This Thursday, October 22 will see the routes for the 2027 Tour de France and 2027 Tour de France Femmes presented in Paris. As ever, the two directors of cycling's top events on the calendar, Marion Rousse and Christian Prudhomme, will be outlining all the details of what lies in store for the world's greatest riders next July.
Joining them will be a host of the biggest names from both pelotons, keen to get a first glimpse of their future battlegrounds, while Cyclingnews will have live coverage of the presentation on the day, including full details of the race routes plus analysis and reactions from those key riders.
The 2027 men's Tour de France will run from Friday, July 2 to Sunday, July 25, starting abroad for the second year running – this time in Edinburgh, Scotland – and the fifth time in six years. (That's a day earlier than the usual Saturday start because of the three rest days in next year's event.)
Meanwhile, the 2027 Tour de France Femmes will run from Friday, July 30 and finish on Saturday, August 7, and will also have its second foreign start in as many years, in Leeds, England.
Every year, although the early stages are often released in advance by organisers ASO, the rest is kept as secret as possible prior to the big reveal in Paris. In turn, it's a time-honoured game for the media and fans to take it upon themselves to how much of the remainder of the route can be unearthed in advance.
The longstanding website Velowire is the undisputed if unofficial lead investigator, amassing information from all sorts of different sources. But local newspapers and specialist websites also provide useful clues and slowly but surely the 21 stages for the men's race and nine for the women's race start to take shape. It's very rare for the full route to become clear before the official publication, but it can happen.
Here's what Cyclingnews expects to see when the race routes are unveiled next week.
Tour de France Femmes 2027
Three opening stages in the UK
After the Netherlands in 2024 and Switzerland in 2026, in 2027 the Tour de France Femmes once again heads abroad for its start and once again to a previously unvisited host country: the United Kingdom. The UK will host the starts of both the men's and women's Tours, a month apart, with the stage details already unveiled.
Beginning in the northern city of Leeds – exactly where the men's Tour de France began in 2014 on its fourth incursion into the British Isles – the Tour de France Femmes opens up with a short, punchy 85.7km trek across the Pennines and into Manchester. Rather than simply favour the sprinters, then, three categorised ascents – Kirkheaton Hill (1.7km at 7.5%), Meltham Hill (3.2km at 8.4%9 and the Delph (2.1km at 6.3%) – are set to test the peloton's legs on the climbs and might see a break go clear. But with 20 kilometres remaining, a reduced bunch sprint on Deansgate, the longest road in central Manchester, looks like the most likely outcome.
The next stage heads back across the Pennines but is much harder and longer, with nearly 3,000 metres of climbing and including some of the best known ascents in the Peak District like Winnats Pass and Snake Pass. On this very demanding 154.4 kilometre leg, nearly twice that of stage 1, there no less than seven classified climbs, culminating in a trio of Bradford, Oughtibridge and Jenkin Road, the last one inside Sheffield's city limits and with an average gradient of 10% over 800 metres, all but certain to see some last minute attacks go clear. Both Jenkin Road and Attercliffe Common, where the finish will take place, were used in the 2014 men's Tour de France, where the final winner, Vincenzo Nibali, claimed his first stage. 12 years on, the GC riders will almost certainly be to the fore again.
A long transfer south ushers in another key stage, the 18km team time trial in central London, finishing on the Mall. This will be the first-ever TTT in the women's Tour de France, though the discipline has been a regular feature in the other women's Grand Tours. By the time the race returns to France, then, a GC hierarchy will almost certainly have emerged.
A traverse through France and a possible Puy de Dôme finale
For the women's race, route rumours are not quite as detailed as we often see for the men's event, but that doesn't mean that there aren't suggestions and whispers floating around for what the rest of the race will look like after the Grand Départ. Local publications have some ideas about the middle of the week, and then there are some very intriguing signs pointing towards a legendary climb for the final weekend.
Monday is due to be a rest/travel day, and it seems logistically likely that the race will resume with stage 4 somewhere in the northeast region, perhaps Normandy or Brittany. Ouest-France have reported that Rennes have put themselves forward to host a stage, and that could make sense this year.
From there, it looks as if the race will travel broadly south east across France, through the Massif Central and towards the Auvergne. La Republique du Centre report that a stage start in Orléans is on the cards, whilst Le Journal du Centre reports that Nevers will host a stage finish on Wednesday, August 4, so with Orléans and Nevers about 160km apart that looks like that could be stage 5.
From there, the rumours become more imprecise, with details not clear about the final few days of the race, though we do have an idea of the general region. Being only just over a week long, the Tour de France Femmes often has to pick one main mountain range, and it looks like this year that won't be the Alps or the Pyrénées, but the more central climbs in the Auvergne.
Le Journal du Centre reports that the race will visit the Loge des Gardes ski station, which has featured in Paris-Nice twice recently. Climbing up to just over 1,000m above sea level, the climb is around 7km in length with gradients between 6 and 10%, so it could act as one of the first summit finishes, fitting in perhaps on stage 6.
The Puy-de-Dôme department is then rumoured to host at least some of the final stages, according to La Montagne, with hotels fully booked for the end of the first week of August. In that region, set in the Volcans d'Auvergne national park, there are climbs aplenty and many tough stages ASO could put together.
But of course, the biggest bell that a visit to that region rings is about the legendary Puy de Dôme climb, one of the Tour's most famous climbs that returned to the men's route in 2023 after a 35-year absence. 13km long at a nearly 8% gradient, with the road winding up to the panoramic top, it's a striking and tough climb that would make a thrilling summit finish.
Now, whether the Tour visiting the area actually means climbing the famous mountain, or just other climbs in the area, we can't be sure. But what we do know is that the Tour de France Femmes route has never shied away from iconic mountains, visiting the Tourmalet, Alpe d'Huez and Mont Ventoux so far, and the Puy de Dôme has women's Tour history, too, with Maria Canins winning there on her way to overall Tour de France Féminin victory in 1986. So it would certainly make sense to tick off another historic Tour climb next summer.
If the pattern of recent editions is to be followed, a big climb like this wouldn't be on the very final day but perhaps the Friday or Saturday, so we would expect one more final stage to round out the week on the Sunday. Clermont-Ferrand would be the obvious choice for a big city in the region, and a former Tour de France Femmes host city.
Many questions and details still remain, of course, with one particular question being whether a second, individual time trial will be included this time around, or if the TTT will be the sole against-the-clock challenge of the race. All will be revealed on Thursday.
Visit Cyclingnews on Thursday, October 22 for full coverage of the Tour de France and Tour de France Femmes 2027 route presentations, including a live blog, full breakdowns of the routes, in-depth analysis and our early picks for yellow jersey contenders.
Tour de France 2027
The UK Grand Départ
The 114th edition of the Tour de France begins with its first ever start in Scotland, with the capital, Edinburgh, taking over from Copenhagen in 2022 as its most northerly ever Grand Départ in the 123 year history of the race. The details of the first three stages have all already been confirmed by ASO.
The first leg, south through the Scottish Lowlands, is deeply rural but not excessively hilly and could well see a repeat of the 2025 opening bunch sprint in Lille. Britain's Matthew Brennan (Visma-Lease a Bike) has already said he fancies his chance in this one, but there are plenty of other candidates.
There is a categorised climb, the Côte de Melrose at km 64 (2.2km at 6.7%), but although it'll see a first leader of the mountains classification, the odds of a bunch sprint when the race crosses the border and finishes in the northern English city of Carlisle are very high.
Perhaps the most striking feature of stage 2 from Carlisle to Liverpool is its length – 223 kilometres – but the five mid-way climbs will also see the first serious attempts to break the sprinters grip on affairs as well. None are excessively difficult or long, the hardest being the Côte de Waddington Fell (km 112,3.4km at 6.4%), but they'll certainly provide great terrain for a move to go clear. But with the last ascent the the Côte de Parbold (1.8km at 5.6%) a full 40 kilometres from a finish in Liverpool, all but the most climbing-allergic of the sprinters will fancy their chances in what could well be second mass dash for the line in as many days.
That is set to change completely in another whopper of a stage, the last in the United Kingdom and run entirely in Wales, from Welshpool southwards to the capital, Cardiff.
With eight classified climbs, six in the last 80 kilometres as the race heads into the old coalfields of south Wales, this will be a really tough day and could even see some GC action. The shark's tooth stage profile, culminating the toughest of them all, the Côte de Caerfilli (2km at 8.1%) might well draw out those overall contenders most at home on the Ardennes Classics. In any case, the sparks will almost certainly fly before the fast run-in next to the Principality Stadium and Cardiff's 11th century castle: expect plenty of signs, too, supporting 2018 Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas, born and raised in the Welsh capital.
Week 1: From Brittany to the Jura
The peloton and surrounding Tour circus will take an extra travel/rest day on Monday, July 5 to allow for the trip back from the UK to France, but it still makes sense for the race to resume relatively near to the Channel.
As early as this year's Tour, multiple French outlets were reporting that the host for this first stage on French soil would be Cherbourg in Normandy, with Tendance-Ouest reporting that the town will host the start and finish of stage 4. According to France 3 Normandie, this could be an uphill finish atop the 3km Côte de la Glacerie, so no easy start back in France.
The next two stages look to head south quite quickly, through Brittany and towards the Loire Valley, with Ouest-France reporting that stage 6 will finish in Angers, a frequent host of sprint finishes. Both of stage 5 and 6 could be pretty sprint friendly according to the rumoured routes.
With no time trial during the Grand Départ, many are expecting a race against the clock to be slotted into week one somewhere else, and this could come on stage 7. La Nouvelle Republique suggests that the seventh stage will take place in the Loir-et-Cher region.
The end of the first week and the second weekend of the race looks set to continue in the southeast direction, with Le Creusot reported as a potential finishing town by Creusot Infos, as pointed out by the well-research Velowire. This would see a stage basically cross the centre of France and approach the Jura and the Alps, likely via some hills but not enormous climbs.
Stage 8 finishing in Le Creusot would therefore open things up for the first mountain challenge to come on stage 9 on the second Sunday of the race, with plenty of start towns, mountains and finishes to choose from. But where will the Tour go for its first big mountaintop finish of 2027? Le Progrès and Le Dauphiné Libéré think they know: the Grand Colombier.
Last seen in the Tour de France in 2023, on a stage won by Michal Kwiatkowski, the Col du Grand Colombier is not in the Alps but in the very south of the Jura, and it's a big climb.
There are a few different ways up it, varying from 13km to 17km, with average gradients in the region on 8% plus steeper ramps. In 2023, it was one of the few climbs where Pogačar took some time back from Vingegaard, though the Dane still went on to win overall.
Week 2: The road to the Massif Central
After the first high mountain stage of the 2027 Tour, the inevitable GC reshuffle will resume in the second week proper, after the (usually first) second rest day, in Annecy, with a taster for what will be the imminent World Championships in Haute-Savoie.
A month before 'super' Worlds, regional newspaper Le Dauphiné Libéré has reported that the Côte de Domancy climb – which will decide the rainbow jersey in 2027 as it did in 1980 for Bernard Hinault – will return to the Tour for the first time since Jonas Vingegaard destroyed Tadej Pogačar in the mountain time trial to strengthen his hold on the yellow jersey.
The brutal Tuesday dress rehearsal on stage 10 is expected to be followed by another big day in the Alps, where the riders will be desperate for their bodies to respond after the rest day. Stage 11 on Bastille Day, Wednesday, July 14, could provide another show-stopping parcours that has become typical of the national holiday.
Le Dauphiné Libéré is reporting that this will be from Cluses to Les Saisies, centred around several of the toughest climbs in the area, with rumoured inclusions of Col des Aravis, Col de Saisies, and hors catégorie summit finish of Signal de Bisanne. The Col de Samoëns 1600 has also been reported as a potential featured climb.
With the general classification being reorganised into a truer reflection than that of the first week, the route is expected to settle into a duo of sprint days on stages 12 and 13, heading away from the Alps and towards the Massif Central.
Reports from ICI Drôme Ardèche and Le Dauphiné Libéré have detailed these days to be running from Chambéry to Valence and Aubenas to Montpellier, the latter of which has hosted wins from several of the best sprinters ever – Peter Sagan (2016), André Greipel (2013), Mark Cavendish (2011), and Robbie McEwen (2005).
Closing out the second week could be a weekend of medium mountain climbing in the Massif Central, with several places to slip up on stage 14 to Mende. Montpellier will reportedly act as a stage start host, the day after the sprint finish there, with a tough route heading north towards the steep airfield finish where Michael Matthews took victory in 2022.
Local paper actuOccitanie is expecting wide use of the region, after barely being touched in this past season's Tour, with stage 15 and the close of the second week expected to stay in the area with another medium mountain stage from Rodez to Albi, according to several local papers.
Week 3: The Pyrenees and Paris
The final rest day is widely being reported to take place in the Tarn department, staying close to the finish of stage 15, before Albi hosts more action on stage 16, with the second and final individual time trial of the race.
There was talk that this race against the clock could take place in Toulouse, but ICI Occitanie radio reported last week that it would be around Albi. However, the same report mentioned that plans for a longer ITT were quickly abandoned, so while it will be an important GC day, it could resemble a test around 25-35km in length, not like the last Tour ITT into Albi in 2007 which was 54km.
Le Dauphiné Libéré's information that stage 17 will start in Toulouse seems more certain, acting as the typical flat approach to Pau, the gateway to the Pyrenees, where the sprinters will likely have one of their final chances.
Stage 18 is reportedly set to bring the Queen stage, on Thursday, July 22, with the monster hors catégorie ascents, the Col du Tourmalet and Col d'Aubisque, set to precede a brutal summit finish to the Col du Portet, according to La Nouvelle République des Pyrénées.
If the GC isn't already out of sight by this stage, the race will be decided on Portet's brutal slopes, albeit with a second successive Pyrenean brute expected to add fuel to the fire. Pogačar won on Portet five years ago to further extend his lead, but with the lack of difficulty in the preceding weeks, it could emerge as the location where he tries to land the killer blow in 2027, looking for a record sixth overall victory.
There isn't as much information out there about stage 19's planned route for the moment, but according to Velowire, it could prove to run from Hasparren in the Basque Country back to Laruns, with the Col de Marie Blanque being rumoured as one of the potential climbs for Friday, July 23.
The exit from the Pyrenees is expected to use Libourne according to Le Dauphiné Libéré, with La Dépêche and La Nouvelle République des Pyrénées among the papers reporting that Maubourguet will host the start of the penultimate stage. This will be the typical transition stage, where sprinters and the breakaway hopefuls who have survived the high mountains will look for their likely final stage opportunity.
Paris and the Champs-Élysées remain as the final stage finish for the Tour in 2027, and while there was some reports that the Montmartre climb and Rue Lepic climb would be removed, that was put down by subsequent information in RMC and Le Parisien, who were reportedly informed by ASO that the thrilling Butte Montmartre ascent to the Sacré-Cœur Basilica would remain on Sunday, July 25.
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