Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) has detailed its plans for coverage of the Tour de France and Tour de France Femmes.
Every stage of the cycling competitions will be seen across discovery+, Eurosport and GCN+ (Global Cycling Network) from 1 July.
Previous winners Alberto Contador and Sir Bradley Wiggins will report live from the peloton, while the mixed reality studio The Cube will be used for the first time.
The Cube now forms the centre of the coverage for WBD’s premier events, having previously been used for of Grand Slam tennis events, Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 and Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022.
New innovations for the Tour de France include an ‘inclinometer’, a 3D representation bringing to life the gradients faced by the peloton. It will also showcase some of the finer, tactical nuances of the sport such as echelons and Time Trial set up.
Scott Young, SVP Content and Production at Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe, said: “Our Cube studio is one of the best storytelling innovations in broadcasting and harnessing tailormade tools and added analysis features to help unpick a particular stage, climb or sprint finish is truly unique for the sport of cycling.
Alberto Contador – a seven-time Grand Tour winner – and Sir Bradley Wiggins, winner of the Tour de France in 2012, will also front an on-air promotional campaign for this year’s race.
The ad, which appears on linear and digital platforms, is accompanied by the tag-line – Come for the race, stay for the ride – highlighting WBDS’ 360-degree approach to covering the race across linear, OTT and digital platforms. Both Contador and Wiggins feature on all promos created for audiences outside of the UK with Wiggins the central figure in the UK promo.
