The Tour de France has announced the routes for the three opening stages of the Tour de France and Tour de France Femmes in 2027.

This will be the first time both races have started in the same country, outside France, in the same year and will provide a spectacular six days of top-tier racing for British cycling fans in July.

We’ll run through the 2027 men’s and women’s UK stages and what to expect. We’ll also report on reactions to the news, both good and bad, and offer a history of the Tour’s previous visits to the UK and British riders’ successes at the Tour.

• Read more: Confirmed – 2027 Tour de France to start in the UK with tri-nation Grand Départ

Men’s 2027 Tour de France Grand Départ stages 

The action starts with the team presentations on Wednesday 30 June, which will take place at Edinburgh Castle, ahead of the Grand Départ on Friday. Expect to see the pros warming up and admiring the sights around the city.

Stage 1: Edinburgh > Carlisle 

• Friday 2 July 2027
• 184km
• Ca 2,000m elevation gain

Stage 1 will head south through the Scottish Borders, taking in towns including Galashiels and Hawick, well-known from the Tour of Britain, before running along Hadrian’s Wall and heading into England. There’s one categorised climb on the route – the 2.2km, 6.7% average gradient Côte de Melrose, contributing to around 2,000m of total ascent.

Stage 2: Keswick > Liverpool 

• Saturday 3 July 2027
• 223km
• Ca 2,800m elevation gain

Stage 2 is a hillier affair, with around 2,800m of climbing and five categorised climbs, predominantly through the Forest of Bowland in Lancashire, before a flattish run into Liverpool.

Stage 3: Welshpool > Cardiff 

• Sunday 4 July 2027
• 223km
• Ca 3,000m elevation gain

Things get even hillier through Wales, with a total of 3,000m of climbing and eight categorised climbs – two with average gradients of over 10%. The longest is the 6.6km Côte de Bannau Brycheiniog, a 3.5% climb taking the riders over the Brecon Beacons. There’s a final 12.5km downhill run into Cardiff.

Women’s 2027 Tour de France Grand Départ stages 

The full route of the three Tour de France Femmes 2027 stages has yet to be announced, but we know it will twice traverse the Pennines before a final stage in or around London. 

Stage 1: Leeds > Manchester  

• Friday 30 July 2027
• TBA km
• TBA elevation gain

Stage 3: London > London 

• Sunday 1 August 2027
• TBA km
• TBA elevation gain

What has the reaction been to the 2027 Tour de France Grand Départ? 

Christian Prudhomme, the Tour de France’s director, has said: “The UK has always welcomed the Tour with passion and pride, and the route details we are revealing today reflect the beauty and diversity of Britain’s terrain. Bringing both Grands Départs here is a testament to the strength of our partnership with British Cycling and the enthusiasm of the UK.”

Official reaction to the announcement has been enthusiastic, with UK government minister for sport, Stephanie Peacock, stating: “These routes will reach places few other events can and give people another reason to be proud of where they live.”

Scottish first minister, John Swinney, said: “The Tour de France starting in Edinburgh will be a moment of real national significance and a powerful endorsement of Scotland’s ability to deliver on the biggest international stages.”

Eluned Morgan, first minister for Wales, added: “Wales is proud to host a stage of the Tour de France Grand Depart for the first time in 2027, which will be a fantastic opportunity to showcase our stunning landscapes at one of the world’s biggest sporting events.”

As reported by the local press, reaction in areas the Tours will pass through has been overridingly positive, too. 

As with the 2014 Tour, there are plans to use the Tour’s UK stages as a springboard to tackle inactivity and improve mental wellbeing. Named Joy, this initiative will aim to tackle various social issues.

Not everything in the Tour’s UK garden is rosy, though. As Charlie Allenby pointed out in his March 2025 BikeRadar opinion piece, hosting one Grand Départ, let alone two, is expensive. He cites a reported bill of €5 million for Florence’s 2024 Grand Départ and £4.2m for the three 2014 UK stages.

Total costs for the 2014 UK Tour stages were estimated at almost £30m, although a cost:benefit analysis cited by Allenby suggested that there was a net economic gain of close to £100m. But with the parlous state of UK road racing, he suggests the money could be better spent promoting UK cycling’s grassroots and nurturing a new generation of star riders. 

There have been questions, too, about the state of roads potentially on the routes, specifically Snake Pass in Derbyshire, which could be on Stage 2 of the Tour de France Femmes. It’s reported to need millions of pounds spending to stabilise the road surface, which is suffering from severe subsidence, and is reduced in places to a single carriageway.  

The Tour may at least provide a kick to get it sorted, with the UK government potentially helping Derbyshire council to foot the bill. 

Note, too, that Manchester and Sheffield are only 60km apart via Snake Pass. So there’s plenty of scope for the race to bypass the road completely, perhaps going in the opposite direction to tackle the Holme Moss climb, which featured in the 2014 Tour’s Stage 2. The Tour likes its history and frequently makes repeat visits, as highlighted by the Leeds Grand Départ.

The Tour de France and the UK

Although this is the first time the Tour de France Femmes has visited the UK, the men’s Tour de France has been in the country on four occasions.

The first visit, in 1974, saw the peloton, with Joseph Bruyère of Belgium in the yellow jersey, spend a day racing laps of the A38 Plympton bypass in Plymouth before returning to France. It was not judged kindly. Eddy Merckx won the race overall for the fifth time.

The Tour didn’t return until 1994, when the riders travelled through the newly opened Channel Tunnel for two stages: Dover to Brighton and a loop starting and finishing in Portsmouth. The race, overall, was won for the fourth consecutive time by Miguel Induráin.

The Tour’s third visit was in 2007, with a Grand Départ prologue in London and a first road stage from London to Canterbury over 203km, won by Aussie sprinter Robbie McEwen, before the Tour returned to France, with Alberto Contador winning overall. The five British riders starting the 2007 Tour included two future winners and represented the largest number in 20 years.

By its fourth visit in 2014, Britain had caught the cycling bug and the Yorkshire Grand Départ was a spectacular success, with two stages through the Pennines followed by a third UK stage from Cambridge to London, finishing on the Mall. 

British favourite for the 2014 overall win, Chris Froome, crashed three times during the subsequent two stages as the race headed through northern France, and abandoned, opening the way for Vincenzo Nibali to win in Paris.

Britain’s success at the Tour de France

The first Briton to finish the Tour de France, in 1955, and to win a stage, in 1958, was Brian Robinson. The first to wear the Tour de France yellow jersey was Tom Simpson in 1962, although that was only for stage 12. 

Chris Boardman took the yellow jersey in the 1994 Tour prologue time trial in Lille, the second UK rider to wear it, and held it for the subsequent three stages, although he lost it to Johan Museeuw before the race headed through the Channel Tunnel to the UK on Stage 4.

He was followed the same year by Sean Yates, who also wore the jersey for only one stage. Boardman again took the jersey for a single stage in both 1997 and 1998, following wins in the prologue time trial. He was followed in 2000 by David Millar, who took the jersey in the first-stage time trial and held it for stages 2 and 3.

It wasn’t until 2012 that Britain’s run of overall wins started with Bradley Wiggins, followed in 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017 by Chris Froome. He was succeeded in 2018 by Geraint Thomas.

Starting in 2008, Mark Cavendish was racking up stage wins, as well as donning the yellow jersey in 2016. By 2024, he’d reached a total of 35 stages, the greatest by any rider at the Tour and almost half the UK riders’ total tally of 78 stage wins. He also scooped up the Tour’s green points jersey in 2011 and 2021.

Adam Yates (no relation) is the only other British rider to date to wear yellow, but no British rider has yet won a stage of the Tour de France Femmes or led the race.

Rolling Collective (RollCo) has launched Rolling Tide, a new year-long Zwift race series built around a simple but demanding idea: start small, build big.

Rolling Tide begins with a short, sharp opener and increases in distance by 1 kilometer every week, culminating in a full-distance endurance race at the end of the year. More than just another race on the calendar, Rolling Tide is about commitment, momentum, and shared growth, a collective journey where improvement is earned through consistency.

What Makes Rolling Tide Special

A Race that Evolves

Most events test riders on a single night. Rolling Tide tests them over time. Early weeks reward explosiveness and sharp efforts, while later races demand patience, pacing, and resilience. The format naturally evolves, mirroring the way real fitness is built.

A Reason to Come Back

Rolling Tide is supported by an ongoing ZwiftPower leaderboard, encouraging riders to measure progress, track rivals, and build season-long narratives. It’s not just about today’s result, it’s about where you finish after riding the entire tide.

Fair, Competitive, and Inclusive

Each race is run as a categorised scratch event, ensuring competitive racing at every level while keeping the shared experience intact. Whether riders are chasing podiums, rivalries, or personal milestones, everyone starts the journey together.

A Shared Story

Rolling Tide is designed to create familiarity. The same names. The same time slot. The same rising challenge. Riders will remember where they started and who they rode alongside when they reach the final weeks of the season.

Race Schedule and Details

Events occur weekly in 5 timeslots:

• Wednesdays at
  • 6:50pm UTC/1:50pm ET/10:50am PT
  • 11:50pm UTC/6:50pm ET/3:50pm PT
• Saturdays at
  • 11:05am UTC/6:05am ET/3:05am PT
  • 5:05pm UTC/12:05pm ET/9:05am PT
  • 11:05pm UTC/6:05pm ET/3:05pm PT

The first race kicks off Wednesday in France: a 1km sprint on Macaron. There’s no lead-in, just a hard, straight start through to a harder finish. Can you be quick off the line without the benefit of building up momentum first? Is your pre-race warmup to scratch?

See upcoming Rolling Tide events at zwift.com/events/tag/rollingtide

About Rolling Collective

Rolling Collective (RollCo) is a community-driven cycling club built around shared momentum and riding Forward, Together. Through races, rides, and creative events, RollCo aims to build long-term engagement, meaningful competition, and a culture that celebrates showing up.

Cross-country mountain biking is buzzing with chatter around the arrival of 32in wheels and we’ve heard plenty of rumours about brands considering this largest wheel size for gravel. Now, Australian titanium and steel expert Baum has unveiled the new DBM 32.

The benefits of 32in wheels are said to be improved stability, grip and roll over rougher surfaces. What Baum sees, however, is a solution to the problem of building custom bikes for very tall riders.

“A 32-inch wheel makes a lot of sense for tall and very tall riders,” says Darren Baum, “but a 32er is not going to work for everyone because of the extra standover and reach. A bigger wheel size allows us to build a bigger frame with better proportions, which is something that has really been missing from the market.”

• Read more: 32in wheels are rolling out – what does it mean for your local bike shop?
  

Six months of testing

Baum has been test riding the bike for more than six months and is now confident enough to offer the larger wheel size to its customers.

Until now, it has been reluctant to offer the option because there was limited availability of 32in-specific parts: rims, forks, spokes and especially tyres.

However, with the commitment of major players such as Schwalbe, we’re seeing this burgeoning standard expanding enough for Baum to put the DBM 32 into production.

Baum explains that his decision to add the DBM 32 to the brand’s roster isn’t based on the ‘trend’ – it’s down to his experience of riding his own 32in prototype.

He also invited other riders to try the bike and provide feedback.

“Perhaps the most surprising thing has been how quickly everybody has been able to adapt to the bigger wheels,” Baum says. “They roll really well, offer lots of grip, and they are very stable, which is exactly what we were all saying when we started using 29-inch wheels.

“32-inch wheels aren’t going to replace 29-inch wheels, but they will allow me to make a better bike for tall riders.”

First DBM 32 details

The first production bike, the DBM (Drop Bar Mountain) 32, was built for one of Darren’s customers – a seasoned cyclist who is 6ft 7in (200cm) tall, with a saddle height of 91cm, and has always struggled to get a proportionally correct bike.

The frame is made from seamless 3AL/2.5v titanium tubing, matched to a head tube made from a billet of 6AL/4V titanium. All of the components come via ENVE, including its 32in-compatible rigid carbon mountain fork.

The frame’s 2.6in clearances have been retained from the (standard) DBM gravel design. That gives enough clearance for the 32in Maxxis Aspen tyres. To get this level of clearance, the seat tube is custom-curved, combined with a 3D-printed chainstay yoke, and by using a wide 89.5mm T47 bottom bracket shell.

The bike is finished with a SRAM XX SL groupset, matched with RED AXS levers, RockShox Reverb AXS dropper post, and ENVE bar and stem. The 32in wheels are custom-built for Baum and everything is finished in a Matt Camo custom paintjob.

Pricing is in line with the current DBM gravel bike, with frame-kit prices starting at around AU$13,450 (circa £6,850 / $9,500) and complete bikes from AU$16,192 (circa £8,300 / $11,400).