How to watch Mountain Bike World Championships 2023: live stream for free from anywhere – XCO

Darcy Coutts speeds down a desert track in the Downhill Championship during the Mountain Bike World Championships
(Image credit: Brett Hemmings/Getty Images)

Watch a Mountain Bike World Championships live stream

You can watch the 2023 Mountain Bike World Championships for free on BBC iPlayer in the UK, and SBS On Demand in Australia. Sporza in Belgium, France TV Sport in France, Rai Play in Italy, and Teledeporte in Spain are also offering free live coverage of the event. Full details on how to watch the Mountain Bike World Championships just below. And don't forget: you can use a VPN watch a FREE Mountain Bike World Championships live stream from anywhere.

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Dates: Thursday, August 3 – Saturday, August 12
FREE live streams: BBC iPlayer (UK) | SBS On Demand (AUS)
Use ExpressVPN to watch any stream

Mountain Bike World Championships 2023: preview

The final day of mountain bike action sees the elite men and women battle it out in the cross-country Olympic (XCO) at Peebles, on a course that packs 145 vertical metres into just 3.5km.

The peaks and troughs don't just present mental and physical challenges for the riders, but push the bikes themselves to the limit too, with mechanical failures and punctures guaranteed to throw spanners into the works and completely alter the complexion of races.

Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (France) and Sam Gaze (New Zealand) successfully defended their short-track (XCC) titles at Glentress Forest on Thursday, while the men’s and women’s mountain bike cross-country marathons took place last Sunday, with Henrique Avancini (Brazil) and a very muddy Mona Mitterwallner (Austria) being crowned the new world champions.

Over at Fort William's Nevis Range mountain resort, the classy Valentia Höll retained her title and Charlie Hatton made his mark in the downhill events, with the duo navigating loose rocks, road gaps, jumps and gradients as extreme as 20%, as if they were cycling through their local park. It was stomach-churning stuff, the sort of action you can only watch through your fingers at times, so if you didn't catch it live, we'd recommend seeking out the highlights.

Read on as we explain how to watch a FREE 2023 Mountain Bike World Championships live stream from anywhere with a VPN. Full schedule and details of how to watch this UCI Cycling World Championships event below.

2023 Mountain Bike World Championships schedule

(All times BST)

MOUNTAIN BIKE CROSS-COUNTRY

Saturday, August 12
11.30am - Women Elite Cross-Country Olympic  
3.30pm - Men Elite Cross-Country Olympic

How to watch a FREE Mountain Bike World Championships live stream

One of the best things about the UCI Cycling World Championships is that they're completely free to watch in lots of countries around the world. For example:

UKBBC iPlayer

Australia SBS

Belgium Sporza

FranceFrance TV Sport

Italy Rai Sport

Spain RTVE

If you're from any of the countries listed above but you're abroad right now, don't worry about missing out on that free coverage. All you need to do is subscribe to a VPN to watch a free Mountain Bike World Championships live stream and re-connect to your home streaming coverage.

How to watch Mountain Bike World Championships from outside your country

If you're abroad right now and struggling to tap into your usual coverage, you'll want a VPN. This'll help you circumvent the geo-blocking that will try to stop you watching a Mountain Bike World Championships live stream in particular parts of the world.

They're a useful means of getting around this issue, are cheap, and easy to set-up as well. Here's how it's done.

Use a VPN to watch Mountain Bike World Championships 2023 from anywhere

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How to use a VPN to watch Mountain Bike World Championships 2023

Using a VPN is as easy as one-two-three...

1. Download and install a VPN - as we say, our top choice is ExpressVPN.

2. Connect to the appropriate server location - open the VPN app, hit 'choose location' and select the appropriate location, eg: 'UK' for BBC iPlayer.

3. Go to the broadcaster's stream - head to your home broadcaster's site or app and watch as if you were at home - BBC iPlayer for Brits abroad.


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How to watch Mountain Bike World Championships for FREE in the UK

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In the UK, the majority of the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships action is being shown across BBC Two, BBC Three and the BBC Red Button, and that of course includes coverage of the Mountain Bike World Championships. 

That means you can watch a Mountain Bike World Championships live stream for free on BBC iPlayer, which is free to use and works across a wide range of devices including smart TVs, laptops, games consoles, mobile phones, tablets and streaming sticks. Currently travelling overseas?

Use ExpressVPN to watch BBC iPlayer from abroad.

Hardcore cycling fans who don't mind spending a bit of money for comprehensive coverage may want to turn to Discovery+ or GCN+ instead.

A Discovery+ subscription costs £6.99 per month or £59.99 for the year, and lets you tune in on a wide range of devices, as well as the Eurosport TV channels. 

GCN+ costs £6.99 per month or £39.99 per year, and offers ad-free live coverage of loads of cycling events throughout the year.

Australia flag

Live stream Mountain Bike World Championships for FREE in Australia

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Every event of the Mountain Bike World Championships is being live streamed for free in Australia via SBS on Demand.

It's the streaming offshoot of SBS Viceland, which is televising select UCI Cycling World Championships events. 

Outside Australia but want your usual coverage? Use ExpressVPN to watch your favourite streaming services from anywhere on the planet. 

USA flag

How to watch Mountain Bike World Championships: live stream in the US

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Cycling fans in the US can watch the Mountain Bike World Championships live on FloBikes

A FloBikes subscription costs $150 per year, which works out at $12.50 per month.

If you're currently out of the US but still want to watch coverage of the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships, don't forget to explore the VPN route set out above.

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How to live stream Mountain Bike World Championships in Canada

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FloBikes is the place to watch the Mountain Bike World Championships in Canada.

A subscription costs US$150 per year (roughly CA$200), which works out at US$12.50 per month (roughly CA$17).

Not in Canada to catch that FloBikes stream? Use a VPN to make sure you don't miss a moment. 

Aatif Sulleyman

Aatif is a freelance copywriter and journalist based in the UK. He’s written about technology, science and politics for publications including Gizmodo, The Independent, Trusted Reviews and Newsweek, but focuses on streaming at Future, an arrangement that combines two of his greatest passions: sport and penny-pinching.