Tour de France reveals UK stages for 2027 Grand Départ

The Tour de France returns to the UK in 2027, along with the Tour de France Femmes – and today the three British stages of the men’s Grand Départ were revealed.

Edinburgh will host the start of the men’s Tour next year, with Scotland’s breakout star from this year’s Tour, Oscar Onley, sure to relish a 184km home stage on 2 July.

After a transfer from Carlisle, two stages of 223km await.

Stage 2 treats riders to a taste of the Lake District. Starting in Keswick, the peloton will be spared the region’s notorious climbs – well known to veterans of the Fred Whitton Challenge – as they skirt Windermere and Blackburn en route to the finish line in Liverpool.

Stage three is the turn of Wales: starting in Welshpool, the race will head south, squiggling through Dragon Ride territory in the Brecon Beacons before finishing in Cardiff.

Sportive fans will remember the Welsh capital as host to the short-lived Velothon Wales, the UCI race and closed-roads sportive that attracted tens of thousands of cyclists to the area over four years from 2015-2018.

That event rode on a crest of popularity in the sport following 2014’s visit of the Tour de France to Yorkshire, Cambridge and London. Some 2.5 million people were estimated to have lined the roads to watch the two Yorkshire stages alone.

Will the return of Le Tour in 2027 mark a similar surge in interest in cycling? The industry, and sportive organisers in particular, will hope so.

For the rest of us, it’s time to start scrutinising those stage maps and start working out the best vantage points to enjoy the greatest spectacle in cycling.