Tour de France Femmes 2027 route reveal - London Calling after familiar Grand Départ in Yorkshire

From Leeds to London, the 2027 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift will kick off its 6th edition in Great Britain for the first time. At an official route reveal ceremony in London on Monday, route details were confirmed and start and finish towns were named. IDL Pro Cycling brings you all the information you need to get ready for the Grand Départ Grande-Bretagne 2027,

Leeds, Manchester, Sheffield and London. Three stages, starting in the North, very much the British capital of cycling thanks to the 2014 men’s Tour de France Grand Depart. And then heading to London for the first team time trial in the race's history. The men's Tour de France will also start its 114th edition in Britain, in Scotland for the first time, before stages in England and then Wales.

This will be only the second time the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift has started outside France, the first being the 2024 Grand Départ in the Netherlands. It is also the first time both the men's and women's races have held stages in the same country outside French borders. Organisers are billing it as the largest free sporting spectacle in British history.

The women's race begins in Leeds on Friday 30 July 2027. For British cycling fans, that date will already feel significant: it is the same city from which the men's Tour de France famously departed in 2014, a Grand Départ that sparked a nationwide love affair with the sport. The women's race now comes to claim its share of that legacy.

Race director Marion Rousse, whose vision for the race has made it one of the most compelling events in women's sport, described the connection to that history as intentional. “The United Kingdom has played an important role in the history of women’s cycling, with champions such as Lizzie Armitstead-Deignan. Starting the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift in Leeds is a strong choice, closely linked to this heritage and to the enthusiasm of a public that knows and loves the Tour. These stages clearly reflect the race’s ambition: to continue growing women’s cycling and to inspire future generations.”

Distance: 85.7 km

The opening stage rolls out from the Headrow in central Leeds — the very same street from which the men's peloton set off in 2014 — and heads west before crossing into Kirklees and passing through Heckmondwike and Mirfield. The first categorised climb of the race is Kirkheaton Hill (1.7 km at 7.5%), followed by the Côte de Meltham (3.2 km at 8.4%) before the route descends towards Oldham alongside Dove Stone Reservoir.

From there the stage circles north of Manchester before dropping into the city centre, finishing on Deansgate. At just 85.7 kilometres, this is a stage built for dynamism rather than attrition. The climbs in the middle of the stage will thin the peloton but are unlikely to shatter it — which means a reduced bunch sprint is the most probable outcome, and the first yellow jersey of the 2027 edition will almost certainly go to a fast finisher.

For the sprinters in the peloton — think Lorena Wiebes, Marianne Vos or maybe a new fast woman — this is the stage to have circled in the diary.

Distance: 154.4 km | Climbing: ~3,000 m

If stage one is a warm up, stage two is the main event. Marion Rousse did not mince her words when describing it: "Very, very, very hard. There's not one single flat kilometre on this stage. This will be a battle, hard-fought with spectacular climbs. This is probably the hardest stage in a Grand Départ we've ever seen."

The route leaves Manchester via Stockport, Marple and New Mills before climbing Long Hill into Buxton. Then come the two climbs that will define the stage: Winnats Pass (1.4 km at 12.3%) and Snake Pass (5.4 km at 4.6%), both deep in the Peak District. These are challenging climbs and among the most dramatic roads in England, and they could produce some early time splits among the favourites.

And when they reach Sheffield, the stage is not done. A late sequence of short, sharp climbs through the city includes the Côte de Jenkin Road (0.8 km at 10.8%) — also used in the men's 2014 Tour de France finish — before the stage concludes on Attercliffe Common. The same finish where Vincenzo Nibali, eventual overall winner that year, pulled off a famous solo victory.

Many of the GC contenders will be looking to repeat Nibali’s stage win then, hoping for the same overall outcome at the end of the race. Stage 2 will be a real high water mark, where the serious challengers will come forward. Riders like Demi Vollering, Kasia Niewiadoma and Pauline Ferrand-Prévot will be expected to fight it out on the final climbs. Whoever leaves Sheffield in the lead, may well be the race's eventual winner.

Distance: 18 km (team time trial)

London Calling. The final stage of the British Grand Départ will see the first Team Time Trial in the history of the Tour de France Femmes. An 18-kilometre route through the heart of the Central London, finishing on The Mall, in front of Buckingham Palace.

While the final test will be revealed later this year, one suspects many will already know the roads, virtually at least, thanks to Zwift’s many London routes. Something the headline sponsor of the Tour de France Femmes will be very pleased about.

The full route through the city is due to be revealed at the official 2027 race presentation in Paris in October, but organisers have confirmed that the parcours will pass landmarks including the London Eye, the Houses of Parliament and Tower Bridge.

"The team time trial has always been one of the most exciting and spectacular formats in cycling," said Rousse, "and we are very proud that the first one in the history of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift will take place in London."

For teams with strong collective TTT ability — Visma | Lease a Bike and SD Worx-Protime have historically been the benchmark — this could be decisive in the GC battle before the race reaches the French mountains.

Present at the route reveal were Yorkshire native Cat Ferguson of Movistar Team, and Londoner Flora Perkins of Fenix – Premier Tech. Ferguson said at the ceremony: “Having the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift so close to home feels like a full circle moment for me. I watched the men's race in 2014 from the side of my home roads as a young kid, and now I hope to have the opportunity next year to line up and race in the peloton.”

Perkins added, “I am genuinely so excited for the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift to come to London, where I grew up riding my bike. It’s going to be such a special moment. I can’t wait to showcase to the cycling world what London has to offer. I also know this is an opportunity to share my love of cycling and racing with the people of London.”

Both Ferguson and Perkins were in no doubt about the impact of this event on young women and girls in the UK, “I hope that girls in particular come out and see this race and realise that racing bikes is one of the best things ever, and they can do it too,” said the Fenix-Premier Tech rider.

“I truly appreciate how far women’s procycling has come. If I can inspire some women or young girls, even in a small way, to get out on their bikes, that would make me very happy. I know that UK fans will make this an unforgettable experience for all riders. Bring on the 2027 Grand Départ,” added Ferguson.

The Tour de France first visited Great Britain in 1974, for a short circuit stage in Plymouth on the South Coast. Twenty years later, the race returned to mark the recent opening of the Channel Tunnel. After starting in Northern France, the 1994 Tour riders hopped on the train to cross the channel by newly minted train, before contesting two stages finishing in Brighton and Portsmouth. Francisco Cabello and Nicola Minali were the winners on those two days, before the race returned to France.

In the 21st century, the Tour de France has staged two hugely successful Grand Départs in the UK. The first in London in 2007 and then in Yorkshire in 2014. 2007 saw the first Grand Départ in the UK, comprising a prologue in London and a road stage finishing in Canterbury. Two legends of the early 00s era, Fabian Cancellara and Robbie McEwen, were victorious in the south-east of England.

Then came the 2014 Grand Départ, and a watershed moment for British Cycling. Two years after Bradley Wiggins’ Tour de France victory and a hugely popular London Olympic Games, Yorkshire showed the world that cycling was big in the UK. Huge crowds lined the hillsides of Yorkshire for the first two stages. Paying homage to 2014, the Tour de France Femmes will also start in Leeds, Yorkshire.

The Tour de France Femmes is only in its sixth edition in its current form, yet it already feels like one of the most important events in women's sport. The 2024 edition finished with a four-second margin between Kasia Niewiadoma and Demi Vollering — one of the most dramatic finales in recent sporting memory. The 2025 edition was won by Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, who dominated on the high mountain stages.

Britain has a deep history with cycling, and a passionate fanbase that turned the 2014 men's Grand Départ into something the country still talks about. The women's race deserves that same stage — and in 2027, it is going to get it.

Jon Dutton, Chief Executive of British Cycling, said: “This is a hugely exciting moment for women’s cycling in Great Britain. Through the JOY programme we want to ensure this moment inspires more girls and women to discover the joy of cycling and help communities across Britain get active.”

IDL Pro Cycling will bring you more details of the full routes as they emerge.