Giro d'Italia 2021 live stream: How to watch UCI WorldTour cycling action online from anywhere

Giro Ditalia (Image credit: RCS Sport)

The battle for the iconic maglia rosa kicks off this weekend in Italy as the world's best riders tackle cycling's most scenic and arguably most challenging stages. Read on to find out how to get a Giro d'Italia 2021 live stream, no matter where you are in the world.

Taking place just seven months after last year's coronavirus-delayed edition of the race, this year's race covers over 3,500km of mountain climbs, sprints, and hills, across 21 calf-popping stages.

The grueling schedule has four mountainous stages falling on consecutive days between Stage 6 to Stage 9 ahead of equally intimidating summit finishes on the infamous Monte Zoncolan (Stage 14) and Sega di Ala (Stage 17).

Last year's surprise Giro winner Tao Geoghegan Hart won't be back to defend his title this time out, with the 104th edition of the race expected to be an open affair.

Hart's Ineos Grenadier teammate Egan Bernal leads a trio of favorites to win this year's pink jersey, with the Colombian rider tipped to battle it out against Simon Yates (BikeExchange), and Remco Evenepoel (Deceuninck-QuickStep).

Read on to find out how to watch the Giro d'Italia 2021, no matter where you are in the world.

Giro d'Italia 2021: Where and when?

Taking place across 21 stages, the Giro d'Italia 2021 this year returns to its regular spring slot in the calendar and will run between Saturday, May 8, and Sunday, May 30.

Start times vary from stage to stage, but action on most days gets underway between midday and 1pm local time (so look to tune in at 11am BST, 6am ET, 3am PT, or 9pm AEST).

See below for this year's full Giro schedule.

Watch the Giro d'Italia 2021 online from outside your country

We have details of all the U.S., UK, Australian, and Canadian broadcasters of this iconic cycling event further down in this guide. If you're intent on watching the Giro d'Italia 2021 but find yourself away from home then you'll run into problems when trying to stream your domestic coverage online from abroad as it's likely to be geo-blocked.

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How to watch the Giro d'Italia 2021 online in the US

If you're in the States and looking to watch the action from Italy, the Giro d'Italia 2021 can be accessed via cycling specialty streaming service GCN. A subscription to its GCN+ Race Pass tier will set you back $8.99/month or $49.99 annually and give you access to most of the cycling season's biggest races.

Start times vary, but action will generally kick off for U.S. viewers at around 7am ET / 4am PT each day.

How to stream the Giro d'Italia 2021 live in the UK

Eurosport has exclusive live coverage of the Giro d'Italia 2021 in the UK, with Eurosport 1 the channel to head to via Sky, BT TV or Virgin Media. If you're looking to watch the race on a laptop or mobile device, you'll need to grab the standalone Eurosport Player which costs £9.99 a month or £39.99 for the whole year.

Free-to-air Welsh language station is also offering daily live coverage of this year's Giro on its linear TV channel and via its app and S4C Clic streaming and catch-up service. On top of that, S4C can also be streamed for FREE via BBC iPlayer.

One further option for UK viewers is dedicated cycling streaming service GCN Race Pass, which will also be showing all stages of the race live and in full. The service costs £39.99 for a year.

How to stream the Giro d'Italia 2021 live in Canada

Like the US, Canadians will be able to use streaming service GCN+ Race Pass to broadcast both the race live and in full.

Race Pass costs CA$8.99 per month or CA$49.99C annually for Canadian customers.

Live stream Giro d'Italia 2021 in Australia

Cycling fans Down Under can tune into live coverage of the Giro d'Italia 2021 via free-to-air SBS Viceland , which will be showing the race live and in full. Most stages should start around 9pm AEST each day