The Tour de France Femmes will finish on the Puy de Dome in 2027, with three demanding days in the Massif Central following a British opening featuring the race’s first team time trial. Revealed in Paris by race director Marion Rousse, the nine-stage route runs from Leeds on 30 July to the summit of the famous volcano on 7 August.

An 18km team time trial through London on stage three gives the overall contenders an early opportunity to establish an advantage before the climbing intensifies in France. La Loge des Gardes and a six-climb stage to Clermont-Ferrand precede the final summit finish, concentrating the toughest mountain tests into the closing three days.

Demi Vollering will have the opportunity to pursue a third consecutive title. The route announced by organisers ASO also includes two hilly opening stages in Britain, exposed roads around Calais and a flatter run into Bourges for the sprinters.

Puy de Dome crowns three-day mountain showdown

The first summit finish comes on stage seven at La Loge des Gardes. Starting in Nevers, the peloton will tackle the Cote du Point du Jour, measuring 2.1km at 8.6%, before the finishing ascent of 6.7km at an average of 7.1%.

Stage eight then packs six climbs into the journey to Clermont-Ferrand. The city returns after hosting the Grand Depart in 2023 and featuring again in 2025, this time welcoming the peloton on the eve of the decisive ascent.

The Puy de Dome follows on stage nine, giving the race a final-day summit finish. After previous editions visited La Super Planche des Belles Filles and Mont Ventoux, the Auvergne volcano becomes the latest landmark climb to feature in the Tour de France Femmes.

Vollering is the defending Tour champion

London team time trial follows demanding British start

England hosts the Grand Depart for the first time, following previous foreign starts in the Netherlands in 2024 and Switzerland in 2026.

Leeds–Manchester opens the race with three climbs and a contest for the first yellow jersey that could bring both the puncheurs and surviving sprinters into play. The second stage, from Manchester to Sheffield, contains seven difficulties, including an 800-metre climb averaging almost 11% just six kilometres from the finish.

London then hosts the first team time trial in the history of the modern Tour de France Femmes. The 18km course passes Westminster, St Paul’s Cathedral, Trafalgar Square and Buckingham Palace, completing the three-stage British visit before the peloton crosses to France.

Calais exposure and sharp climbs before Bourges sprint chance

The first French stage runs from Le Touquet-Paris-Plage to Calais, with an undulating route and a finale around the exposed roads of Cap Blanc-Nez. The area provided the setting for Wout van Aert’s solo victory in yellow at the 2022 men’s Tour.

Stage five offers another opening for aggressive racing, with repeated climbs across the 161km route into Magnanville and a demanding finish. Together, those two stages give breakaway riders and puncheurs further opportunities after the British opening.

The flatter sixth stage from Orleans to Bourges provides the clearest prospect of a conventional bunch sprint on French soil. It is the final stage before the route turns towards the Massif Central, with all three remaining days containing substantial climbing.