5 hours ago
3
The men’s Tour de France will return to Britain in July 2027 with a spectacular city-centre Grand Départ in Edinburgh and three stages that trace a route from Scotland through England and into Wales.
It will be the third Tour race start in Britain in the last 20 years, after London in 2007 and Yorkshire in 2014, and the most logistically demanding Grand Départ in the century-long history of the race.
In an unprecedented move, the Tour de France Femmes will also begin in the UK in 2027, with the start of that race expected to be staged in Yorkshire later in the summer.
The success of the UK bid to bring the world’s biggest bike race back to Britain was confirmed on Wednesday afternoon in Edinburgh as Mark Cavendish, the record stage winner in the Tour, led celebrations on the Royal Mile.
Recalling the Grand Départ in London in 2007, Cavendish, who retired last season, said his main memory of the crowds was “not being able to stop to pee, because there were so many people at the roadside”.
“Edinburgh fits perfectly into what the Tour is about,” he added. “It’s only going to inspire. You can’t help but want to go out on your bike.”
The Tour director, Christian Prudhomme, described the spectacle of the race as “the only sports event made for people who don’t like sport” and recalled seeing riders applauding spectators in Yorkshire in 2014. “That’s very rare,” he said.
There will be six Tour stages in total in the UK in 2027, three stages of the men’s Tour and three of the women’s race. “I think it’s brilliant,” Cavendish said. “Cycling’s been at the forefront of pushing equality.”
The conversations between Edinburgh and Paris stretch back almost 20 years, but the project became more ambitious once the Tour de France Femmes was relaunched three years ago.
“We set out to host the Tour de France and Tour de France Femmes because we believe that live sport is a fundamental part of our country’s social fabric,” Simon Morton, director of events at UK Sport, said.
“This will be the biggest free spectator event ever hosted in the UK, offering the public front-row access to world class sport across villages, towns and cities.”
The details of the men’s race are to be confirmed but Edinburgh, Glasgow, the Lake District, Manchester, mid-Wales and south Wales are all expected to feature.
After a stage finish in Cardiff, the race convoy is likely to transfer from south Wales to continue the Tour on French soil.
In 2014 more than three million spectators were estimated to have watched the men’s race as it headed to London from Leeds. That number will surely be eclipsed in 2027.
The 2027 Tour de France Femmes is believed to be starting in Leeds. Tour owners ASO remained coy about the details of the women’s race, although Prudhomme said the women’s race may fall a little later than usual to accommodate event logistics.
after newsletter promotion
While British talents such as Bradley Wiggins, Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas enjoyed huge success in the Tour in recent years, a new generation of homegrown talent is expected to take centre stage in 2027.
The Edinburgh-born professional, Sean Flynn, currently racing with the WorldTour team Picnic Post NL said the 2027 Edinburgh start will be “massive”.
“I never thought I could have more motivation to ride in the Tour, but now that’s my long-term goal,” the 25-year-old said. “You see the impact it has everywhere the Tour goes. You saw it in Yorkshire, a few years back, so it will be really special. It will give such a boost to cycling in Scotland and it gives me a lot of motivation to be there, to be part of that.”
Pete Ellen, who runs the Cycling Academy for elite young Scottish road cyclists and who rides with the Edinburgh Road Club, one of the country’s largest, said the arrival of the Tour was “brilliant” for cycling in Scotland.
“It’s incredibly well run, and they’re really good at getting community involvement,” he said. “It will get more people on their bicycles, riding around and having fun,” he said. “The more people who are riding their bikes the better the world will be. It’s as simple as that.”
Aberaeron-born Josh Tarling, currently racing with Ineos Grenadiers, said the news that the 2027 Tour would visit Wales was “a proud moment”.
The intention to bid for the Tour, as part of a £30m package for major events first announced in Rishi Sunak’s autumn budget in 2021, originally targeted a Grand Départ in 2026, but next year’s Tour will start in Barcelona.
Further details of all the stages are expected to be announced in the autumn.
