Cycling has taken over Wollongong and, with two more races of the 2022 UCI World Championships still to come, here is an overview of how you can watch the action in Australia if you’re not by the roadside…

 

– By Rob Arnold

 

Since it was announced that Stan and Nine would share the broadcast of the 2022 world championships in Australia, it’s been suggested that the elite road races of the final weekend would be shown live on free-to-air TV. Still, there is considerable ambiguity about that statement for sports fans who are keen to see the entirety of the races on Saturday and Sunday, 24 and 25 September.

RIDE Media has asked the media team of #Wollongong2022 for a summary of when the live pictures will be shown on Stan (the pay-TV network which has shown the racing throughout the week) and what will appear on Nine (or affiliated channels that are available for free).

The reason for querying the timing and which network will show the racing when lies in the reality that there’s going to be a switch-over from Stan to Nine midway through the broadcasts of the elite women’s race today, and the elite men’s race tomorrow.

As you can see by the schedule below, there is an element of truth that the elite road races – ie. the feature events of the championships – will be shown “live on free-to-air TV” but it’s also not providing the full details.

Alas, unless you have subscribed to Stan (or are using the free trial offer*), it won’t be possible to watch the road races on TV from start to finish. Rather, you will get to see the final two and a half hours on Nine… but not the start, not the Sea Cliff Bridge, and not the loop up Mount Keira and onwards to Kembla Heights.

These showcase elements of the broadcast will not be available on free-to-air TV in Australia.

There’s a lot more that can be said about this rather dismal offering from the host nation’s broadcaster but we’ll leave that for another time, when there’s a full wrap-up of #Wollongong2022 and time to review the championships.

For now, as we close in on the start of the women’s race, we can at least be pleased that the roads are dry and the rain of yesterday isn’t likely to be a feature today.

Still, there will be many unhappy sports fans who have probably planned to turn on their TV before 3.00pm on the days of the elite races only to find they have to pay for some of the broadcast.

This is a great shame, particularly when we consider the investment that’s been made to increase the exposure of cycling in Australia… only to discover that it will only be exposed to those who have paid for the privilege of watching what is a largely taxpayer funded event.

 

 

– By Rob Arnold

 

 

*Note: the ‘free 7-day trial’ is only available for new customers of Stan.

 

#Wollongong2022

More from RIDE Media on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.