The Tour de France Is Coming to Wigan: I Hope They're Ready for Hills, Pies and Rain

I'll be honest, when I first read that the Tour de France was coming to Wigan I had to read it twice. The biggest bike race on the planet, the one I've watched on telly every July since I was a lad, rolling through the same streets where I do the school run and pick up the Friday pies. The Visit Wigan page for the 2027 race confirms it. And my first thought wasn't about the yellow jersey. It was: I hope these lads know what they've signed up for.

Because Wigan is not Nice. It's a proper northern town with proper hills, proper food and weather that does its own thing. Here's what the peloton, and every family planning a day out, should be ready for.

What we actually know about Tour de France Wigan so far

The 2027 Tour de France starts in the UK, and Wigan has been named as part of the route. The borough council has a dedicated page at visitwigan.com, and that's the place to check as plans firm up. At the time of writing, the specifics I'd want as a dad planning a day out are still filling in. I'll update this post when the full route is published. For now I'm treating it like a big family theatre trip: date in the diary early, work out parking, accept the kids will need feeding every forty minutes.

The hills: Wigan is not flat, whatever the map says

People who've never been assume Wigan is a flat old mill town. Those people have never cycled up to Haigh Hall with a toddler seat on the back.

I don't cycle for fitness (you can read about my weight loss attempts elsewhere, with mixed results), but the borough and its edges have some leg-sapping climbs:

• Haigh Woodland Park: the drag up through the woods isn't long, but I've seen grown men get off and push. The adventure playground at the top is the only reason I ever make it.

• Parbold Hill: just over the border into West Lancashire, a well-known climb for local club riders. The professionals will barely notice. The rest of us will.

• Ashurst Beacon: views back over the whole of Wigan and out to the coast on a clear day. Clear days being the operative phrase.

• Standish and Shevington: roads that roll constantly. Nothing brutal alone, but they add up.

I'm not claiming the Wigan stage will feature any of these. I don't know the route yet. But if the organisers want drama, the hills are there. If it's a flat sprint through the town centre instead, fair enough. I'll still be on the barrier with a flask.

The pies: this is non-negotiable

We're the town that holds the World Pie Eating Championship at Harry's Bar every year. We've been called "pie eaters" for generations and we wear it with pride.

I don't know what professional cyclists eat during a stage. Gels, rice cakes, foil-wrapped things. None of it compares to a hot steak and kidney from Galloway's at eleven in the morning when you've stood in drizzle for two hours waiting for the caravan.

My plan for feeding the family on race day:

1. Pies from a local bakery before the roads shut. Galloway's and Pooles are the two names my family argues about at Christmas, so pick a side.

2. A bag of Uncle Joe's Mint Balls, made in Wigan by William Santus and Co since the Victorian era, and the only sweet my stepdaughter and I both agree on.

3. Flasks of tea. Not coffee. Tea.

4. Something for the little ones that doesn't involve pastry, because my wife will check.

If any French teams are reading: a pie barm is a pie inside a bread roll. Yes, a carbohydrate inside a carbohydrate. You'll thank us on the climbs.

The weather: bring a coat, then bring another coat

July in the south of France means heat and riders being hosed down at the roadside. July in Wigan means it was glorious on Tuesday, chucking it down on Wednesday, and nobody can tell you about Thursday.

I've taken the kids to Mesnes Park in shorts and sun cream and been home in full waterproofs by lunchtime. I've played golf at [local course] where it rained on the front nine, blew a gale on the back nine and was sunny in the car park. That's a Tuesday.

So for the professionals: expect wet cobbles in the town centre, crosswinds on the open stretches out towards Leigh and the flashes, and at least one rider going viral slipping on a manhole cover. For families: waterproofs, spare socks for the children, a camping chair that won't sink into the verge, and a bin bag to sit on because you will forget the chair.

Why this matters more than a bike race

I've written before about showing the kids something big: the theatre trips, the days out, my stepson's first proper stadium. This is that, on our own doorstep and completely free. My kids will stand on a pavement they walk down every week and watch the best cyclists in the world fly past. In twenty years they'll say they were there, the way my dad talks about his childhood.

There's a business angle too. Every café, pub and bakery on the route has a once-in-a-lifetime trading day coming. If you run a business in the borough, look at the Visit Wigan page now, work out where the crowds will be and plan stock, staffing and opening hours. I'll write a separate post on that nearer the time.

How I'm planning our Tour de France day out

• Pick a spot early. Once the route is published, I'll walk it with the kids and choose somewhere with a view, a wall to sit on and a toilet within sprinting distance.

• Get there before the closures. Roads shut hours before the riders arrive. Arrive late and you're behind six rows of club cyclists.

• Low expectations on the race itself. The riders pass in under a minute. The day is the build-up, the caravan, the atmosphere and the pies.

• Have a fallback. If it's hammering down and the baby has had enough, we go home and watch the finish on the telly. No shame in that.

The takeaway

The Tour de France is coming to Wigan in 2027 and I'm properly excited. I hope the riders get some real hills, every team gets a proper Wigan pie, and the weather behaves, while fully expecting that it won't.

If you're a local parent, get the date in the diary once confirmed and bookmark the Visit Wigan Tour de France 2027 page for route and closure updates. If you're visiting, bring a coat, bring your appetite and come early.

And if you're a professional cyclist who's just found out your stage goes through Wigan: get yourself up Parbold Hill on a wet day in training. Then come and find me at the barrier. I'll have a pie barm waiting.