Tour de Romandie 2024

Swiss stage race acts as a key test and form marker before the Giro d'Italia

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Tour de Romandie

Dates 23 Apr - 28 Apr
Race Length 657 kms
Race Category Elite Men

Updated: 23 April 2024

Tour de Romandie 2024 overview

The Tour de Romandie used to be one of the key warm-up races for both the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France due to its abundance of time trialling kilometres and high-altitude climbs. The race started back in 1947, and every year the course traverses the French-speaking Romandie region in the west of the country.

This time around, only a few of the big stars are starting both the Tour de Romandie and Giro d’Italia, namely Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal Quick-Step), Thymen Arensman (Ineos Grenadiers) and Eddie Dunbar (Jayco AlUla). But the teams of UAE Team Emirates, Bora-Hansgrohe and Lidl-Trek are all bringing star-studded rosters to the race.

The defending champion, Adam Yates, will be back to lead UAE Team Emirates, supported by a team including Juan Ayuso and Brandon McNulty, whilst Giulio Ciccone and Tao Geoghegan Hart will continue their respective recoveries in Switzerland. Geoghegan Hart is looking to trend towards becoming a Grand Tour contender once more, whereas Ciccone will be making his first appearance of the season after suffering from saddle sores.

Beginning with a prologue on Tuesday 23 April, the Tour de Romandie will feature one short individual time trial and two summit finishes before the race is decided on Sunday 28 April.

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Tour de Romandie 2024 key information

When is the Tour de Romandie 2024? The race will begin on 23 April and conclude on 28 April.

Where does the Tour de Romandie take place? The race takes place in the Romandie region of Switzerland, taking in a prologue, an individual time trial and four road stages over six days.

Who won the Tour de Romandie in 2023? Adam Yates won his first Tour de Romandie title in 2023, with Matteo Jorgenson impressing in second and veteran Damiano Caruso rounding out the race podium in third place.

When did the Tour de Romandie start? The Tour de Romandie began back in 1947 and as a result, the Swiss stage race continues to be one of the most prestigious titles of the season for GC talents.

Who won the first Tour de Romandie? The first edition of the Tour de Romandie was won by Désiré Keteleer of Belgium, which was a mighty victory given the calibre of his opposition. Second place in the inaugural edition was Gino Bartali, whilst Swizerland’s own Ferdi Kübler finished third. Kübler went on to win two editions of his home race over the next four years.

Who has the most wins at the Tour de Romandie? Ireland’s Stephen Roche holds the most victories at the Tour de Romandie, taking three titles between 1983 and 1987.

Tour de Romandie 2024 route

An overview of this year's Tour de Romandie

The Tour de Romandie used to be a happy hunting ground for the GC riders whose best asset was their time trialling, as evidenced by the victories of Cadel Evans and Bradley Wiggins in the past. This is no longer the case, with the race containing less than 20km against the clock this year.

With just a 2.3km prologue and a 15.5km individual time trial, the 2024 Tour de Romandie will most likely be decided in the mountains. The two defining days look to be stages 2 and 4, both ending with summit finishes and tasking the riders with plenty of climbing throughout the day. Stage 4 is the Queen stage, standing at just 151.2km but including 3,509m of climbing before a summit finish in Leysin.

The climbs in Switzerland are often long but consistent, with stage 4 ending on a 15km-long climb that averages 5.9% and remains at a similar gradient throughout its duration. Similarly, stage 2’s summit finish up to Les Marécottes will be slightly shorter at 8km, but averages a reliable 7.3%.

Aside from the two mountain stages and two tests against the clock, stage 1 between Château-d’Oex and Fribourg looks to be a rolling test that could suit a breakaway and the final day, beginning and ending in Vernier, looks certain to end in a sprint finish.

Tour de Romandie 2024 contenders

Only 17 riders on the current Tour de Romandie start list will be racing the Giro and of those 17, a few may be challenging for the final podium in both races.

Luke Plapp of Jayco AlUla has found success in week-long stage races in the past, but may struggle over the three weeks of the Giro. Alternatively, Damiano Caruso (Bahrain Victorious), Eddie Dunbar (Jayco AlUla) and Thymen Arensman (Ineos Grenadiers) may shine brightest in Italy, but can all be included in the list of contenders for a strong result in Switzerland.

Tour de Romandie 2024 top 10 contenders

Elsewhere, there are a plethora of teams bringing multiple GC options to the Tour de Romandie, promising a tantalising showdown between the top WorldTour outfits in the peloton. Ineos Grenadiers will have Arensman and Egan Bernal working in unison, Bora-Hansgrohe brings Aleksandr Vlasov, Jai Hindley and Sergio Higuita, whilst Lidl-Trek feature Tao Geoghegan Hart and Giulio Ciccone.

Perhaps the outstanding team, however, are the defending champions UAE Team Emirates, who count last year’s winner Adam Yates, Spain’s Juan Ayuso and American’s Brandon McNulty amongst their number, not to mention the winner of a stage at the recent Giro d’Abruzzo, Pavel Sivakov. The riders in white will certainly be the most favoured heading into the race, with Yates the most probable to take his chance at leadership in the absence of Tadej Pogačar.

Meanwhile, David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ), Enric Mas (Movistar) and Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) will all show face but are unlikely to challenge for the final top three. It is Carapaz who will be most likely to break into the top group of contenders, with the Ecuadorian showing splendid form at Liège-Bastogne-Liège and out to prove that his team should support a GC bid at this summer’s Tour de France.

Teams of Tour de Romandie 2024

At this year’s Tour de Romandie, although the likes of UAE Team Emirates, Ineos Grenadiers and Bora-Hansgrohe will reserve much of the attention at the start of the race, there are a whole host of teams ready to take the bull by the horns. On the start list will be all 18 UCI WorldTeams and five UCI ProTeams, all of whom you can find below.

UCI WorldTour

Alpecin-Deceuninck

Arkéa-B&B Hotels

Astana Qazaqstan

Bahrain Victorious

Bora-Hansgrohe

Cofidis

Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale

dsm-firmenich PostNL

EF Education-EasyPost

Groupama-FDJ

Ineos Grenadiers

Intermarché-Wanty

Jayco AlUla

Lidl-Trek

Movistar

Soudal Quick-Step

UAE Team Emirates

Visma-Lease a Bike

UCI ProTeam

Corratec-Vini Fantini

Lotto Dstny

Q36.5 Pro Cycling

Swiss Cycling

Tudor Pro Cycling

Tour de Romandie race history

Traditionally, this race has started with a short prologue before sending the riders into the high mountains. Many editions have also finished with another, slightly longer individual time trial to decide the final GC. Therefore, it’s an event that favours the GC riders who are also gifted time trialists, like Primož Roglič and Chris Froome – both two-time winners of this race. That’s not to say the race only favours time trial specialists, quite the contrary in fact.

Over the past decade, both Ilnur Zakarin (2015) and Nairo Quintana (2016) have won this race, two riders that are renowned for their poor time trialling abilities. Over the last 15 years, three winners of the Tour de Romandie – Cadel Evans, Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome – have gone on to win the Tour de France in the same year, emphasising just how important this race can be for those riders with their eyes set on a yellow jersey come July.

No nation has managed to dominate this race over its 75 editions. Italy sits on top of the winners list with 13 wins, but Switzerland lie close behind on 12. Two of Switzerland’s most accomplished riders, Hugo Koblet and Ferdi Kübler, find themselves near the top of the stage winners list with eight apiece. But again it’s Italy that tops this particular list courtesy of Mario Cipollini who won 12 stages during his long career.

The Irishman, Stephen Roche, holds the record for the most overall titles with three, but the race’s 2018 and 2019 winner, Primož Roglič, lies ominously close behind on two. Roglič isn’t down to ride this year’s race, so Roche’s record is safe for at least another 12 months. The defending champion Adam Yates is though, and there’s a good chance that he could repeat his result from last year and join Roglič on two career wins.

For more information about the 2024 Tour de Romandie, from the route to the start list, check out the tabs at the top of the page.