The early season motion continues on the first French stage race of the season, the Étoile de Bessèges – Tour du Gard, which runs from February 5-9.
The five-stage UCI 2.1 race will take the peloton across the Gard division in southern France, with two dash phases, two hilltop finishes, and a time trial filling out the route.
Although many 2.1 races do not herald many WorldTour groups, Étoile de Bessèges repeatedly attracts eight to 10 main groups as riders want race days to rise up to hurry for the season and the area’s delicate Mediterranean local weather and undulating terrain present an ideal venue. So no shock that this yr’s Étoile de Bessèges startlist has some huge names.
Last yr’s version of the race was gained by Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), who claimed the second and fifth phases and shall be in attendance in 2025 to defend his title.
The first phases are sometimes for the sprinters and this yr’s version is not any totally different with a flat begin in Bellegarde. Pedersen’s rival fastman Arnaud De Lie (Lotto) shall be trying right here so as to add to his assortment of stage wins.
Sam Bennett (Decathlon-AG2R) may also be within the hunt for some early-season dash wins, and shall be a rider to observe throughout the race’s flat finishes.
Check beneath for all the main points of learn how to watch the 2025 Étoile de Bessèges.
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How to observe the 2025 Etoile de Bessèges within the US
Fans within the US can typically discover it tough to observe biking however there shall be motion on Max, which is providing dwell streams for all phases of Étoile de Bessèges.
To subscribe to Max, you want a base subscription, which begins from $9.99, plus the B/R Sports add-on, which is one other $9.99 however free proper now for a restricted time.
Watch the Etoile de Bessèges in Canada
The Étoile de Bessèges shall be aired by FloBikes in Canada. A subscription will set you again CAN$203.88 for the yr or CAN$16.99 on a month-to-month foundation.
Watch the 2025 Etoile de Bessèges within the UK
In the UK, biking followers can watch the 2025 Étoile de Bessèges on Discovery+, the streaming dwelling of Eurosport.
Discovery+ may have dwell streams for all phases beneath the Eurosport model. Existing subscribers can nonetheless get this on their present plans earlier than the service is folded into TNT Sports on the finish of February.
From that time on, or for brand spanking new subscribers from now, it prices £30.99 a month to observe biking on Discovery+.
2025 Etoile de Besseges free streams
Fans within the host nation of France can depend themselves fortunate, because the Étoile de Bessèges shall be proven totally free on La Chaîne L’Equipe, a channel owned by the mother or father firm of Tour de France organisers ASO.
La Chaîne L’Equipe comes on terrestrial freeview TV service TNT in France, and you’ll watch it on-line on their web site through browser participant, or through the TF1+ free streaming platform.
You also can watch Étoile de Bessèges totally free in Belgium, as public broadcaster RTBF (French-language) may have a dwell stream for all phases on its streaming platform Auvio.
Based in France or Belgium however outdoors the nation proper now? A VPN will can help you unblock your streaming providers whereas overseas. La Chaîne L’Equipe’s browser participant will not work with VPN, however you’ll be able to nonetheless tune in through TF1+.
Watch the 2025 Etoile de Besseges from anyplace
If you’re outdoors of your own home area and have to entry your dwell streaming providers to observe the motion, you could discover your entry to be geo-restricted. But that does not imply you’ll be able to’t watch the races.
In this case, a VPN will turn out to be useful. A Virtual Private Network – to provide it its full identify – permits your laptop to fake it is in a special nation, letting you log into your streaming accounts to catch all the racing motion.
Our skilled colleagues at TechRadar advocate utilizing a VPN for streaming in addition to enhanced cyber-security – they know a factor or two about VPNs and proper now they fee NordVPN because the best VPN available on the market.