CyclistWinners and losers of the 2027 Tour de France routeIts time to get your calendars at the ready because the 2027 Tour de France route is finally out in the open.Get the macaroni pies and Buckie while youre at it because the 114th edition will begin in Scotland for the first time, with a send-off scheduled in Edinburgh on Friday 2nd July 2027. From there, the route cuts down through England and Wales before meeting the races homeland, where the fight for the yellow jersey will no doubt take shape. The Grand Colombier, Col du Portet and Col de Marie Blanque are among the big mountain passes to feature, but all the talk after yesterdays route reveal seems to be centred on the 71km of time-trialing sprinkled into the first and final week of racing.So, what are the takeaways from this parcours reveal? Who looks to benefit the most, and who is already booking their flight to Italy after seeing next years Tour route for the first time?Winner: Remco EvenepoelXavier PereyronAfter finishing second at the 2026 Tour de France, Evenepoel has been considered to be Tadej Pogaars closest threat.This can be seen in the parcours, which features 71km of individual time-trials, the largest sum in 15 years. That should be enough to not only guarantee the four-time world champions participation, but also secure him as a shoo-in for the final podium.Along with the potential for two stage wins, Evenepoel has the chance to gain yellow after Stage 7s time-trial to Chambord. Its an open goal wider than the English Channel, and as long as he stays close enough to Pogaar in the Welsh hills, the Belgian will be in prime position to take the maillot jaune.If he moves into yellow, Evenepoel could end up leading the race for a few days. The position of the second time-trial before the Pyrenees could also slot him into a healthy GC position coming into the final mountain stage. Given hes never worn yellow before, I presume hell be sure to seize the moment when it comes next July, potentially handing us our first genuine challenger to Pogaar in several years.Winners: The sprintersXavier PereyronThe 2027 Tour de France will give the sprinters much to think about.The chance to fight for the yellow jersey comes early on, not once but twice on British roads. This is because Stage 1 looks to be a sprint-friendly finale, albeit with a false flat arrival in Carlisle, while Stage 2 looks to favour the sprinters again by Liverpools Pier Head. So if you dont manage to get yellow on day one, you can always pick it up after Stage 2 if the bonus seconds are on your side. In that case, we could have the rare chance that two sprinters end up in yellow during the Grand Dpart.The green jersey battle was by far the most compelling contest to follow at the 2026 Tour. However, the way in which it was fought was somewhat atypical, with riders heading off into the breakaway instead of relying on sprint results. The outcome was a green jersey winner, Mads Pedersen, who failed to crack the top five in a bunch sprint.On the whole, Id say the 2027 route leans more toward the traditional sprinters, given there are seven flat stages. Many of them come early on, so theres an even higher chance of them ending in a sprint and thus the green jersey points going toward a traditional sprinter instead of a fast rouleur like 2026 green jersey winner Mads Pedersen. I say this, but Tim Merlier has already said that hes going to the Tour solely to win stages instead of fighting for the green jersey. The sprinting field is also more fragmented than ever, evidenced by the fact that four different sprinters won stages at the 2026 edition.Winner: Mathieu van der PoelXavier PereyronThe Tour de France route designers have every reason to give Mathieu van der Poel a leg-up. Hes hugely popular domestically and abroad, and he has a star quality that seems to transcend the sports usual borders.In that case, its not shocking to see several Van der Poel-friendly profiles in week one. In particular, there are a pair of finishes that come back-to-back on Stages 4 and 5. The finish to Cherbourg was last used in 2016, when a reduced group made it to the line. Watching that stage back reinforced my belief that Van der Poel could be in with a shout there. Thats the same for Stage 5s finish to Plumelec, which boasts similar stats to the Mr-de-Bretagne, where he won his first Tour stage back in 2021. Its worth remembering that Marianne Vos won on the same climb when the Tour de France Femmes visited last year, and we all know the similarities the two Dutch riders share.If hes brushed up his climbing legs, as he did in preparation for the Worlds in Montral last month, then he could even be in with a chance for a stage win and yellow jersey in Cardiff. Hes a former winner of the Tour of Britain, after all.Winners: Polka-dot puristsXavier PereyronAll too often we have seen the winner of the Tour de France end up in the polka-dot jersey without even trying. It happened in 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2025, when either Jonas Vingegaard or Tadej Pogaar won the polka-dots without ever wearing it on the road.However, the 2027 Tour de France will feature just three summit finishes. Thats the smallest number of mountaintop finishes since 2017, when the Tour de France removed the prospect of endless Chris Froome victories in the mountains.A byproduct of this summit finish shrinkage could be a return to proceedings for the polka-dot jersey. The GC monopoly in the mountains classification has typically been a result of the summit finishes, which yield high returns in the fight for the polka-dot jersey. If you remove the opportunities for Pogaar and Vingegaard to score points, the traditional breakaway candidates gain an advantage.Another advantage of this route is the early placement of several key mountains. On the stages to Sallanches, Mende and Laruns, the breakaway should have free rein to contest the bulk of the days points. That should favour their chances in the overall contest rather than having UAE and Visma domestiques rake in the points by default.Loser: Lenny MartinezXavier PereyronThe race organisers have often been accused of creating routes that favour French riders. However, those accusations fall short when discussing Lenny Martinez who finished fifth at this years race, dont forget.Why is this parcours unfavourable for him? Well, hes far from a natural on the TT bike. At this years Tour, he shed almost three minutes in the 26km time-trial. In a Tour with over double that, we could see Martinez struggle to replicate his top five finish next July.To add insult to injury, Martinez wont benefit from a parcours littered with summit finishes either, his usual terrain for success.If I were him, Id go for the polka-dots instead of a top ten overall. Just dont go grabbing any sticky bottles this time, Lenny.Losers: Anyone who thrives at high altitudeXavier PereyronSorry to all the riders born in the Andes or Rockies. This Tour is not going to give the high-altitude babies any advantage. In fact, the Tour only passes the 2,000m marker on one stage, Stage 18.This is the lowest-altitude Tour de France in a long time and thats judged by several metrics. The 2,115m summit of the Col du Portet is the lowest highest point used since the 2013 Tour de France. The 2027 race only goes above 800m altitude on six occasions. So if anyone was planning on acclimatising to 2,000m altitudes, its not worth bothering.We used to talk about how Colombians thrived on high-altitude finishes, but perhaps that line of thinking is dmod in an age where riders born in Scandinavia and Benelux climb among the best in the world. 2,000m also insinuates longer climbs. If that means more space for Pogcineration, the less the better.Losers: Weekend viewersXavier PereyronThere are a few confusing choices at this Tour de France and Im not talking about the choice to send the riders to deepest, darkest Cardiff.Weekend viewership is almost always higher than it is during the week. Thats the races chance to get the race on more eyes, and potentially capture new audiences channel hopping on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. In that regard, it should be in the races best interest to have exciting stages on Saturdays and Sundays, of which there are eight at next years Tour.Fair enough, the opening weekend will attract viewers regardless, but there are two sprint stages scheduled for the second and third weekends. For new viewers, the prospect of seeing the peloton roll as one big blob will probably look rather boring. Not to mention the lack of jeopardy these stages hold in the GC.The final weekend is a particularly lucrative window for viewership ratings. The Montmartre finish has helped to increase viewing figures in France, as revealed during the route presentation yesterday, but the decision to make Stage 20 a transitional stage feels rather silly. Chances are, the stage will be fought out by a fatigued breakaway or a peloton just wanting the race to be done and dusted. I mean, the same happened in 2025, when a slightly more interesting profile was chucked in to keep the Ain and Doubs dpartements happy.I understand the choice to minimise transfers to Paris especially after the Tour committed to using rail instead of flying domestically but Stage 20 should be a GC showpiece. Why not move the route around to have the final Pyrenean stage then?Losers: Tougher sprintersXavier PereyronWhile sprinters like Tim Merlier and Olav Kooij have a right to be happy about this route, there are few reasons for the likes of Mads Pedersen and Biniam Girmay to feel overlooked. Similarly, its hard to see the likes of Paul Magnier or Arnaud De Lie having a breakthrough Tour de France either.Thats because there arent many stages suited to a reduced bunch sprint, or any that suit a tougher sprinter of the Pedersen type. The finish to Cherbourg could prove too steep, as is the finish up to Plumelec upon the races return to France. A lot of the early chances for the fast men look like out-and-out sprints. The hillier stages, on the other hand, look too difficult for a sprinter to get their hands on victory.If youre Pedersen or Girmay, the most appetising profile is Stage 15 to Albi. With it coming so deep into the race though, its likely a breakaway ends up contesting the win anyway. Knowing Pedersen, hell try his damn hardest to get into the days escape group, however.Losers: Fans wanting to go to the Team PresentationXavier PereyronThis one isnt quite related to what we heard yesterday morning, but rather the events around the Grand Dpart.This morning, tickets went on sale for the Team Presentation of next summers Tour de France, which is set to take place just outside Edinburgh Castle. The setup will feature a stadium-like setup just like the Edinburgh Tattoo instead of the usual town square rig that the Team Presentation has adopted in previous years.Tickets started from 27, but the pre-sale already sold out this morning due to high demand. More tickets are due to go on sale next week, but I have certain reservations about this approach.I say the fans in Edinburgh are losers here because you dont usually have to get tickets for this. Whats more, you dont usually have to pay to access the event. Its just as free as the rest of the Tour. In fact, this is the first time since 2014 the last time the UK held the race that tickets have been required.I understand the need to organise crowds and generate revenue, but it feels a shame to have paid-for tickets at an event with free access at its essence. If tickets were required for safety/logistics reasons, then they should have been free, just like at screenings for BBC shows or National Lottery events.That said, theres still a chance that youll be able to see the riders for free as they roll around Edinburgh that same evening. Insider tip: they have to park up somewhere nearby for the obligatory rider photoshoot and press conferences before the presentation begins.The post Winners and losers of the 2027 Tour de France route appeared first on Cyclist.