Confirmed: the Tour de France races through Lancashire in 2027

It is official. When the Grand Départ of the 2027 Tour de France comes to Britain, Lancashire will host the longest county stretch of the opening weekend. The route for Stage 2, announced in January 2026, sends the men's race from Keswick in the Lake District to a sprint finish on The Strand in Liverpool, and the middle of that 223 km day belongs to Lancashire.

The Lancashire section

According to Lancashire County Council, around 80 miles of Stage 2 are expected to run through the county. The peloton is set to enter along the Morecambe Bay coast and pass through or near Carnforth, Morecambe and Lancaster, before climbing onto the moors and threading the Forest of Bowland, Clitheroe, the Whalley and Langho area, Blackburn, Chorley, Wrightington and West Lancashire on its way towards Merseyside.

The organisers say that once the race is beyond Lancaster the route becomes more rolling and challenging, with five categorised climbs counting towards the King of the Mountains competition. The first of them is the Côte de Jubilee Tower, on the high ground east of Lancaster.

A Saturday in July

Stage 2 falls on Saturday 3 July 2027. A weekend date raises the odds of turning race day into a full Lancashire short break, and organisers have billed the combined men's and women's Grand Départs as the largest free-to-attend sporting event ever held in Britain.

Exact road closures, the detailed road book and the full list of climbs are set by the organisers and confirmed closer to the race. We will update these pages as each detail is officially published.