Tour of France begins tonight in Bilbao, Spain and continues for 23 days on the most famous avenue in the world, the Champs-Élysées in Paris.
During the 21 stages of the Tours, there will be eight flat stages, four hilly stages, eight mountain stages – including four summit finishes – and an individual time trial for the riders to tackle. Within the 40 picturesque towns that the Tour will pass through, there will be 12 rookies. By visiting all five of France’s mountain mastiffs – the Pyrenees, the Massif Central, the Jura, the Alps and the Vosges – the Tour 2023 the route will be challenging which best suits dynamic climbers.
SBS director of sport, Ken Shipp, said: “SBS is proud to be the unrivaled home of cycling in Australia, highlighted by our exclusive coverage of the Tour of France – one of the biggest sporting events in the world. Our team will be at the forefront of all the action and amazing sporting moments that the Tour of France AND Women’s Tour de France with Zwift delivery. SBS is incredibly excited to continue to provide world-class coverage with expert commentary to the Australian public, providing exclusive access to the stars of world cycling and spotlighting our Australian contenders.
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The SBS commentary team will be on the field to capture all the action in Spain and France.
Dr Bridie O’Donnell
Bridie raced on the Australian national team and professional Italian teams in Europe and the United States, representing Australia in three world championships between 2008 and 2012. From 2013 to 2017, Bridie managed and raced for the Rush Women’s Team in the Cycling Australia National Road Series. In 2016, you broke the UCI world hour record. In 2017 she was appointed the inaugural Head of the Office for Women in Sport and Leisure by the Victorian Government and in 2018 her cycling memoir: ‘Life and Death’ was published, detailing her experiences as a professional cyclist in Europe.
Matthew Keenan
2023 will be Matt’s 17th year commenting on cycling’s biggest event, the Tour de France. After two seasons of amateur racing in Europe, Matt turned to reporting, having commented on the Commonwealth Games, the Tour of Spain, Paris-Nice, the Giro d’Italia and the Tour of Qatar. Known for his supreme cycling knowledge and ability to call up detailed information on individual cyclists, Matt is internationally recognized as one of the industry’s leading commentators.
Gracie Elvin
Gracie is a two-time National Road Champion. You represented Australia at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, competed in two Commonwealth Games and competed in eight road and mountain bike world championships. Gracie has won UCI races in Europe, finished second in the Tour of Flanders and captained many team victories. She was also a co-founder of the first international women’s cycling union, The Cyclists’ Alliance.
Simone Gerrans
Simon Gerrans is the first Australian to have won a stage in all three Grand Tours: Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a Espana. He found competitive cycling as a teenager at the suggestion of Australian cycling legend Phil Anderson. Simon has been a proud ambassador and active fundraiser of the Chain Reaction Challenge Foundation since 2010 and was the founder of the Victorian Inter-School Cycling Series.
Christophe Maglio
Christophe is a longtime television presenter, podcast host and executive producer of SBS Radio’s French show. In 2017 he was awarded the National Order of Merit: he was incredibly honored to be presented as a Knight of the Order of Merit in France. During his over 10 years at SBS, he was involved in many projects including hosting the Tour de France highlights show and was heavily involved in SBS’s coverage of the Dakar Rally.
David McKenzie
David made his first cycling appearance for Australia aged just 16. He joined his first professional cycling team in 1997 after a spell at the Australian Institute of Sport and in 1998 won the Australian National Road Championship. On the professional cycling circuit David has competed in Australia and across Europe for various teams, winning stages in numerous events including the Giro d’Italia, Tour of Japan and Tour Down Under.
Mark Renshaw
Mark Renshaw rode pro between 2004 and 2019 for teams Française des Jeux, Crédit Agricole, HTC–Highroad, Belkin Pro Cycling, Etixx–Quick-Step and Team Dimension Data. His most notable victories are overall overall victory in the 2011 Tour of Qatar, Tour Down Under Stages, Tour of Britain Stages and Tour of Turkey, and the one day race Clásica de Almería. He has participated in the Tour de France 10 times. In 2004 he also raced at the Athens Olympic Games in the track points race.
| STAGE | DATE | SBSTV LIVE | SBS On Demand |
| 1 | Saturday 1 July Bilbao (Spain) | 2030 – 0200 AEST | 2020 – 2am AEST |
| 2 | Sunday 2 July Vitoria-Gasteiz in San Sebastián (Spain) | 2020 – 0145 AEST | 2005 – 0145 AEST |
| 3 | Monday 3 July Amorebieta-Etxano (Spain) in Bayonne | 9:30pm – 2am AEST | 2050 – 0200 AEST |
| 4 | Tuesday 4th July Dax in Nogaro | 9:30pm – 1:50am AEST | 9:00pm – 1:50am AEST |
| 5 | Wednesday 5 July Pau-Laruns | 2120 – 0205 AEST | 2055 – 0205 AEST |
| 6 | Thursday 6 July Tarbes to Cauterets (Cambasque) | 9:30pm – 1:50am AEST | 9:00pm – 1:50am AEST |
| 7 | Friday 7 July Mont-de-Marsan in Bordeaux | 2125 – 0150 AEST | 2105 – 0150 AEST |
| 8 | Saturday 8 July Libourne in Limoges | 2030 – 0150 AEST | 2020 – 0150 AEST |
| 9 | Sunday July 9 Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat at the Puy de Dôme | 9:30pm – 2:50am AEST | 2120 – 0250 AEST |
| DAY OF REST | |||
| 10 | Tuesday 11 July Vulcania in Issoire | 9:30pm – 2am AEST | 2055 – 0200 AEST |
| 11 | Wednesday July 12 Clermont-Ferrand at Moulins | 9:30pm – 2am AEST | 2055 – 0200 AEST |
| 12 | Thursday 13 July Roanne in Belleville-en-Beaujolais | 9:30pm – 2:05am AEST | 2055 – 0205 AEST |
| 13 | Friday July 14 Châtillon-sur-Chalaronne in Grand Colombier | 9:30pm – 1:50am AEST | 9:30pm – 1:50am AEST |
| 14 | Saturday 15 July Annemasse in Morzine | 9:30pm – 2:05am AEST | 2055 – 0205 AEST |
| 15 | Sunday July 16 Les Gets in Saint-Gervais-les-Bains | 9:30pm – 2:50am AEST | 9:00pm – 2:50am AEST |
| DAY OF REST | |||
| 16 | Tuesday 18 July Passy in Combloux | 9:30pm – 2:05am AEST | 2055 – 0205 AEST |
| 17 | Wednesday July 19 Saint-Gervais-les-Bains in Courchevel | 9:30pm – 1:55am AEST | 2010 – 0155 AEST |
| 18 | Thursday 20 July Moûtiers in Bourg-en-Bresse | 9:30pm – 2:10am AEST | 2055 – 0210 AEST |
| 19 | Friday July 21 Moirans-en-Montagne in Poligny | 9:30pm – 1:50am AEST | 2105 – 0150 AEST |
| 20 | Saturday 22nd July Belfort at Le Markstein | 9:30pm – 1:35am AEST | 2120 – 0135 AEST |
| 21 | Sunday 23 July Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines in Paris (Champs-Élysées) | 12:00am – 4:00am AEST | 12:00am – 4:00am AEST |
Tour de France Women with Zwift
| STAGE | DATE | SBS TV LIVE / SBS On Demand |
| 1 | Sunday July 23 Clermont-Ferrand | 2030 – 24:00 AEST |
| 2 | Saturday July 24 Clermont-Ferrand in Mauriac | 11pm – 1:50am AEST |
| 3 | Monday July 25 Collonges-la-Rouge in Montignac-Lascaux | 11pm – 1:50am AEST |
| 4 | Tuesday 26 July Cahors in Rodez | 11pm – 1:50am AEST |
| 5 | Wednesday 26 July Onet-le-Château in Albi | 11pm – 1:50am AEST |
| 6 | Thursday 28 July | 11pm – 1:50am AEST |
| 7 | Friday 29 July Lannemezan at the Tourmalet Bagnères-de-Bigorre | 24:00 – 03:35 AEST |
| 8 | Saturday July 30 Pau | 11pm – 1:50am AEST |
The SBS Tour de France podcast also returns, hosted by Mallet and McKenzie, alongside experts and special guests. Covering both the men’s and women’s event, the podcast features race updates, interviews with riders, and fascinating conversations about the distinctly “French” things that make this cycling race special.
Dish of the Tour
As an accompaniment to the Tour De France, renowned French-Australian chef Guillaume Brahimi returns to SBS with Plat du Tour on Saturday 1st July. Guillaume will travel across France following the locations of the Tour de France and will take viewers on a culinary journey to discover the wonderful French food culture of each region, meeting some of the best food producers in the country. Airing during SBS’s coverage of the Tour de France, the series will feature 21 recipes, for the 21 stages of the Tour de France, with Guillaume plating his “Plat du Tour” with delicious traditional French dishes related to the culture and traditions of every city and town on the Tour.
Guillaume travels through the most beautiful locations in Spain and France covering all stages of the Tour, including the official starting line of the Tour de France Bilbao, Spain, where he cooks on the terrace of the Guggenheim Museum. Guillaume also visits Bordeaux, France, where he discovers a secret of the city’s cuisine, and the quaint French village of Saint Gervais, where he visits a chocolatier and learns how to prepare a local sweet speciality.
Plat du Tour recipes that are sure to make your mouth water include a delicious Burnt Basque Cheesecake from the Basque region of Spain, the classic French stew Le Coq au Vin from the historic Rhone wine region, and the delicious risotto with prawns and saffron from Passy, a quaint and picturesque French town just 30km from the Italian border.
The Plat du Tour segments will be available on SBS Food Online and SBS On Demand and will air as special episodes on SBS Food from 27 July following the conclusion of the 2023 Tour de France. Plat du Tour is produced by Blink TV for SBS.
