 2024 Tour de Romandie | |
 | |
| Race details | |
|---|---|
| Date | April–May |
| Region | Romandie, Switzerland |
| English name | Tour of Romandy |
| Local name(s) | Tour de Romandie (in French) |
| Discipline | Road |
| Competition | UCI World Tour |
| Type | Stage race |
| Web site | www |
| History | |
| First edition | 1947 |
| Editions | 77 (as of 2024) |
| First winner |  Désiré Keteleer (BEL) |
| Most wins |  Stephen Roche (IRL) (3 wins) |
| Most recent |  Carlos Rodríguez (ESP) |
The Tour de Romandie is a stage race which is part of the UCI World Tour. It runs through the Romandie region, or French-speaking part of Switzerland. The competition began in 1947, to coincide with the 50-year anniversary of Swiss Cycling. It was held without interruption until the COVID-19 pandemic caused the cancellation of the 2020 edition.[1]
The course of the race usually heads northwards towards the Jura mountains and Alpine mountain ranges of western Switzerland. The race traditionally starts with an individual time trial prologue and ends with an individual time-trial in hilly terrains, often in Lausanne. The final time-trial traditionally starts in the stadium north of Lausanne, goes downhill southwards to Lake Léman (Lake Geneva), and makes its way back uphill to the stadium again. The winner and several of the top-ten finishers are usually excellent time trialists.
Four winners of the Tour de Romandie had gone on to win the Tour de France in the same year; Stephen Roche in 1987, then Cadel Evans, Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome in 2011, 2012 and 2013, respectively.
Tour de Romandie is also usually considered a preparation race for the Giro d'Italia, which starts one week later.
In 2022, the Tour de Romandie Féminin was held for the first time in the UCI Women's World Tour – as part of the 75th anniversary celebrations of the race.[2]
- ^ Farrand, Stephen (16 March 2020). "Coronavirus: Race cancellations expand into late April and May". Cycling News. Future Publishing. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
- ^ Frattini, Kirsten (2021-09-22). "Three-day Tour de Romandie added to the Women's WorldTour in 2022". cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 2022-04-30.