Stage 7 of the 2027 Tour de France is a 38 km individual time trial from Blois to the Château de Chambord on Friday, July 9, the first race against the clock of the 2027 Tour. It is almost flat, with about 200 meters of climbing.
The riders start on the Place de la République in Blois, in sight of the royal château, follow the Loire, cross the Pont Jacques-Gabriel and pass the Château de Cheverny. They finish in front of Chambord, with the last 3 km inside the estate.
François I ordered Chambord built in 1519 as a hunting lodge, and the château has 440 rooms. The race’s records from 1947 on list no finish there; the only earlier visit was the start of stage 5 in 2005, which Robbie McEwen won in Montargis.
At 38 km it is the longer of the two time trials in the 2027 route, which add up to 71 km, the longest total since 2012 according to ASO. A rider who gives up a minute on a flat course like this has to find it back in the mountains, and the first summit finish, the Grand Colombier, is two days away. Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe’s Zak Dempster said the time trial “offers us a great opportunity to make an early statement.”