The Tour of Tours 2027!
We are thrilled to announce our exciting plans for the 2027 Tour
(and, spoiler alert, it isn’t the UK)!
By now, most of you will have heard that the 2027 Grand Départ will take place in Edinburgh. Amazing; it’s a brilliant city. From there, the Tour moves on to showcase beautiful routes through England and then Wales.
After the Yorkshire Grand Départ back in 2014, Le Tour is coming back to the UK but we’re planning to do things differently by not riding these stages. Le Loop 2027 will have an entirely different, all-France route…
For 2027 – one year only – we’re creating The Tour of Tours: a celebration of the very best stages in Tour history, focusing on the Tour de Force/Le Loop years of 2006, 2010 and 2012 onwards … with a few earlier gems thrown in for good measure.
What you can expect from the Tour of Tours
- The same format you love
Rest assured, everything you know and value about Le Loop will remain: the organisation, the Tour de France feel, the sunshine, the climbs, the rest days, the feed stops, transfers, camaraderie, and the brilliant event team you’ve come to know and trust. - A Nice Grand Départ
The 2020 Tour (that we had to cancel due to Covid) was set to begin in Nice and promised to be our most popular Grand Départ ever – and for good reason. Nice is a superb cycling location, with easy access, fabulous roads, views to remember forever and that unmistakable holiday atmosphere. We all know what happened next … and those stages have been sorely missed ever since. Now, we finally get the chance to ride a Nice Grand Départ – and we hope it will be just as popular in 2027. - Paris Finish
Of course, we’ll still finish in Paris: nothing compares to the magic of the Eiffel Tower and the Champs Élysées for that unforgettable sense of achievement. - Iconic climbs
Expect a roll call of bucket-list mountains. We’ll include stages that take in Alpe d’Huez, Mont Ventoux and the Tourmalet; three of the most iconic climbs in Tour de France history. - The very best stages
With 13 Tours under our belts, we know what makes a great Tour. It’s not only about stunning scenery, challenging climbs, and picture-perfect French villages (though those matter a lot). It’s also about variety, a sense of journey, and the relief of a fast ‘easy’ stage arriving just when you need it. We’ve chosen our stages with all of this in mind. - Better hotels and fewer transfers
We’re focusing on a higher concentration of our favourite hotels, fewer hotel changes, and minimising those long transfers wherever possible. That means fewer 5am alarms — and more time for the bar, for socialising, and for recovering each evening.
What’s next?
We’ll share full details of the route in the spring, ahead of opening sales as usual at the end of July 2026.
Because the entire 2027 route will be known in advance, we’ll be able to offer all our Loops at the same time – no guaranteed Loop or priority options. You’ll simply sign up for the Loop of your choice. Easy!
Why the Tour of Tours?
There are a few reasons; firstly because the UK start has quite a few downsides (see below), secondly because we’ve been waiting a long time for an opportunity to make Nice happen, and thirdly because if you talk about something for long enough, one day you have to decide either to forget about it or to make it happen!…
This idea has been around for years. Over beers at the bar, in event vans during long transfers, over cups of tea in winter … someone always says: “Wouldn’t it be brilliant if we could just pick the best bits of every Tour and stitch them together?”
Well, now it’s “one day” and we’re making it happen.
Why 2027?
On paper, a UK Grand Départ might look like an easy win. In reality, it’s anything but:
- The first three stages involve some pretty punishing transfers.
- As we saw in Yorkshire, most riders can tackle UK stages independently over a few weekends. That reduces sign-ups … and that, in turn, impacts fundraising.
After years of mulling over the “Tour of Tours” idea, the timing finally feels right. 2027 will be a fantastic celebration of the charity and of Le Loop.
We’d love you to join us. The Tour of Tours awaits – vive Le Tour!
