The Portuguese Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates), brilliant winner this season of the Itzulia and the return to Romandíapart as a great favorite in the 88th edition of the Tour of Switzerland, which will be held from June 15 to 22. Spanish cycling will try to make a hole among the best with Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) and Pablo Castrillo (Movistar), on a clearly favorable tour of climbers.
This Alpine round will be a new general essay with a view to the Tour de France, which starts on July 5 in Lille. Without the great figures that compete in the Dauphiné —Pogacar, Vingegaard o Evenepoel -,, The race is open. Almeida, leader of the UAE in Switzerland, will seek Large loopwhere he will act as a squire of Pogacar.
Among its main rivals include veteran Geraint Thomas (INEOS), winner in 2022, and the Spanish Pello Bilbao, who arrives with ambition. Alexander Vlasov (Red Bull-Bora) and Colombian Harold Tejada (Astana) also enter the pools.
Other names to follow for the stages and possible positions of honor are Julian Alaphilippe and Marc Hirschi (Tudor), the British Tao Geoghegan Hart, the Andalusian Juanpe López (Lidl-Trek) or the always combative Ion Izagirre (Cofidis).
Movistar goes with a competitive block aimed at hunting stages. Nairo Quintana will act as a leader, seconded by Javier Romo, Pelayo Sánchez, Pablo Castrillo, Will Barta, Albert Torres and Nelson Oliveira.
A mountain and attractive tour
The race will consist of eight stages, with a balanced mixture of broken days, late at high and a decisive final chronosquess. The first stage already presents a second category port. The second ends up, with four dimensions in the last 40 kilometers, and the third ends high after chaining two ports in the final stretch.
The high mountain will arrive on the fourth day with the Splügenpass (8.8 km to 7.7%), in a uniported stage that connects Switzerland with Italy to more than 2,100 meters of altitude. The Reina stage, on the 19th, proposes four first -class and final ports in Santa Maria in Calanca.
The sixth day is more favorable for adventurers or sprinters with background, while the seventh hardens with the Burgestock (2nd, 5.5 km to 7.9%) before the end in Emmetten, with a rise of 3.8 km to 8.1%.
The brooch will put a chrono -scarce of 10.1 km between Beckenrid and Stockhütte, where the general could adjust, although great revolutions are not expected.
Latest winners:
2024: Adam Yates (GBR)
2023: Mattias Skjelmose (DIN)
2022: Geraint Thomas (GBR)
2021: Richard Carapaz (ECU)
2019: Egan Bernal (COL)
