Taking in almost 380km and gaining over 5,000m of altitude, the Tour de Romandie may be a short race at just three stages, but it’s not for the faint of heart. With a stacked line-up, the first stage race since the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift sees many of the main protagonist reunited to do battle in the French-speaking Romandie area of Switzerland, across three days of aggressive and unpredictable racing, on an unforgiving parcours, set against a stunning backdrop.
The third edition of the race sees last year’s champion Demi Vollering and inaugural winner Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio return, along with a star-studded line-up that includes Tour de France Femmes winner Kasia Niewiadoma, who herself was second at last year’s race.
A popular area for skiing and tourism, the landscape offers the perfect terrain for an exciting battle, with constant ups and downs and smooth, wide roads, excellent for racing, and with just three stages over which to fight for the overall classification, expect explosive action from the off.
The race takes place from 6-8 September.
The Route
Stage 1 – Friday 6 September – La Grande Béroche – Lausanne (133.8, Hilly)
Beginning in the Neuchâtel region and heading south to the shores of Lake Geneva, stage 1 features 1,800m of altitude gain, on a day which promises to begin the race with a bang. There’s almost no flat, characteristic of the area, and the undulations should give rise to opportunities for an early break to escape the pack and try their luck against the GC teams, who have no time to waste if they intend to take home top honours. The end of the stage features a plateau of around 10km in length, before a relatively steep descent, and a flat final 3km to the finish.
Stage 2 – Saturday 7 September – Chippis – Vercorin (101.9km, Mountain)
A short, sharp stage with a daunting summit finish, stage 2 will draw out those with the best legs and re-order the GC heading into the final stage. Where there was almost no flat on stage 1, stage 2 sees the first 70km raced along pan-flat roads, which depending on the wind conditions may allow a breakaway to build a significant lead. The route takes in three loops of a narrow circuit visiting each side of the Rhone River; however, everything will change as the riders arrive at the main challenge of the day, the Vercorin climb. Listed as 9.5km in length, and with an average gradient of 8.3%, the ascent will offer a launchpad for the climbers to stake their claim on the overall as well as bid for stage victory.
Stage 3 – Sunday 8 September – Morges – Morges (144.2km, Hilly)
The final stage of the Tour de Romandie is also the longest. It takes in a circular route which begins on the shore of Lake Geneva before heading north, completing two large loops of a circuit before heading to the finish around a smaller loop. Once again, the roads rise and fall all day with very little in the way of flat and just under 2,000m of climbing overall. It will be a long day in the saddle and with multiple opportunities to attack, many riders may seize their final opportunity to make an impact on the race, before the winner is decided in Morges.
Riders to Watch
The first stage race since the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift sees the two riders who went head-to-head for the maillot jaune line up once more to battle one another in Romandie. At last year’s race the two were once again the main protagonists, with the overall victor Demi Vollering, and Kasia Niewiadoma just six seconds behind her in second.
This year, Vollering will not only want to defend her title but also avenge her defeat in France which will be fresh in her memory. She brings with her a strong team, characteristic of Team SD Worx-ProTime, including the returning Marlen Reusser, who rounded out last year’s podium at the race.
Niewiadoma brings with her a similar support system to that which she had in place at the Tour de France Femmes, with Neve Bradbury and Chloe Dygert also solid options for leadership for Canyon//SRAM should Niewiadoma come into difficulty.
Many of the teams bring similar line-ups to those we saw just a few weeks ago in France, so many of the names in consideration for the GC will be familiar. Ceratizit-WNT’s Cédrine Kerbaol, stage winner at Le Tour, will hope to continue her progression, and her compatriot Juliette Labous will be looking to better her fourth place on last year’s overall classification, for Team dsm-firmenich PostNL. Lidl-Trek also bring a similar line-up, with Gaia Realini once again fulfilling the leadership role for the team.
One of the top teams at the Tour, AG Insurance-Soudal, bring their polka dot jersey and stage winner Justine Ghekiere, along with Sarah Gigante, and they will welcome the return of Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio, who won the race in 2022, beating Annemiek van Vleuten.
FDJ-SUEZ have the choice of Grace Brown, Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig and Évita Muzic for leadership, while Fenix-Deceuninck bring this season’s climbing sensation Pauliene Rooijakkers to take on the climbs of Romandie and go toe-to-toe with the likes of Vollering just as she did on Alpe d’Huez in August.
Liv-Jayco-ALUla will look to Mavi Garcia while Movistar will hope to see Liane Lippert back to her best. Visma-Lease A Bike will lead with Riejanne Markus.
Riders to watch (GC)
5-stars Demi Vollering, Kasia Niewiadoma
4-stars Pauliene Rooijakkers, Gaia Realini, Neve Bradbury
3-stars Évita Muzic, Cédrine Kerbaol, Marlen Reusser
2-stars Juliette Labous, Liane Lippert, Justine Ghekiere
1-star, Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig, Sarah Gigante, Mavi Garcia
Summary
When – Friday 6 – Sunday 8 September
Where – Switzerland
What – Stage race
TV Coverage: Eurosport, Discovery+
