Even the enormous financial resources available to cycling's wealthiest teams are unlikely to prise Tadej Pogacar away from UAE Team Emirates XRG, according to his own agent. Alex Carera has described the five-time Tour de France winner's release clause as almost "symbolic", with the Slovenian see...

A look at the Tour de France Femmes route for 2027. It runs from Friday 30 July to Saturday 7 August.Stage 1 has a Friday start to incorporate the long weekend in Britain. This is a trans-Pennine route with the climbs mid-way to encourage a breakaway and riders to go get the polka-dot jersey. The climbs are the set-piece difficulties but the terrain is often exposed so the weather on the day can shape the race.Stage 2 and its Manchester to Sheffield the long way, via the Peak District. The climbs total 2,800m of climbing which should thin down the field a lot. Do Bradfield, Oughtibridge and Jenkin Road ring any bells? Certainly the latter might be famous even in Sicily as its where Vincenzo Nibali attacked in 2014 to take the stage and yellow jersey, these final climbs look smaller on paper but coming late they offer a good chance to attack a depleted field.Stage 3 is a team time trial in London to showcase plenty of familiar landmarks alongside the Thames. Its the first time a TTT had featured in the Tour de France Femmes revival. While weve got used to Paris-Nice rules in Paris-Nice and now the mens Tour with Barcelona last summer, the 2027 Tour de France Femmes stage will use the classic rules with the time taken on the fourth rider. Why? Probably because theres no hill where the leaders can sprint up to make the difference so the traditional rules are deployed.Stage 4and theres no rest/transfer day, the hop to Calais is short. This is stage tracks the opal coast including its cliffs and after 40km picks up the same route along the cliffs as used in 2022 for Stage 4 which saw Wout van Aert win after dropping the field including Adam Yates who was the last rider to try and stay on his wheel. Hopefully this gives riders inspiration for this stage.Stage 5 has almost 2,000m of vertical gain and a series of climbs in the final 50km. They dont look like much on the profile above and theyre not that much in reality either but the difficulty comes in the rapid succession and above all the routes dpartementales, the narrow tertiary roads and with this the self-fulfilling battle for position in the final hour.Stage 6 and the organisers have managed to find over 800m of vertical gain when there could well be 80m, this is all flat terrain, think wheat fields and windturbines only its rarely that windy in summer to provoke crosswinds. Sport doesnt supply certainty but this is as sure as it gets for a sprint finish and who can see past Lorena Wiebes already?Stage 7 sees the race head south through the Allier dpartment, its almost all flat for 100km. The terrain changes gently after with more woodland and forests and then in Laprugne a surprise climb to the Point du Jour hamlet which presumably gets its name from being atop a hill that faces east to catch the sunrise and is a steep rise on a narrow road. Its back to Laprugne and then the road tips down to lead into the road to La Loges des Gardes. When your blogger first did a recon ahead of Paris-Nice it was little more than a car park with some bins but its been a tough, selective climb when its been raced. 6.7km at 7.1% is hard but its more like 8-9% most of the way because of a flat section that even includes a small descent that doesnt show on the profile. Its enough to create big time gaps and give us a clue to the podium contenders.With one summit finish done and another coming the next day dont call Stage 8 an interlude. This is a hard stage with 3,000m of climbing to the point of leaving out things like the unmarked climb out of Picherande to Super Besse, its the Col de la Geneste. The finish is hard, dropping down into Clermont only to climb back out via the old Charade motor circuit and theres a fast descent to the finish.Stage 9 is, like the city of Clermont-Ferrand itself, dominated by the Puy-de-Dme. Theres 150km to get there and on lumpy roads with 3,000 metres of climbing. Then the legendary climb to settle the race, the road winds up around the volcano cone at 12% for the final four kilometres.The VerdictIf the 2026 route got the verdict of the best route so far this time last year its a crown thats not troubled by this 2027 edition but all this is based on the map and if the peloton makes the racing even better than 2026 then itll be a pleasure to be wrong.There are always complaints about the foreign starts of the Tour among online comments but the lament here isnt nationalistic. Rather three stages in Britain means a significant proportion of the race is used up and the regret is that the subsequent transfer is only across the Channel to Calais where the race encounters more mild hills for days and as charming as the Auvergne can be, it feels like the race stops short. It can be liberating to skip the Alps or Pyrenees but the stage after stage seems to reward the same type of rider. Similarly the Loges des Gardes climb is fine but itll be a 25 minute climb; the Puy-de-Dme is similar in length. All this is easier to type rather than implement of course but its written here from the position of wanting more racing and more scenery.One consolation is that it sounds like well get spectators for the final stage after the mens last visit was closed to the public. Local newspaper La Montagne reports there could be 3-4,000 fans and lets hope the plans work as visually and audibly the crowd are what makes the Tour, mens or womens so appealing.There is novelty as the team time trial is not a regular in the womens calendar, except at the Vuelta and long ago at the Vrgrda race in Sweden. This ought to be visually appealing as it passes the London landmarks. At 18km its short but limit the time gaps which can be good for the racing if the yellow jersey is only one or two 10 second time bonuses away; and means the more modest teams arent left trailing.The finish on a Saturday feels like the race is missing a trick not taking an extra day to finish on the Sunday but perhaps its because the 2028 race is planned already and if starts on a Saturday its hard to make the race longer one year if it has to regress the next?To end with some optimism to chew on from here to July maybe itll all work out a treat. Think of Paula Blasi as the upstart towed around London by Marlen Reusser and taking on Demi Vollering for the final weekend. This scenario might work better on these 25 minute climbs rather than a trip to, say, the Galibier or other hour long ascents? Vollering has enjoyed a Pogaar-esque season and this course ought to keep a lid on things.You can find the mens route stage-by-stage at inrng.com/2026/10/tour-de-france-route-2027The post Tour de France Femmes Route first appeared on The Inner Ring.

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