The Madison is one of the most eye-catching track cycling events on display at the Paris Olympic Games, with teammates hand-slinging each other in and out of the race. With the women’s event taking place on August 9 and the men’s on August 10, here’s how to watch an Olympics 2024 Madison live stream.
The Madison is a track cycling classic, raced in pairs but with only one rider per team actively in the race at any one time. To switch out, they will come together, link hands, and the outgoing rider will propel the incomer as hard as possible with a big swing of the arm, before moving slowly around the upper part of the track until it’s time to swap back in.
To the untrained eye, it can all seem a little confusing, but it’s one of the most hypnotic events to watch. The race is decided on points, with sprints scheduled every 10 laps, and big bonuses on offer for lapping the field.
Great Britain won the women’s title at the last Olympics in Tokyo but are weakened by the absence of Katie Archibald, with Denmark, Australia, Belgium and the USA contenders in an open women’s field. The same is true of the men’s, where Britain are arguably the favourites with Ethan Hayter and Ollie Wood but the French pairing of Benjamin Thomas and Thomas Boudat will be roared on inside the velodrome.
This guide explains how to watch Olympics Cycling Madison 2024 wherever you are in the world, including details of how to use a VPN if you’re away from home. For more from the track, find out how to watch Track Cycling at the Paris Olympics, and for more from the other disciplines, find out how to watch cycling at the Paris Olympics.
Watch Olympic Cycling Madison live streams in the USA
NBC holds the broadcasting rights for the Olympic Games in the USA. The Olympics will be shown across several of the the broadcaster’s television channels, and also on the network’s streaming service, Peacock.
The men’s and women’s Madison races are set to be shown live on television and online via Peacock.
Peacock offers a seven-day free trial for those who want to try before they buy. A full subscription to the service via Peacock Premium starts from $7.99 per month. The ad-free Peacock Premium Plus costs $13.99 per month.
On television, the women’s Madison on August 9 will be shown on E!, while the men’s Madison on August 10 will be on CNBC.
Both channels are available via cable plans, but there’s no need to worry if you don’t have cable. Sling is a smart TV service that allows people in the US to watch cable channels on their TV, laptop or tablet without actually having to subscribe to an annual cable TV package. E! is available with the Sling Blue package, which costs $40 per month ($20 for the first month). For CNBC you’ll also need the News Extra add-on, which usually costs $6 per month, but is free for the first month.
Watch Olympic Cycling Madison live streams for free in Australia
In Australia, cycling fans can watch the Olympics for free on Channel 9 and its 9Now streaming service – arguably the most comprehensive free Olympics coverage in the world.
Some if not all of the Madison races are likely to be shown on television but for guaranteed coverage fans can head to 9Now on the smart device of their choosing.
Watch Olympic Cycling Madison live streams in Canada
If you live in Canada, you can catch the Olympics across several broadcasters, including the free-to-air CBC, and subscription services TSN and Sportsnet.
It’s not clear whether CBCwill show the Madison as part of its daily television output. The races are, however, set to be streamed online on CBC Gem. Access to the broadcaster’s ad-free premium library costs $5.99 per month, though the ad-supported version is free of charge.
TSN and Sportsnet do not have dedicated streams for each sport, so it’s not certain whether the Madison will make the cut as part of their programming.
The TSN subscription service will set you back $19.99 per month or $199.90 per year. Meanwhile, a Sportsnet SN Now subscription costs $14.99 per month or $179.99 per year.
Watch Olympic Cycling Madison live streams in the UK
In the UK, cycling fans will be able to watch the Olympics on the BBC for free, via BBC One, BBC Two and BBC iPlayer.
The BBC only has rights to broadcast two streams at any one time, however, so while the track cycling will be heavily favoured by the national broadcaster, it’s not guaranteed that every minute of both Madison races will be shown.
For that, you’ll have to watch on Discovery+, home to the most comprehensive coverage in the UK – 3,800 hours of live action across 55 channels.
Thanks to a special Olympics deal you can subscribe to the “standard” Discovery+ package for a cut-price £3.99 per month – sign up before August 11 and you can take advantage of the lower price until the end of the year. The package includes year-round cycling streams as well as other live sports, including snooker, tennis, motorsports, and more.
Watch Olympic Cycling Madison live streams from anywhere
If you are traveling abroad and try to access your usual live streaming services to watch the action, you may find your access to be geo-restricted.
In this case, a VPN service will come in handy, allowing your computer to pretend it’s home and let you log into your streaming accounts to catch all of the racing action.
Our colleagues at TechRadar thoroughly tested several VPN services and NordVPN won the gold medal:
We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example: 1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service). 2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad. We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.