We’ve already had cycling action across three separate disciplines at the Paris Olympic Games, but for many, the track is home to the best of the lot, a week-long smörgåsbord of thrilling competition. Spanning seven days from August 5-11, here’s how to watch an Olympics 2024 Track Cycling live stream.
Track cycling takes place on an indoor velodrome, an oval-shaped 250-metre track made of wood, with straight sides and steep bankings at either end. There are numerous race formats but they’re broadly split into two sections: Sprint and Endurance. The sprint events feature short sharp efforts from impossibly muscular riders able to put out huge power, while the endurance events take place over a longer time for those with leaner physiques.
There are six events for both the men’s and women’s fields, so 12 gold medals up for grabs in Paris. On the sprinting side, there’s the Individual Sprint, Team Sprint, and Keirin, while on the endurance end there’s the Team Pursuit, Madison, and Omnium.
Great Britain have established themselves as the leading track cycling nation of the 21st Century, topping every Olympic medal table since Beijing 2008, and although they’ll be favoured to retain that status, they’ll find it tougher than ever. They once led the technological arms race, but other nations have since closed the gap, and with a number of Britain’s golden generation now retired, the new guard will have to fight to reassert their dominance. Italy, Denmark, Netherlands, Australia, Netherlands and New Zealand, to name a few, have extremely competitive track cycling set-ups.
The men’s Team Pursuit looks set to be one of the events of the Paris Olympics, with Filippo Ganna’s Italy, the defending champions, going up against world champions Denmark and Great Britain in a contest that could be decided by the smallest of margins and could get near the world record. Dutch beast Harrie Levreysen, the 13-time sprinting world champion, could cement his legend status as the favourite in the men’s sprinting events. Meanwhile Emma Finucane (Great Britain) looks set for a coming-of-age in women’s sprinting, while the battle between reigning Olympic champion Jennifer Valente (USA) and the road race world champion Lotte Kopecky (Belgium) in the Omnium is another of the most mouth-watering clashes.
This guide explains how to watch Olympics Track Cycling 2024 wherever you are in the world, including details of how to use a VPN if you’re away from home. For more from the other disciplines, find out how to watch cycling at the Paris Olympics.
Watch Olympic Games Track Cycling live streams in the USA
NBC holds the broadcasting rights for the Olympic Games in the USA. The Olympics will be shown across several of the the broadcaster’s television channels, and also on the network’s streaming service, Peacock.
All the track cycling, from the preliminary rounds to the finals, is available on Peacock, which offers a seven-day free trial for those who want to try before they buy. A full subscription to the service via Peacock Premium starts from $7.99 per month. The ad-free Peacock Premium Plus costs $13.99 per month.
The finals for each event will also be shown live on television across four channels: USA Network, E!, CNBC, and NBC 4 New York.
These channels are available via cable plans, but there’s no need to worry if you don’t have cable. Sling is a smart TV service that allows people in the US to watch cable channels on their TV, laptop or tablet without actually having to subscribe to an annual cable TV package. USA Network and E! are available on Sling with the Sling Blue package, which costs $40 per month ($20 for the first month). CNBC is available with the News Extra add-on to Sling Blue, costing $6 per month.
Watch Olympic Games Track Cycling live streams in Canada
If you live in Canada, you can catch the Olympics across several broadcasters, including the free-to-air CBC, and subscription services TSN and Sportsnet.
It’s not yet clear which exact Track Cycling events will be included as part of CBC’s live television coverage but, as in the USA, finals are likely to be shown. There will be extensive coverage of all the action online on CBC Gem. Access to the broadcaster’s ad-free premium service costs $5.99 per month, though the ad-supported version is free of charge.
TSN and Sportsnet do not have dedicated streams for each sport, so it’s not certain how much track cycling will be shown on their daily coverage, although finals and races with a Canadian interest are likely to make the cut.
The TSN subscription service will set you back $19.99 per month or $199.90 per year. Meanwhile, a Sportsnet SN Now subscription costs $14.99 per month or $179.99 per year.
Watch Olympic Games Track Cycling live streams in the UK
In the UK, cycling fans will be able to watch the Olympics on the BBC for free, via BBC One, BBC Two and BBC iPlayer.
The BBC only has rights to broadcast two streams at any one time, however, so while the track cycling will be heavily favoured by the national broadcaster, given the number of Brits involved and medals at stake, it’s not guaranteed that every round of every event will be shown.
For that, you’ll have to watch on Discovery+, home to the most comprehensive coverage in the UK – 3,800 hours of live action across 55 channels.
Thanks to a special Olympics deal you can subscribe to the “standard” Discovery+ package for a cut-price £3.99 per month – sign up before August 11 and you can take advantage of the lower price until the end of the year. The package includes year-round cycling streams as well as other live sports, including snooker, tennis, motorsports, and more.
Watch Olympic Games Track Cycling live streams in Australia
In Australia, cycling fans can watch the Olympics for free on Channel 9 and its 9Now streaming service – arguably the most comprehensive free Olympics coverage in the world.
As is the case in other territories, a good chunk of the action is expected to be included in live television broadcast, but for guaranteed coverage of all the track cycling, fans can head to 9Now on the smart device of their choosing.
Watch Olympic Games Track Cycling live streams from anywhere
If you are travelling abroad and try to access your usual live streaming services to watch the action, you may find your access to be geo-restricted.
In this case, a VPN service will come in handy, allowing your computer to pretend it’s home and let you log into your streaming accounts to catch all of the racing action.
Our colleagues at TechRadar thoroughly tested several VPN services and NordVPN won the gold medal:
We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example: 1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service). 2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad. We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.
