Romandie Time
This Sunday, Liège-Bastogne-Liège will mark the end of the spring classics season, and the cycling world’s attention will shift to the Grand Tours—especially the Giro d’Italia, which begins on May 9. Between one and the other, however, cycling doesn’t stop, and it’s time for the Tour de Romandie to take the spotlight. This race, which winds through the French-speaking region of Switzerland, is one of the seven most prestigious one-week stage races in the world, alongside Tour de Suisse, Tirreno-Adriatico, Paris-Nice, Critérium du Dauphiné, Itzulia Basque Country, and Volta Ciclista a Catalunya.
Route
As is tradition, the route is made up of six stages, with the first and last being individual time trials, measuring 3.4 km and 16.9 km respectively. The second, third, and fourth stages feature interesting medium-mountain profiles that should offer exciting battles between breakaways and the peloton, while the fifth day’s summit finish at Thyon 2000 (20.2 km at 7.7%) is set to decide the overall classification.
Favorites
Remco Evenepoel (1200), João Almeida (1200), Lenny Martinez (600), Carlos Rodríguez (1200), Alexander Vlasov (1000), Lennert Van Eetvelt (600), Oscar Onley (600), Cian Uijtdebroeks (600), David Gaudu (800), and Jay Vine (600) are among the main contenders for the general classification.
Photo: © Tour de Romandie