And They're Off! The Pure Drama of the Cycling Grand Tours Continues on SBS, Australia's Home of Cycling

And They're Off! The Pure Drama of the Cycling Grand Tours Continues on SBS, Australia's Home of Cycling

8 May, 2025

Media releases

Watch Giro d'Italia Promo here

Images available here

As Australia's Home of Cycling, SBS will once again broadcast all three of the Cycling Grand Tours the 2025 Giro d'Italia, Tour de France and La Vuelta, as well as the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift live and free on SBS, SBS VICELAND and SBS On Demand,

SBS' exclusive rolling coverage of these prestigious international sporting events gets underway this Friday May 9 with the Giro d'Italia, followed by the Tour De France from July 5, the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift from July 26, and the Vuelta a Espa a, from 23 August.

With more than 300 hours of live cycling content, SBS will deliver all the action from the cycling Grand Tours, as well as giving viewers catch-up replays, short and extended highlights via SBS On Demand, and a podcast offering. The 2025 SBS Cycling commentary team will bring viewers trusted analysis and expert commentary from every stage of each momentous race, drawn from a wealth of experience. Taking viewers inside the peloton of every stage of the Giro d'Italia will be Australia's voice of cycling' Matthew Keenan. He will be joined by former Giro stage winner David McKenzie, dual-Australian road national champion Gracie Elvin, former professional Australian road racing cyclists Mitch Docker and Matilda Raynolds, and the first Australian to have won a stage in all three Grand Tours, Simon Gerrans.

Rounding out the SBS Cycling commentary team in time for the Tour de France, Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, and the Vuelta will be Dr Bridie O'Donnell, Christophe Mallet, and recently retired Australian Olympic and World champion Grace Brown.With the finest minds in the commentary box and exclusive access to Australian riders, SBS will give cycling fans a front row seat to all the action from the world's greatest cycling events.

SBS Director of Sport, Ken Shipp, said: SBS is proud to remain Australia's undisputed Home of Cycling. The 2025 Grand Tours promise some of the most electrifying competition and compelling rivalries we've seen in years, and our expert team is primed to bring every moment to life. Few sports spark a shared passion like cycling and at SBS, we're proud to bring Australians together through every moment of the Grand Tours.

Giro d'Italia reigning champion Tadej Pogacar has confirmed he will not be defending his title when the Giro gets underway this Friday May 9, so a new winner will wear the maglia rosa, the pink jersey, in 2025. A stellar line-up of general classification contenders will headline the Italian Grand Tour as it traverses the notoriously steep slopes of the Alps, Dolomites and Apennines, with Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe's two-pronged attack of previous Giro d'Italia champions Primoz Roglic and Australian Jai Hindley set to feature in May.

2019 maglia rosa winner Richard Carapaz, and fellow GC hopefuls Adam Yates and Juan Ayuso are also tipped to take to the start line, while Wout van Aert, Mads Pedersen and Laureus Action Sportsperson of the Year, Tom Pidcock are among the other big names set to ride the roads of Italy. Aside from Hindley, eight-time Grand Tour stage winner Kaden Groves, as well as Jay Vine, Luke Plapp and Chris Harper are the other Aussies in the mix for positions on the start line.

This year, the Giro route features two time trials, four flat, and seven mountain stages after its start in Albania with tough climbs in the south of Italy and the steep San Pellegrino in Alpe in the Tuscan Apennines. Stage 15 will include the dreaded Montegrappa climb, Stage 16 includes five climbs to the west of Lake Garda, while Stage 17 finishes in Bormio after climbing the Mortirolo (12.6km with an average gradient of 7.6%).The winner of the maglia rosa will be decided in the Alps, with over 9,000 metres of climbing packed into two days. Stage 19 features four major climbs over 166km, before Stage 20 climbs the mighty Colle delle Finestre, where Chris Froome attacked solo to snatch victory from Tom Dumoulin in 2018.

Mythical by nature, the Giro is purely cycling, refined and raw. All 21 stages of the Giro d'Italia will be shown LIVE on SBS VICELAND and SBS On Demand. There will also be a daily hour-long highlights broadcast on SBS from 7am and 5pm on weekdays, 7am and 4.30pm on weekends (all AEST).

The Cycling Grand Tours continue from July 5 when the Tour de France, theultimate challenge for male cyclists and the biggest race of cycling season, sets off from Lille. For the first time since the 2020 edition, all racing this year will take place entirely in France, culminating in the final stage on the Champs-Elysees on July 27.

Hot on the wheels of the Tour de France is the fourth edition of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift from July 26 until August 3. As the Tour de France finishes in Paris, the women's departure will have already taken place the day prior in Vannes. SBS will be continuing the high broadcast standards of race coverage in 2025, with every stage of the Tour de France and Tour de France Femmes live in full on SBS and SBS On Demand.

The Vuelta a Espa a, the third and final Grand Tour of the 2025 men's road cycling season, will take place in Italy, France and Spain in 2025. It will cover a total distance of 3,151 kilometres from 23 August to 14 September, starting in Turin, and finishing in Madrid, and will be shown live on SBS VICELAND and SBS On Demand.

For more information, visit the SBS Sport website: www.sbs.com.au/sport

For a PDF of this media release, click here.

SBS CYCLING COMMENTARY TEAM BIOS

MATTHEW KEENAN

2025 will be Matt's 19th year commentating on cycling's biggest event, the Tour de France, where he h

LINK:	https://www.sbs.com.au/aboutus/2025/05/12/and-theyre-off-the-pure-dram...
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