2027 Tour de France in the Scottish Borders
Stage one of the Tour de France, the world’s most prestigious cycle race, will come to the Scottish Borders on Friday 2 July 2027.
The Tour de France attracts at least 12 million in-person spectators across the three-week stage race, with an estimated global television audience of more than 3.5 billion people.
Proud host
We are incredibly proud to have been able to work with various partners and the race organisers to bring one of the biggest sporting events in the world to the Scottish Borders.
This builds on our reputation for hosting international-scale events, including the Tour of Britain cycle race on multiple occasions and 2023 UCI Cycling World Championship events at Glentress.
The South of Scotland has also been recognised by cycling’s governing body for our commitment to both elite cycling competition and cycling for all, with the award of UCI Bike Region status.
South of Scotland Cycling Partnership
We are a leading partner in the South of Scotland Cycling Partnership, which is aiming to embed cycling into the daily fabric of the lives of residents and experiences of visitors to the region.
The South of Scotland Cycling Partnership Strategy was launched in 2022, seeking to capitalise on the region hosting the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships, our geography and landscape, which has long been attractive to off and on-road cyclists, and our history as the home of the bike – almost 200 years ago Kirkpatrick Macmillan, a blacksmith from Dumfriesshire, created the first pedal-driven bicycle, the velocipede.
By 2032 we want to make cycling the most popular choice for shorter, everyday journeys.
The strategy supports 11 national policies, strategies and growth deals and has six themes:
- Infrastructure
- Sport, recreation and wellbeing
- Sustainable economy and communities
- Innovation and technology
- Destination development and promotion
- Events
These are all areas where we feel we can unlock the power of the bike to deliver transformative change for our region, our residents and our businesses
In the early years of the strategy we have already:
- launched a new coast-to-coast cycle route – the Kirkpatrick C2C, providing 250 miles of uninterrupted joy for experienced cyclists
- delivered a number of new active travel paths
- developed and received significant government funding for a walking and cycling route from the source of the River Tweed in the heart of the region to where it meets the North Sea
- supported businesses and communities to improve facilities for visiting cyclists
- delivered various international cycling events