The 2027 Tour de France will start in Edinburgh, with the first three stages taking place in Scotland, England, and Wales, the organizers ASO announced at a ceremony in the Scottish capital on Wednesday.

This marks the third Grand Départ from the United Kingdom, but the first time the race will feature stages in Scotland and Wales.

Edinburgh Grand Départ Makes History

The first two stages of the 2007 Tour de France were in London, while Yorkshire hosted the start of the 2014 race.

According to an official report, the 2014 Grand Départ attracted 3.5 million spectators as two stages took place in Yorkshire, with a third between Cambridge and London.

"The popular success was absolutely phenomenal," Tour director Christian Prudhomme told AFP.

"We were faced with walls of people, a great mass of people."

Prudhomme said setting off from the "magical city" of Edinburgh had long been a goal, but Scotland's distance from France had previously worked against it.

"Scotland was already a candidate against Yorkshire for 2014, and one of the major differences at the time was the distance from France," said Prudhomme.

"But since then, new UCI regulations allow us a 'joker' every four years to start on a Friday instead of Saturday, which fundamentally changes the deal."

The ASO previously used this exemption in 2022 for the Copenhagen start and will apply it again in 2027, launching the race on Friday, July 2, with three full stages in Britain.

While the exact stage details have yet to be revealed, the peloton will head straight into England for stage two.

Wales Makes Its Tour de France Debut

The third stage, on Sunday, July 4, will see the Tour visit Wales for the first time. Prudhomme hinted that the route planners will "use the hills and very steep gradients so that the favorites in the general classification will be shoulder to shoulder."

Monday will be a rest day, allowing for the transfer of the peloton to France.

While the 2025 Tour de France will begin in Lille, the Edinburgh start will mark the fifth foreign Grand Départ in six years, following Copenhagen (2022), Bilbao (2023), Florence (2024), and Barcelona (2026).

Prudhomme said he is "proud" of these international starts, which not only help "raise the profile" of the Tour and France but also generate substantial revenue—around six million euros ($6.5 million) for Bilbao and Florence.

Mark Cavendish, who holds the record for 35 Tour de France stage wins and is widely regarded as the event's greatest sprinter, praised Scotland as a race host. He said, "I don't think we can comprehend what a start of the Tour de France is going to be like here. It's going to be bigger than you can even imagine. It's really quite exciting."

British Cycling Looks To Reignite Success

The Scottish Grand Départ is expected to inject new energy into British cycling, which, after two decades of dominance that produced Tour winners Bradley Wiggins, Chris Froome, and Geraint Thomas, now appears to be in decline.

The once-powerful Ineos team has struggled, losing British star Tom Pidcock in December. Additionally, starting in 2026, the public will no longer be able to watch the Tour de France on free-to-air television in the UK.

This is also why the women's Tour de France will start in the United Kingdom in 2027. The exact cities and dates have yet to be confirmed, but the event is scheduled to begin the weekend after the conclusion of the men's Tour.