Tour of Britain attracts millions of viewers globally

The 2021 Tour of Britain was watched by 15.9 million people worldwide, according to race organisers SweetSpot.

 the 2021 AJ Bell Tour of Britain, which started in Cornwall and finished a week later in Aberdeen, marked Saint Piran’s first appearance in one of the world’s leading stage races.

.In addition to the roadside crowd of over one million spectators across the eight stages, ITV4’s flag-to-flag live coverage of the Tour, held between Sunday 5 and 12 September, was watched by an average daily audience of 423,000 – a 31% increase from the 2019 edition. This year’s race was the fourth in event history to be shown live and in full on ITV4, producing over 40 hours of original programming, plus repeats, for UK viewers. In total, the race reached 2.6m viewers for its ITV4 live shows, eight per cent higher than its previous edition.

In total, 15.9m people worldwide watched the race, helped by the race’s partnership with Eurosport and the Global Cycling Network (GCN). During race week, the Tour benefitted from 1,787 hours of coverage around the world, generating £48.3m of net sponsorship value for partners, according to analysis by YouGov Sport.

 The AJ Bell Tour of Britain also enjoyed significant growth across its digital platforms during the 2021 race, with over 4.5m video views during race week on the Tour’s channels.

Next year’s AJ Bell Tour of Britain will take place between Sunday 4 and 11 September. Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire will host the Grand Départ, before the Isle of Wight welcomes the race for the first time ever when it stages the finale on day eight.