Tour de France Femmes 2027: Brutal Puy de Dôme Finale to Decide Yellow

The 2027 Tour de France Femmes will break new ground with its first team time trial, a wild opening weekend in Great Britain, and a spectacular final showdown atop the legendary Puy de Dôme.

Race director Marion Rousse unveiled a demanding nine-stage route Thursday in Paris that promises a tight the yellow jersey battle all the way to the final climb.

The sixth edition of the revived women’s Tour starts July 30 in Leeds, England, and finishes August 7 atop the iconic volcano in the heart of central France.

In between, the peloton faces a punishing mix of Yorkshire hills, a historic team time trial through London, opportunities for sprinters and breakaways across northern France, and three decisive stages in the Massif Central.

In total, it’s 1,156km with 17,665m of climbing.

The route saves its biggest fireworks for last, with the Puy de Dôme set to crown the 2027 champion in a spectacular summit showdown.

British hills and historic team time trial

As already confirmed the 2027 Tour de France Femmes opens with three stages in Great Britain, the race’s third foreign Grand Départ since its revival in 2022, following the Netherlands in 2024 and Switzerland in 2026.

The opening stage takes the peloton from Leeds to Manchester across 85.7km of rolling terrain.

Stage 2 could see an early GC shakeout, with a punishing 154.4km route from Manchester to Sheffield featuring seven categorized climbs and nearly 3,000m of climbing.

The peloton will face a team time trial for the first time since the Femmes revival in 2022.

The 18km course through London on August 1 finishes on The Mall.

From sprints to Massif Central showdown

Now the good stuff.

After crossing the channel, racing resumes with three transition stages that give something for the sprinters and breakaways as the race hits French tarmac in northern France.

Stage 4 finishes in Calais and stage 5 in Magnanville, with both routes featuring difficult finales that could favor opportunists and puncheurs over the pure sprinters.

The fast finishers should get their best opportunity on stage 6 into Bourges, before the race turns into the gnarled roads of the Massif Central.

Stage 7 finishes atop La Loge des Gardes, the first major summit finale to open a wild final weekend.

The following day, six categorized climbs loom on the road to Clermont-Ferrand across the Massif Central.

Puy de Dôme returns to the spotlight

Saving the best for last.

The Puy de Dôme, one of the Tour de France’s most storied climbs, will be the battleground for the decisive final stage on August 7.

The twisting volcanic ascent returned to the men’s Tour in 2023 after a 35-year absence. Now the women’s peloton will race up the legendary steeps overlooking Clermont-Ferrand.

Race organizers hope the battle for yellow to remain undecided until the final kilometer. The brutal slopes of the Puy de Dôme — 14.2km at 7.6% — could produce a dramatic, final-day reversal.

Vollering leads the favorites

Who’s the course favor? On paper, defending champion Demi Vollering, as she targets a historic third Tour de France Femmes crown.

The Dutch star, who also won the 2026 world road title, can do it all on the punchy terrain and steep climbs of the Massif Central.

Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney, who joins Lidl-Trek for 2027, will be among her principal rivals, along with Pauline Ferrand-Prévot and Marlen Reusser.

Emerging star Paula Blasi, who joins Movistar, could also be a major contender after her fifth-place debut in 2026.

What’s missing? The course avoids both the Alps and the Pyrénées and the longer, sustained climbs that favor the pure climbers like Ferrand-Prévot and Niewiadoma.

Stages 2027 Tour de France Femmes