SBS, the Australian public-service broadcaster, has doubled down on its coverage of major women’s road cycling events by adding the Giro d’Italia Women and Il Lombardia races to its rights portfolio until 2028.
Under the three-year deal, struck with race owner and organizer RSC Sport, SBS will provide annual free-to-air coverage of the Giro d’Italia Women, one of road cycling’s three ‘Grand Tours’, and Il Lombardia, one of the most prestigious events on the top-tier UCI World Tour calendar, via its linear SBS channel and SBS On Demand streaming platform.
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This year’s edition of Giro d’Italia Women is scheduled to run from May 30 to June 7, while the Il Lombardia, traditionally one of the last races on the UCI World Tour calendar, will run on October 10.
SBS will also air all five ‘Monuments,’ the annual one-day classic races regarded as the hardest and longest on the schedule, starting with last weekend’s Milan-Sanremo and Sanremo Women and continuing with the Tour of Flanders (April 5), Paris-Roubaix (April 12), and Leige-Bastogne-Liege (April 26).
The addition of Giro d’Italia Women to the SBS’ cycling calendar means the broadcaster now holds rights to all three Grand Tours for men (the Giro d’Italia, Tour de France, and Vuelta a España) and women (Giro d’Italia Women’s, Tour de France Femmes, and Vuelta Espana Femenina).
SBS secured rights to the Tour de France Femmes and La Vuelta Femenina last September through 2030 via an agreement with race organizer Amaury Sport Organization.
Rights to the men’s Tour de France and La Vuelta, meanwhile, were secured by SBS in September 2020, with the deal covering the 2021 to 2030 editions.
SBS director of sport Ken Shipp said: “SBS continues to build on its position as Australia’s Home of Cycling, now offering every Grand Tour and Monument race to Australians, live, free and exclusive.
“This agreement ensures the sport’s most iconic moments are all in one place, across both men’s and women’s racing.”
SBS has provided coverage of the men’s Giro d’Italia via a five-year sub-licensing agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery that ran between 2021 and 2025.
SBS’s Grand Tour coverage this year starts with the Vuelta Espana Femenina (May 3 to 10), with the Giro d’Italia (May 8 and 31), and the Giro d’Italia Women (May 30 to June 7) following.
The races lead into The Tour de France (July 4 and 26) and the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift (August 1 to 9) before the Vuelta a España (August 22 to September 13) closes out the Grand Tour season.
