Tadej Pogačar goes into the 2027 Tour de France as a five-time winner, after taking the 2026 race by 6 minutes 26 seconds from Remco Evenepoel, and a sixth title would be a record. The route gives his rivals more time trial kilometers than any Tour since 2012, according to ASO, and no rider has confirmed a start.
Pogačar and the question of the crash
In 2026 Pogačar went clear on the Tourmalet on stage 6, reached the top alone with 43 km to go and won the stage by 2 minutes 38 seconds. Race director Christian Prudhomme called that descent “absolutely phenomenal.” He also raised a doubt: “As you get older, after a really bad fall, are you still the same rider? Do you take as many risks?” Pogačar crashed in the Vuelta a España in 2026, and how he has recovered is the first unknown of 2027.
The time trial riders
Remco Evenepoel finished second in 2026, has won the flat time trial in all three of his Tours and won a fourth straight world time trial title in September. With 71 km against the clock, ASO has given him the best route he has had.
Paul Seixas finished fourth in 2026, 11 minutes 56 seconds behind, and Prudhomme says: “Finishing fourth in your first Tour de France at 19 is simply exceptional.” He added: “He’s no longer a champion of tomorrow but a champion of today.” His team, Decathlon, says the only certainty about his 2027 program is the world championships at home in Haute-Savoie. Seixas recently won Il Lombardia and took bronze in the world time trial in Montréal.
The climbers who need the Pyrenees
Isaac del Toro finished third in 2026, 9 minutes 42 seconds behind his UAE teammate Pogačar, and Lenny Martínez was fifth at 13 minutes 2 seconds.
Jonas Vingegaard, the winner in 2022 and 2023, left the 2026 Tour on stage 15 with a broken collarbone, according to Cyclingnews, and Visma expects to lead with him again. Visma’s Marc Reef counts “fewer summit finishes” than last year, and says that “there could have been more.” He points to the finishes on the Grand Colombier and the Col du Portet as the ones to look forward to. The queen stage and stage 19 are the days he says will decide the race.
Where a lost minute can be won back
Two time trials of 38 km and 33 km are flat enough to need no climbing legs, so any rider who loses a minute has to make it up on the Grand Colombier, at Les Saisies or in the Pyrenees. The Mende stage, 199 km with about 4,300 meters of climbing, ends on a 10 percent ramp, and Prudhomme says it is a mountain stage that few would call one.
Visma and the first yellow jersey
Visma is considering Matthew Brennan for its Tour squad as a possible winner of stage 1. Richard Plugge said: “so we’ll definitely consider him.” Domestique Cycling names Brennan among the contenders for the first yellow jersey in Carlisle.
Prudhomme on Pogačar, Seixas and Plugge on the route
Prudhomme’s view of Pogačar is that nothing about the terrain stops him: “The difficulty is that, whatever the terrain, Tadej Pogačar is very strong. On the climbs, obviously, but not only.” Cyclingnews says that on the Col du Portet Pogačar “will return to favourable ground on a climb he has previously conquered,” after his win there in 2021.
Decathlon deputy chief executive Mathieu Charpentier will not commit Seixas to the Tour: “For the general public, it might seem obvious that he’ll do the Tour.” He adds that the team will reflect before choosing a program. Jérôme Pineau, a former team manager, put it more simply: “That kid can do everything!”
Visma’s Plugge, asked who the route favors, answered “It favors Evenepoel,” and added that he does not think it is necessarily designed for the top-tier climbers. Visma’s own news release is headlined that the route offers “plenty of opportunities” for the team.
Which riders have not committed to the Tour
No team has confirmed its Tour squad, and the start list will not exist until next summer. Injuries, form and choices about the Vuelta, the Giro or the world championships will change this picture many times.
Every stage is on the 2027 Tour de France page, ASO’s route page has the official figures, and the Tour de France hub has the history of the race.