Maybe I am doing something wrong, but I find it comically sad how the UCI and the WORLD CUP races are so difficult to stream in the US. Its the WORLD CUP, not the regional cup, or the international cup, or any other cup. And the UCI touts bringing cycling to all?
I use GCN plus or whatever and VPN’s to stream but for some reason more than a few WORLD CUP races still sit behind a paywall or have no youtube accessibility.
I understand that I’m about to be downvoted to oblivion but honestly every other series is accessible. Comical even.
I’ll take a whopper with fries.
Flo sucks but it’s not as bad as everyone says imo. Maybe I’m just used to the old days of really shitty illegal streams.
I use GCN+ from the US and VPN to London. No problem watching any of the UCI races. Lately GCN+ commentators have been absent. I like ambient crowd noise. Maybe your VPN servers are the issue. I use Surfshark.
Believe me when I say that it’s frustrating as a belgian as well. Some of the races are behind a paywall, others aren’t. Luckily (almost?) all belgian and dutch world cups are not behind a paywall, but the ones in france or italy are and it’s just stupid.
Behind a paywall? Someone has to pay for it
I understand it’s frustrating, but (especially these last two years with covid) selling broadcast rights is one of the few things that makes organisers money.
I’m lucky in the UK as all races are behind the GCN/Eurosport paywall, so it’s easy for me to say that as I know it’s a lot more complicated in the US.
What sort of solution would you like to see?
Hmm, VPN to India gets me all the UCI CX races
The GCN+ with a good VPN like Express VPN always works for us. That said, it’s crazy how many times GCN falters. We have flo bikes but I’m not a big fan of their commentary so I rather vpn to Europe and use GCN. In the app, you have to set the vpn before you can see the races as an option, just fyi.
They aren’t difficult to stream. Just get FloSports. They have the rights to all UCI World Championships and CX World Cups.
Or use a VPN with your GCN+. Also UCI is inconsistent about geo-restricting the UCI channel on YouTube, so sometimes they are there.
I can watch some of the world cup races on the UCI channel. some world cup races are geoblocked. it seems somewhat random if i’m allowed to watch it or not.
I live in a EU country with no local broadcast rights.
Wish Redbull would pick it back up.
It is really stupid, the issue is not necessarily with the UCI. It is with the general management with streaming rights. The UCI wants to get paid so they sell NBC the exclusive rights to show all UCI content in the US. And then NBC shows the Tour and nothing else and we all suffer for it.
There is a little bit more nuance to it then that but largely the issue is with which company holds the rights to show it in the US and doesn’t actually show them ever.
Both GCN+ and Flo have done some work to get in on the rights and limited amounts. Hopefully they can carry that momentum and break down the traditional system that has failed us for years.
Why the hell do uci and usac hate cyclocross? I can’t sit in a sport bar and tell them a channel even on direct TV. They killed the sport. Get the fuck out of tre way and let us watch what is left while they try to kill gravel
This. I paid for a VPN and pay for GCN+ last year and have been able to watch everything. Cancelled Flo and NBC Sports gold, so think I’m actually paying less.
I use Surfshark too and set it to Manchester to feel fancy.
Watch the feed that has ‘includes live show’ and the commentary works on that.
I didn’t think the UCI races were on GCN, I’ve been getting some of them off of the UCI’s livestream with my VPN set to japan
What sort of solution would you like to see?
The CX World Cups used to be on NBC Gold so that subscription got you a lot of great road content, plus CX World Cups, CX World Champs, and MTB World Champs. I would gladly take that back.
Now, all of NBC’s cycling content is on Peacock, but it’s only road. I can afford multiple subscriptions but at what point does it become irresponsible spending? For now I just stick with NBC, but if GCN had a Roku app I might be willing to get them as well.
Flo is terrible. Go with GCN+ and VPN. They have a per month option as well.
You have to be logged in on a VPN in the UK for them to show up on GCN+. I forget to turn it on sometimes and then they don’t show. I run it all on my iPad too, works great!
Now I hope they don’t track me down and break it for some reason.
Edit: since the first of the year Surfshark has no longer been working for a VPN. GCN has blocked it or something. I ruined it by talking about it…
I think that the solution would be having the world cup / championship races not geoblocked at all. If cycling for all is a real idea to the UCI than that to me is a very clear solution.
I agree. Flo will never get more of my money
How is broke race organizers a solution to anything?