Giro, Tour or Vuelta? The early Grand Tour plans for 2027's GC contenders

The 2026 season has barely finished, but attention is already turning to next year's Grand Tours. With the routes of the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France now unveiled, the biggest names in the peloton are beginning to reveal their ambitions for 2027.

There are some intriguing decisions to be made.

The Tour de France offers a particularly attractive opportunity for the peloton's strongest time triallists, while the Giro serves up a brutal final week featuring the Mortirolo, Gavia and Monte Zoncolan.

And then there is the World Championships in Haute-Savoie, scheduled between the Tour and Vuelta. Its unusual position on the calendar could have a significant influence on how the leading GC contenders approach their seasons.

Some riders have already made their intentions clear. Others are keeping their options open until their teams finalise their programmes in December.

Here is how the 2027 Grand Tour picture is beginning to take shape.

The 2027 Giro d'Italia begins in Trieste on May 8 and concludes in Rome on May 30. With 50,250 metres of climbing across 3,418.9 kilometres, the organisers have put together a route that should appeal to the peloton's pure climbers.

The decisive final week features the Gavia, two ascents of the Mortirolo and a summit finish on Monte Zoncolan. There is also an uphill time trial to Campo di Giove and a 37.3 kilometre individual time trial from Monza to Milan.

The biggest question is who will take advantage of it.

Tadej Pogačar was initially linked with a return to the Giro, particularly with the opening stages crossing into his native Slovenia. But the five time Tour de France winner appears to have other priorities.

Speaking to Slovenian broadcaster RTV SLO in October, Pogačar identified the Tour, Vuelta and World Championships as his main objectives for 2027. That makes another appearance in the Giro considerably less likely.

Instead, UAE Team Emirates-XRG could turn to Isaac del Toro.

The Mexican finished second in the 2025 Giro before taking third overall at the 2026 Tour de France, where he supported Pogačar. A return to Italy as outright leader would represent a logical next step in his development.

But UAE also have João Almeida to consider. The Portuguese rider had been set to lead the team at the 2026 Giro, only for illness to derail his preparation and force him to miss the race. Further setbacks followed in a difficult season, leaving an intriguing question ahead of 2027: where does Almeida now stand in UAE's Grand Tour hierarchy, particularly given Del Toro's rapid rise?

Nothing has been confirmed, however. UAE manager Joxean Fernández Matxin recently told Eurosport that his dream is to win all three Grand Tours in the same season, matching Visma's achievement in 2023. How he plans to distribute his leaders remains unclear, with the team's programmes expected to be finalised in December.

Another fascinating possibility is Paul Seixas.

The Frenchman enjoyed a remarkable 2026 season, winning La Flèche Wallonne and Il Lombardia while finishing fourth on his Tour de France debut.

Now he faces a choice between returning to July's biggest race or attempting to win his first Grand Tour in Italy.

Speaking to RMC Sport in late October, Seixas admitted that the Giro is a genuine option. His decision will also depend on how best to prepare for the World Championships on home roads in August.

The Giro could provide a more manageable route towards that goal, allowing him additional recovery and preparation time before the rainbow jersey showdown.

Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe also have several options. With Remco Evenepoel increasingly likely to follow a Classics and Tour de France programme, the Giro could offer an opportunity for Florian Lipowitz, Giulio Pellizzari or former winner Jai Hindley.

Team boss Ralph Denk has already expressed reservations about Evenepoel attempting the Giro and Tour double. "Personally, I'm not a fan," he told HLN in October, suggesting it would be better to focus on one Grand Tour. Denk also pointed to the team's strength in depth, with several riders capable of leading a three week race.

That could leave Red Bull with considerable firepower in Italy, although the final distribution of leadership roles remains undecided.

Hindley finished third in the 2026 Giro behind Vingegaard and Felix Gall, demonstrating that he remains capable of challenging for a Grand Tour podium.

Gall himself is another name to watch. The Austrian joins Lidl-Trek for 2027 after finishing runner-up to Vingegaard in Italy. Whether his new team sends him back to the Giro or targets the Tour will depend partly on how it divides responsibilities between Juan Ayuso, Mattias Skjelmose and Derek Gee-West. 

However, it would make sense for Gall to focus on the Giro while Ayuso targets the Tour, particularly given Gall's relative weakness in time trials.

Vingegaard, meanwhile, has yet to rule out defending his title. Having completed his collection of Grand Tour victories in Italy earlier this year, the Dane could return in May, although much will depend on how Visma | Lease a Bike approaches its wider objectives for the season.

Should Vingegaard skip the Giro, Davide Piganzoli could be in line for his first opportunity as a Grand Tour leader. The Italian finished eighth overall in 2026 while supporting Vingegaard and has since expressed confidence in his ability to lead a three week race.

Giving Piganzoli that responsibility on home roads would be a logical next step in his development, although the final decision rests with Visma.

The Tour de France starts in Edinburgh on July 2 and finishes in Paris on July 25. And if there is one rider who should be pleased with the route, it is Remco Evenepoel.

Two (flat) individual time trials, covering a combined 71 kilometres, represent the highest total since 2012. The Belgian will surely have taken notice.

After finishing second to Pogačar at the 2026 Tour, Evenepoel demonstrated that he could perform consistently across three weeks. He finished 6 minutes and 26 seconds behind the Slovenian, but showed enough progress to suggest he can become a bigger threat.

With just three summit finishes and significantly more time spent against the clock, the 2027 parcours appears particularly well suited to his strengths.

Following the presentation in October, Head of Racing Marc Reef questioned the limited number of summit finishes.

"Compared to last year, I count fewer summit finishes, and in my opinion, there could have been more," Reef said.

It is a notable observation from the team of Jonas Vingegaard, who has traditionally relied on the toughest mountain stages to create decisive differences against his biggest rivals.

The route also adds another consideration to Visma's preparations. Vingegaard attempted the Giro and Tour double in 2026, but his crash on stage 15 in France left the team without a complete picture of how the experiment would have worked.

Speaking to Danish broadcaster TV2, team manager Richard Plugge acknowledged that the team was missing valuable information about Vingegaard's performance in the final week.

Whether Visma repeats the Giro and Tour double or opts to focus solely on the Tour de France remains one of the key questions heading into December.

And then there is Pogačar.

The Slovenian secured his fifth Tour de France title in July 2026. Victory next summer would take him clear of Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain as the only rider to win the Tour six times.

That prospect alone makes him the central figure heading into the 2027 edition. But with Evenepoel potentially benefiting from the route and Vingegaard determined to reclaim yellow, the ingredients are there for another major showdown.

Whether Paul Seixas joins them remains to be seen. The 2027 Tour passes through Haute-Savoie, close to his grandparents' home, adding a personal dimension to his decision. For French cycling fans, the possibility of seeing the young talent challenge for yellow on home roads is understandably an exciting one.

Of the three Grand Tours, the Vuelta already has one particularly compelling storyline.

Tadej Pogačar wants to complete his collection.

The Slovenian entered the 2026 edition as the overwhelming favourite and was leading the race when a heavy crash on stage 8 forced him to abandon.

The injuries ended his season and left the Vuelta as the only Grand Tour missing from his palmarès.

Now he wants another opportunity.

Speaking to RTV SLO in October, Pogačar was surprisingly open about his intentions.

"The goal for next year would obviously be the World Championships, combined with the Tour and the Vuelta," he said.

"Even though I'd rather ride the Giro, I'll have to tick off the Vuelta at some point too. I think that will be the goal for next year."

His agent Alex Carera subsequently reinforced those ambitions, suggesting that a return to Spain is more likely than another Giro appearance.

The biggest complication is the calendar. The World Championships road race takes place in Haute-Savoie on August 29, with the Vuelta beginning just six days later, on September 4.

If Pogačar follows through with his stated ambitions, he will attempt to win the Tour, World Championships and Vuelta within less than three months.

Among those who could stand in his way is defending champion Enric Mas.

The Movistar rider finally claimed his first Vuelta title in 2026, beating Primož Roglič and Felix Gall to become the first Spanish winner since Alberto Contador in 2014.

Defending his title would be an obvious objective, although Movistar have yet to confirm his plans. Team manager Eusebio Unzué has also suggested that Mas still has the potential to produce major results at the Tour de France.

Primož Roglič, meanwhile, faces a more immediate decision: whether to continue racing at all.

The four-time Vuelta winner finished runner-up in 2026, missing another chance to claim a record fifth title. But with his contract at Red Bull expiring, his future remains unresolved.

Talks with Visma | Lease a Bike and Pinarello-Q36.5 have come to nothing, while Roglič has reportedly rejected an offer from Lotto Intermarché. With no agreement in place for 2027, retirement remains a possibility.

Should he decide to race on, another shot at Vuelta history would be an obvious target. For now, however, his participation is far from certain.

As ever, the Vuelta's start list is likely to take shape much later in the season. Riders who fall short of their objectives at the Giro or Tour, or see their plans disrupted by injury, could yet turn to Spain for another opportunity. That leaves plenty of room for the picture to change between now and September.