Tour de France 2027 Route Reveal: Brutal Mountains, Big Time Trials, and a Wide-Open Fight for Yellow

The 2027 Tour de France is going big on time trials and short on summit finales with its historic return to Great Britain.

Race director Christian Prudhomme unveiled the 114th edition Thursday in Paris, confirming a 3,479km route from Edinburgh to the Champs-Élysées from July 2-25.

The numbers tell the story: 21 stages, 53,450 meters of climbing, six mountain stages but only three summit finales, and two individual time trials totaling 71km, the most since 2012.

Can Remco Evenepoel dare to dream of yellow? Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard still might have the last word in this deceptively challenging course.

The race opens with three stages across Scotland, England, and Wales before returning to France via Normandy.

Then things get serious. The first week closes with the first of two time trials before driving into the Alps.

Three summit finishes await at Grand Colombier, Les Saisies, and the monstrous Col du Portet in the Pyrénées in the final week.

That’s low by modern standards but these all pack an over-sized bite. There are three other mountain stages that don’t end at a summit but are still loaded with race-breaking climbs.

The Alps also include two ascents of the Côte de Domancy, a preview of the 2027 world championships course in a stage that could explode the GC.

The decisive final week packs in another time trial before the Pyrénées, a brutal Tourmalet and Col du Portet double, and a final mountain showdown to Laruns.

Montmartre still on for Paris finale

And the favorites? It’s shaping up to be a blockbuster.

Pogačar and Vingegaard will be looking to return to their best after injury setbacks, while rising stars Isaac del Toro and Paul Seixas could elbow in if they race.

The generous time trial distance — the most since Bradley Wiggins won in 2012 — should give Evenepoel favorable terrain, but he will still have to survive the mountain onslaught.

The Tour wraps up July 25 with loops over the dramatic Montmartre climb — yes, it’s back with three passages — before the traditional Champs-Élysées finale.

What’s missing? Iconic climbs like Alpe d’Huez or Mont Ventoux and the race barely touches the Massif Central.

Sprinters will see plenty of chances, with perhaps up to seven sprints, including the penultimate stage that gives the fast men a reason to suffer over the Pyrénées.

With 71km against the clock and a string of monster climbs, the 2027 Tour looks set to reward the complete rider.

And punish everyone else.

2027 Tour de France: Key route details

Total distance: 3,479km
Total elevation gain: 53,450 meters
Total stages: 21
Flat stages: 7
Hilly stages: 6
Mountain stages: 6
Individual time trials: 2, totaling 71km, the most since 2012
Summit finishes: 3, at Grand Colombier, Les Saisies, and Saint-Lary-Soulan Col du Portet

2027 Tour de France race map

Tour de France 2027 stages