After a 16-year break, ZDF is returning to the world's biggest cycling tour. From 2027, the broadcaster will once again be broadcasting live from the Tour and, for the first time, the Tour de France Femmes. The agreement runs up to and including 2028 and includes the Tour of Germany, the Cyclassics Hamburg and several cycling classics in addition to the two Tours of France. ARD and ZDF pulled out of the broadcast in 2011 due to the doping scandals - ARD resumed the broadcast in 2015. It can be assumed that Florian Lipowitz's success in the Tour of France 2025 was a strong argument in favour of ZDF's return.
Division between ARD and ZDF
ARD will remain the main broadcaster and will broadcast live from France every day from 4 to 26 July 2026. Das Erste and the ARD Mediathek will show all stages of the men's tour. The Tour de France Femmes will also be broadcast live on ARD from 1 to 9 August 2026. Saarländischer Rundfunk will continue to take the lead within ARD for all cycling broadcasts. ZDF will not start live coverage until 2027. Both broadcasters will share the media exploitation rights to the Tour of France. The agreement includes live and post-utilisation rights for several national and international cycling races.
Tour de France 2025 was a ratings winner
The success of German rider Florian Lipowitz brought ARD record ratings for the Tour de France 2025. The average market share on ARD was 13.5 per cent. This was the best market share of any broadcast since 2015. In total, around 21 million people watched the broadcast of around 59 hours of the Tour de France 2025 on ARD. This reached 21.2 per cent of the population. The average audience share was 1.2 million viewers. No wonder that ZDF would like to see a return to the programme.
Germany tour with split transmission
ARD and ZDF are already sharing the coverage of the Deutschland Tour 2026. On 20 August 2026, ARD will broadcast the first stage from Bad Orb to Schwäbisch Hall live on ARD and in the ARD Mediathek. The third stage to Bad Dürkheim will follow on 22 August.
ZDF will broadcast the second stage from Schwäbisch Hall to Offenbach an der Queich on 21 August 2026. The final stage with the finish in Heilbronn will be broadcast live on ZDF on 23 August 2026. Both broadcasters will therefore cover all four stages of the Deutschland Tour.
Kristian Bauer
Editor
