For one Sunday next summer, a stretch of Mid Wales from Welshpool to the Brecon Beacons will carry the biggest annual sporting event on the planet. The 2027 Tour de France rolls out of Edinburgh on 2 July, and 48 hours later finishes its three-day British Grand Départ with stage 3 from Welshpool to Cardiff on 4 July. It is the first time the men’s race has gone through Wales.

Towns along the route are being told the window to prepare is already open. Zoë Hawkins, chief executive of regional tourism body MWT Cymru, is urging accommodation providers, cafés, shops and attractions to position themselves now rather than wait for the race convoy to pass.

“Having the Welsh stage of the Tour de France start here in Mid Wales gives our towns and businesses a rare opportunity to benefit from one of the world’s biggest sporting events,” Hawkins said.

She added that small changes can be enough.

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“Becoming more welcoming to cyclists does not necessarily require major investment.”

A 220km trek south through the valleys

The stage leaves Welshpool in Powys and heads south through Newtown, Llandrindod Wells, Builth Wells and Brecon before crossing into the South Wales valleys. Over roughly 220 to 225 kilometres the riders will tackle eight categorised climbs, six of them packed into the final 80 kilometres. The Côte de Rhigos and the Côte de Caerffili sit in the closing hour and are likely to decide the stage before the finish in Cardiff city centre near the Principality Stadium.

Caroline Spanton, chief executive of national cycling body Beicio Cymru, framed the hosting rights in the strongest terms available in sport.

“Wales hosting the final stage of the Tour de France in the UK is genuinely a once-in-a-generation opportunity.”

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One million visitors, 150 million TV viewers

The numbers coming the region’s way are not small. The Welsh Government estimates more than one million visitors across the Welsh stage, with the race itself beamed to a global television audience of around 150 million in 190 countries.

Yorkshire’s 2014 Grand Départ offers the clearest British benchmark. Those two days drew 2.3 million roadside spectators and generated £102m for the regional economy, according to a report published in the aftermath of the race. That remains the last time the Tour used Britain as a Grand Départ host, with the previous visit coming in London in 2007.

Claire Owen, MWT Cymru’s membership manager, said the body’s ambition for Mid Wales goes beyond one weekend of road closures.

“The Tour will bring people into Mid Wales for a very specific reason, but we want to help businesses and communities turn that visit into something more.”

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Geraint Thomas, the 2018 Tour winner from Cardiff who has been appointed Wales’ Cycling Ambassador for the event, is also fronting the push to use the Grand Départ to pull riders into Welsh cycling tourism year-round.

MWT Cymru has issued a support guide to its members and is pointing operators at Visit Wales’ Cyclists Welcome Award.

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