Before the Giro, Romandie
On Tuesday, April 25th, the 76th Tour de Romandie begins, the stage race in the French-speaking region of Switzerland. The event, which reaches its 76th edition this year, keeps its place in the calendar in the last week of April, so some cyclists use it as the last preparation before the Giro d’Italia. However, this time, the cyclists we will see in Romandie and also in the Giro are not even twenty, and for most participants, the race represents the last effort to try to get some results before a mid-season break.
Route
The race starts with a 6.7 km time trial prologue, which will set the first leader. The second stage should come to a sprint, while the third presents a medium mountain profile where we may see the first battle between the general classification men. The fourth stage is the second time trial of the race, it is 19 km long but not flat, as it includes a 4.3 km climb at 5.7%. The only high mountain stage of the race is the fifth, which adds up to 4300 meters of positive elevation gain, with two first-category climbs, one third-category climb and the finish at Thyon 2000 (20.9 km at 7.6%). A very tough stage that will undoubtedly decide the final winner of the race. Finally, the sixth and last day is again an opportunity for sprinters, with a flat finish on the streets of Geneva.
Favorites
The profile of stage 5 obliges us to look for favorites among pure climbers, as it is a very demanding stage where time trialists will not be able to keep up with lighter men. The Yates brothers, Simon Yates (800) and Adam Yates (1000), Sergio Higuita (1000), Romain Bardet (800), Carlos Rodríguez (600), Damiano Caruso (800), Egan Bernal (1000), Juan Ayuso (600), Gino Mäder (600), Matteo Jorgenson (600), Ion Izagirre (600), Alexey Lutsenko (600), Thibaut Pinot (400), Lucas Plapp (200), Michael Storer (400), Simon Geschke (400), Rafal Majka (400), and Louis Meintjes (400) are some of the best climbers on the start list.
For time trials, Rémi Cavagna (600), Ethan Hayter (1200), Rohan Dennis (600), Tobias Foss (400), Mikkel Bjerg (200), Magnus Cort Nielsen (800), and Jos Van Emden (200) are good specialists, while for sprints, Mark Cavendish (1000), Fernando Gaviria (800), Ethan Hayter (1200), Magnus Cort Nielsen (800), Luca Mozzato (400), Milan Menten (200), and Ethan Vernon (200) are the fastest on paper.
Photo: © Tour de Romandie