RTBF, the French-language public-service broadcaster in Belgium, has struck an expanded partnership with the Amaury Sports Organization (ASO) promoter to broadcast its annual Vuelta a España cycling tour.
The 2026 Vuelta will be the first broadcast in its entirety by RTBF – the network showcased several individual stages in 2022 and 2023 courtesy of a sub-licensing agreement with rightsholder Warner Bros. Discovery – alongside the women’s edition of the race
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One of the three so-called ‘grand tours’ of elite road cycling, the Vuelta has been won by Belgian riders eight times, most recently in 2022 when 2024 Olympic gold medal winner Remco Evenepoel claimed the general classification.
The 2026 edition of the Vuelta a España Femenina will take place across Spain beginning on May 3 and running through May 10, while the men’s race is staged later in the year, from August 23 through September 14.
As a member of the European Broadcasters Union (EBU) collective, RTBF already has a rights deal in place with ASO for the Vuelta (as well as the iconic Tour de France) for the 2026-2030 cycle, however that agreement only allows for partial race coverage, whereas this new agreement directly with ASO will grant RTBF the race in its entirety.
In addition to the Vuelta, RTBF has also secured the rights to several other ASO-organized races, adding the Volta a Catalonia (March 23 to 29), the Frankfurt Grand Prix (May 1), and the Clasica San Sebastian (August 1) to its portfolio.
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By GlobalDataThat portfolio already includes a number of prominent one-day races and multi-day tours, including the Paris-Nice (March 8 to 15), Paris-Roubaix (April 12), La Flèche Wallonne (April 22), Liège-Bastogne-Liège (April 26), the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (June 7 to 14), and Paris-Tours (October 11) events.
This cycling rights suite may yet expand further, with RTBF reportedly in talks to secure the Italian ‘Classics’ races organized by RCS Sports, which include the Strade Bianche, Milan-San Remo, and Giro di Lombardia.
