Digitaltveurope.com

Eurosport has pledged to continue to invest in its cycling coverage after it announced that more fans tuned in to the sport’s flagship events in 2017 than ever before.

The Discovery-owned broadcaster said that record numbers switched on Eurosport’s coverage of cycling’s Grand Tours – the Giro d’Italia, Tour de France and Vuelta a España – with a 26% increase in average live audience numbers compared to 2016.

It claimed that the 2017 Vuelta a España alone had an average live audience of 1.3 million – a 46% increase on the previous year – while the broadcaster’s average audience across all Vuelta coverage reached 1.1 million, up 81% from 2016.

“We pushed the boundaries of innovation in 2017 with the first live broadcast in 360 virtual reality during a professional race at La Route du Sud in June and we believe there is room for even more innovation in our coverage,” said Eurosport CEO Peter Hutton.

“We are also aiming to feature more local experts on-site at future major events who’ll discuss the big stories of the day to their local audiences, while we will look to further unlock the power of data to explain the sport and help meet our goal of being the natural home of every cycling fan on digital and broadcast platforms.”