UK to host Tour de France Femmes in historic first for women's cycling

London will host some of the best professional cyclists in the world next year, as the women's Tour de France will be zooming down The Mall for their first team time trial.

The Tour de France Femmes - a huge professional cycling competition - is expected to be the most-attended women's sporting event in British history. An estimated 10 million spectators are expected to line the streets!

This marks the first time the women's race will be held on British soil, and the first time both the men's and women's Tours will start in the same country outside of France.

Last time the race was in the UK, around five million people came out to watch, and this time organisers are expecting even more visitors.

2027 will be the first time that both races will start in the same country, outside of France.

The Tour de France Femmes will get underway on 30 July, with the peloton - the name for a pack of riders - travelling from Leeds to Manchester.

The riders, who are the best in the world, say it will be "super brutal".

The three stages of the event include a fierce looking 154km route from Manchester to Sheffield - which includes a 3000m climb!

It then travels from Leeds - over 85.7km - to Manchester, before an iconic 18km finish on The Mall in London on 1 August.

In London, they will race against the clock as teams, passing the Houses of Parliament, London Eye and Tower Bridge on an 18km route.

Professional English rider Cat Ferguson was born in the Yorkshire town of Skipton, and said having the competition so close to home "feels like a full circle moment".

"I watched the men's [competition] in 2014 from the side of my home roads as a young kid, and now I hope to have the opportunity next year to line up and race in the peloton," she told BBC Sport.

London's mayor Sadiq Khan said the event would be an inspiration to "the next generation of women cyclists".

The Tour de France de Femmes is like one big race with lots of smaller races going on inside it.

Riders might race to win a stage or to earn the right to wear one of the famous jerseys, which can change hands many times during the race.

The green jersey is the points prize. You often get points during the race and also for being one of the first riders over the line each day. It's usually won by a sprinter.

But the Tour isn't just about reaching the highest speeds - it's also known for its uphill struggles.

The riders climb thousands of metres, with the best rider on those stages winning a snazzy red and white polka dot jersey.

The white jersey is given to the best performing young rider - that's someone who's under 23-years-old.

But the prize everyone dreams of is the yellow jersey. Riders compete fiercely to even have the chance to wear it for one day during the race, let alone to be wearing it as the winner at the end.

If you are wearing the Maillot Jaune (yellow jersey) it means you are the overall race leader on total time since the start of the Tour.

Are you excited for the Tour de France to come to the UK? Do you like cycling?

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