Grand Départ of the 2027 Tour de France Femmes with Zwift, starting on The Headrow in central Leeds before heading to Manchester.
Leeds is hosting the Grand Départ of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift in 2027, with the race kicking off in the city centre on Friday 30 July. It's the first time the women's Tour has started outside France and the first to begin on this side of the Channel, following the 2024 Grand Départ in the Netherlands. Stage 1 runs from Leeds to Manchester, starting at the Headrow in central Leeds, and Stage 2 goes from Manchester to Sheffield via the Peak District. Stage 3 is a team time trial in London. The race is billed as the most attended women's sporting event ever staged in Britain, and UK Sport and the UK Government describe it as a catalyst for women's and girls' sport, building on the 2022 UEFA Women's Euros and the 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup.
There's a bit of history to this one, too. The 2027 Grand Départ echoes the 2014 start, when Leeds also hosted the opening of the men's Tour de France. This time, Leeds becomes the first place outside mainland Europe to host the start of a Grand Départ for both the men's and women's races in the same year, with the men's Tour starting in Edinburgh. The road to Sheffield brings back memories of where Vincenzo Nibali first took the yellow jersey in 2014, and the city is home to local champion Lizzie Deignan.
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If you want to see it, spectating along the route is free, so you can just pick a spot on the roadside and watch the peloton go past. The first stage starts on Friday 30 July, with the second on Saturday 31 July and the team time trial in London on Sunday 1 August.
