Tour de France 2027 starts in Edinburgh with two time trials

The 114th Tour de France will start on July 2, 2027, in Edinburgh, Scotland, featuring 71 kilometers of individual time trials, according to the official route presentation in Paris. This marks the fifth foreign start in six years.

Organizers unveiled a British Grand Départ that will cross Scotland, England, and Wales before transferring the peloton to France for a route designed to upend traditional race control.

The British Grand Départ and Classics-Style Openers

The opening stage on July 2, 2027, will run 184 kilometers from Edinburgh to Carlisle and is expected to favor the sprinters, much like in 2025. The following two legs take the riders through Scotland, England, and Wales, stopping in Liverpool and Cardiff before crossing the English Channel.

Prudhomme described the Welsh roads by drawing a direct comparison to a legendary one-day classic. Le pays de Galles, c’est Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Prudhomme said, outlining an overarching ambition to foster an unpredictable race. Les dix premiers jours sont faits pour qu’il y ait une valse des maillots. These three opening days in the United Kingdom will precede a rest day dedicated to the transfer to France.

The stage is designed for puncheurs in the spirit of the stages in Rouen or Boulogne in 2025.

Seventy-One Kilometers of Time Trials

The 2027 route includes two individual time trials totaling 71 kilometers, representing the largest cumulative distance against the clock since 2012. The first test arrives on Stage 7, spanning 38 completely flat kilometers between Blois and Chambord, described by Prudhomme as a magnificent castle time trial located a short distance from the Château de Cheverny, which inspired Hergé for Moulinsart in the adventures of Tintin.

These distance totals provide terrain for Remco Evenepoel, who could not dream of better and will be the logical favorite for victory if in shape, having finished as the runner-up to Tadej Pogačar the prior year. While the time trials present opportunities for the specialist to gain time on rivals, early mountain tests begin on Stage 9 with an arrival at the Grand Colombier in the Jura with a total of 3,750 meters of positive vertical gain.

Pyrenean Climbs and the Montmartre Finale in Paris

The race reaches its climbing climax in the third week through the Pyrenees. Stage 18 serves as the queen stage over 174 kilometers, with the col du Soulor, the Tourmalet, the Hourquette d’Ancizan, and a summit finish at the col du Portet reaching 2,215 meters above sea level as the roof of the Tour, for a total of 5,400 meters of vertical gain. It marks the first time the Tourmalet and the Portet have been associated.

Prudhomme highlighted the severity of the terrain by noting that the Pyrenean stages surpass the Alpine passes in difficulty. The race will also feature 28 climbs in total and include the return of the sixth edition of the women’s race starting from Leeds on July 30 for three days in England before returning to French territory after stopping in Liverpool and Cardiff.

After a transitional stage, the 114th edition concludes on July 25 in Paris, preceded by an arrival in Libourne promised to the sprinters. The final stage incorporates three ascents of the Butte Montmartre in the capital’s streets, following recent editions that drew high television audiences with 8,820,000 viewers on France Télévisions last year—the best audience since 1990—prompting Prudhomme to declare that the finish is no longer defined merely by Paris or the Champs-Élysées, but that the final stage is Montmartre, where the final stretch on the cobblestones of rue Lepic has in the past two years featured battles among riders including Wout Van Aert, Mathieu van der Poel, and five-time winner Tadej Pogačar, while Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel are noted as the last two winners in Paris.

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