First impressions of 2027 PBP route

[Bill Bryant]

The exact PBP route is still under development but the control towns and a general route outline were revealed today in Paris.

Compared to earlier editions of PBP, there are few out-n-back sections of route anymore. There are now more sections with an outbound route going west, mirrored some miles to the north (or south) by the inbound sections going east. Looking on the map, there were several oval “loops” joined in a few places by an out-n-back section of route, sometimes near a checkpoint town. The reason given was for rider safety, so that the cyclists were mainly going one way on the road, not both ways (safer at night with fewer bright lights in one’s eyes). There were also significant route changes to visit le Mont St. Michel and Chartres on the return. Some checkpoints used twice in the past, were now used once, or like Carhaix, not used anymore.

These are the control towns (in order) that I saw on the presentation:

Rambouillet

Mortagne-au-Perche

Villaines-la-Juhel

Fougeres

Tintentiac

Pontivy (southwest of Loudeac)

Pleyben (west of Carhaix; secret control in 2023)

Brest

Callac (north a few miles from Carhaix)

Loudeac

Roz-Couesnon (near Le Mont St. Michel)

Fougeres 

Villaines-la-Juhel

Chartres

Rambouillet

Bonne route, et bon courage!

Bill Bryant

Santa Cruz Randonneurs

[Bill Bryant]

Sorry guys, a minor edit needed: On the return, there will be a stop at Mortagne-up-Perch before going southward to Chartres. The inbound stops will be:

Brest

Callac (north a few miles from Carhaix)

Loudeac

Roz-Couesnon (near Le Mont St. Michel)

Fougeres 

Villaines-la-Juhel

Mortagne-au-Perche

Chartres

Rambouillet

Bill Bryant