The 2027 Tour de France will be within touching distance in the UK - here's what you can expect and when you'll need to book on accommodation

For the first time in 13 years, the men's Tour de France will return to British shores in 2027, with the women's equivalent, the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, following suit a few weeks later for the first time.

Details are thin on the ground at the moment, especially for the Tour de France Femmes, but we know that the Tour de France will come to Scotland, England and Wales for three stages in June or July 2027, and the Femmes will also have three stages in the UK, bringing millions of people out to the roadside, and getting some of the best bike riders in the world on our roads. Hopefully, there will be a few potholes fixed in the process, too.

However, there are many questions that we can answer, 27 months out, so here are some of those.

What is a Grand Départ?

Excellent question to start off with. A Grand Départ - that's essentially big start for those of you without French - is the beginning of the race, which takes place in a particular region. That could be in France, but increasingly in recent year, the opening stgaes of the men's and women's Tours have taken place abroad. This year, the Tour de France begins in Lille and the Tour de France Femmes in Brittany, to give you a flavour.

The men's Grand Départ is typically three of the 21 stages, so these will happen in the UK before the race heads back to France, while the shorter women's race might have two or three stages on foreign soil.

These stages still count for the overall race, though. Don't think they're just a marketing stunt - if a rider loses time in the UK, it will impact them at the very end. In 2014, Vincenzo Nibali claimed the race lead on stage two in Sheffield, and went on to win the race three weeks later. Every second counts.

When we will know more?

The autumn has been pinpointed as when we can expect to find out more about the routes for both the Tour de France and Tour de France Femmes, but this might be little more than the stage starts and finishes, and also key points of the race. The fleshed-out route for next summer's Grand Départ in Barcelona was announced this February, so we can anticipate similar timings.

An even more exact route, with details of roads, stage distances and exact timings, won't get released until the months before the Tour in 2027. So if you live in Edinburgh and want to find out whether your road will be closed, it will be a while yet.

Will it be free to watch?

Unless something drastically changes in the next two years, altering all of professional cycling's history, watching the Tour de France and Tour de France Femmes on the roadside will very much be free.

There will be ticketed areas, with VIP sections at the start and finish of each stage, but other than that, you're free to roam where you like, and get as close to the action as you dare. Don't get too close, though, otherwise you could end up being involved in the action, which is not something anyone wants. Don't risk it it all for that perfect selfie.

If the weather is good, expect scenes like those when the Tour de France started in Yorkshire in 2014, with people crowded on every bit of grass possible. If the weather isn't so good - it's the UK after all - it shouldn't put too many off, as the sodden Glasgow World Championships showed.

There is a big but, though. As things stand, the Tour de France or the Tour de France Femmes will not be shown live on free-to-air television in 2027 in the UK, with 2025 the last year that ITV has the rights to the men's race. Warner Bros. Discovery have the rights, and if things continue as they are at the moment, it will be on TNT Sports, with only highlights free.

However, at the press event launching the Grands Départ, Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme said that he was "optimistic" that the British bits of both races, at least, would be on free-to-air television in two years time.

Where should I watch?

Without knowing the full extent of the route, it's difficult to say, but it depends what you want to see. It might be possible to see the start and part of the stage, or part of the stage and the finish, but rarely all three. Your best bet, if you want to see action, is to stake your place on a climb, but finishes are always great too. If you want to nab yourself a discarded water bottle - a popular souvenir - make sure you stand by a feed zone.

How close can I get?

Well, I suppose, as close as you dare, although you will get a stern word from a marshal or a police officer if you get too close. Finishes have barriers to stop people getting too close, while if you're lucky, you might be able to have a wander around the team buses.

Which roads will be closed?

Nigh on impossible to say at the moment, but the Tour de France is a massive logistical feat, so there will be roads closed for the race itself - which could open up quite quickly - but then some places will be closed all day.

Who's going to be there?

The Tour de France and the Tour de France Femmes are the biggest bike races in the world, so expect cycling's biggest stars to be there. For those who haven't tuned in much since 2012, at the moment on the men's side we are talking Tadej Pogačar, Jonas Vingegaard, Remco Evenepoel, Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel. For the Femmes, the biggest names currently are Demi Vollering, Lotte Kopecky, Kasia Niewiadoma, Lorena Wiebes and Elisa Longo Borghini. However, we're two years away from the race, so there's time for riders to emerge, or for others to fade.

Riders like Pogačar, Vingegaard, Vollering and Niewiadoma will be looking to win the race overall, while others will be looking to win stages.

Which British riders should we look out for?

I'm afraid we're a long way from the days of Bradley Wiggins, and Mark Cavendish has retired now. By the time the 2027 Tours come around, Geraint Thomas, Chris Froome and Lizzie Deignan will have hung up their wheels too.

Top British female riders at the moment include Pfeiffer Georgi, Anna Henderson, Cat Ferguson - who will only be 21 by the time the 2027 Tour rolls around - and Zoe Bäckstedt. There are other exciting young riders to watch out for, like Carys Lloyd and Imogen Wolff.

Meanwhile, for the men, riders to watch include Tom Pidcock, Tao Geoghegan Hart, Adam and Simon Yates, and Fred Wright, although there are loads more, and young riders like Joe Blackmore and Callum Thornley may well have blossomed by 2027.

When should I start booking accommodation?

I'd hold off at the moment, seeing as we don't know exact dates or locations, beyond Edinburgh for the start of the men's Tour de France. The earlier the better for any of it, though, once we know more. As a veteran of Tour de France hotel bookings, I can tell you that you need to be on it.

Will the caravan be there? Can I get free stuff?

You can guarantee that wherever the Tour de France and Tour de France Femmes goes, the publicity caravan will be there. I don't mean a typical caravan, but instead the advertising floats that precede the race, showing off their wares to the world, and also, crucially, throwing out free stuff - some of which is good, and some of which is tat. At the moment, these include products like Orangina, Haribo and Skoda, but the sponsors are always shifting around. At a foreign Grand Départ, the caravan is normally there, but might be a bit reduced in size, thanks to logistics.