Warner Bros. Discovery has finally lifted the curtain and comprehensive video content for the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup. This includes a total of 135 hours of live broadcasts, as well as background reports and additional content, such as bike checks from the pros and course previews. The broadcast of certain races will also be available on demand for later viewing. All 13 race weekends will be covered by video content, although not all events will be available to watch live in full. For the real-time broadcast, Discovery promises an improved viewer experience through the use of around 20 stationary cameras plus three video drones per race.

New formats and more live broadcasts

A UCI World Marathon Series will also take place for the first time in 2023. There will be no live broadcast of the UCI Marathon World Cup, only a highlight video of the race day. The same applies to the races of the UCI Enduro World Cup. The successor to the Enduro World Series has already kicked off the 2023 racing season with the first race in Tasmania. As usual, there will be live coverage of the final of the elite class in the downhill category. A novelty for 2023 is the live broadcast of the downhill semi-final and the junior race. This means that for the first time in the history of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, the junior riders will also be able to be seen live. The U23 race in the cross-country discipline will also be broadcast live. The elite races of the Cross Country and Short Track World Cups will also be broadcast live.

Where will a live broadcast of the World Cup take place?

As part of the Warner Bros. media giant, Discovery Sports has numerous video channels, including Eurosport, various YouTube channels and the GCN+ and discovery+ media platforms. Which races are broadcast where in this intricate system is quite complex and can be seen most easily in the following graphic. The GCN app, which is compatible with every web browser, Amazon FireTV, Samsung Smart TV, AndroidTV, Chromecast, Apple AirPlay and Apple TV, is the centrepiece of the various platforms.

The video summaries of the marathon and enduro events will be available on all platforms after the races. The junior races for U23 cross-country riders and the junior downhill races will be available live and on demand on YouTube, Eurosport, GCN+ and discovery+. After a long wait, the elite downhill, cross-country and short track races, which are of particular interest to most fans, can be watched on free TV on Eurosport for the first time. These races will also be broadcast live and on demand on GCN+ and discovery+.

Which live broadcasts of the UCI MTB World Cup can fans watch for free?

How extensive the free live broadcast on Eurosport will be is still open at the moment. It has not yet been decided whether entire races or only parts of the live recordings will be shown on free TV. The video content on YouTube is free of charge. According to current information, the junior races and semi-finals of the elite downhillers will also be available there on demand. The live recording of the elite cross-country and short-track races and the downhill finals will only be available on demand on GCN+ and discovery+ for a fee. An annual subscription for GCN+ currently costs 39.99 euros. Discovery+ is available as a subscription with adverts for 3.99 euros per month or 5.99 euros per month ad-free.

Who will commentate the UCI races?

With the departure of Red Bull, the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup also said goodbye to the commentary team centred around cult biker Rob Warner. British sports journalist and broadcaster Kate Mason will be the main show host for the new Discovery Sports broadcasts. The downhill races will also be commentated by freeride legend Cedric Gracia. As in previous years under Red Bull, ex-racer Bart Brenthnes will be in the commentary box for the cross-country World Cup broadcasts. Additional commentators under contract include sports presenter Hayley Edmonds, enduro racer Josh Carlson and the familiar voice of the EWS, Ric McLaughlin.

What does BIKE think? Comment by BIKE editor Jan Timmermann

It was clear from the outset that a change of organiser and media partner would bring major changes to the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup. Discovery kept fans in the dark for a long time and many feared for the free live broadcast of the spectacular race series that Red Bull was used to. On the other hand, there were hopes of a free TV broadcast and thus a wide reach outside of the active scene. Both fears and hopes have now been partially realised. Anyone who wants to follow the Mountain Bike World Cup live and on demand will have to pay for it this year. Coverage on Eurosport promises to further increase the popularity of our sport. If biking is to be promoted as a global trend, broadcasting on the same channel as formats such as the Tour de France could be the right way forward. The fact that Discovery is offering young riders a large public platform is to be welcomed in any case. The broadcast of the U23 and junior races promises exciting action and plenty of attention for young talents.

Warner Bros. announces: "We are proud that there are now more ways to watch the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup than ever before." Presumably, however, the fans of the sport don't want more ways, but rather a single good and free way to follow the racing action. The confusing interweaving of the various disciplines on different media platforms - some free, some for a fee - initially seems more like a step backwards. It therefore remains to be seen how extensive and of what quality the broadcast on Eurosport will be. The departure of cult presenter Rob Warner hit fans particularly hard. The fact that Discovery has now brought a bike celebrity of similar glamour on board in the shape of Cedric Gracia may have been a clever strategy on the part of the media giant. How well the new team of presenters can capture the viewers' favour will determine not least the acceptance of the new patronage by Warner Bros.