Tour de Suisse: Swiss cycling event of superlatives is over

The most important cycling race in Switzerland is completed

The first Tour des Suisse took place back in 1933 in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Swiss Cycling and Motorcycling Federation (SRB) City. Since then, the Tour has increasingly become one of the most important cycling events in the world. With the exception of 1940 and the years 1943 to 1945, the event took place every year. However, the exceptional situation since 2020 then led to the fact that the Tour had to be canceled again. This year the Tour de Suisse took place from June 12 to 19. On each day, one of the eight stages had to be mastered. Some of these were extremely demanding, because sometimes large differences in altitude of up to 3000 meters had to be overcome. Unfortunately, the Tour de Suisse was also under the influence of special circumstances this year and so several teams already had to leave the event due to illness.

The Tour de Suisse in different media

The Tour de Suisse has long since ceased to be an event for which only people from Switzerland or extreme cycling fans are enthusiastic. It has become a regular sporting event in which the entire world takes an interest. Accordingly, the Tour is represented in a wide range of national and international media. While attention for the Tour de Suisse was focused on radio and television for many years, sports coverage is now increasingly taking place in social media. Here, people have the opportunity to exchange ideas about the individual stages, talk shop and review the highlights of the respective day together. The superlative cycling event also has a firm place in the betting shops. Since a large part of the cycling race's fan community is at home in Switzerland, some betting providers have special conditions on offer. These include for example Free bets for Swiss. Those who wanted to bet on their favorite on one of the stages should specifically look for betting shops that have a few specials on offer for customers residing in Switzerland around the Tour de Suisse.

In eight stages through a picturesque panorama

1. The first stage of the Tour de Suisse started and ended in Küsnacht. The athletes had no time to get used to the Tour in this stage, but had to cover 2000 meters of altitude already here. This was a Tourwhich includes Greifensee and the Zurich Oberland.

2. The second stage led from Küsnacht to Aesch. This was a so-called transfer stage. Once again, more than 2,000 meters of altitude had to be conquered, so that especially sprinters and punchers who were strong in the mountains could profit from their strengths.

3. The third stage led from Aesch to Grenchen. Here it became clear that Switzerland does not have any flat stretches to offer, but that there are always meters of altitude to overcome. In this case, there were a whole 3000 in number. As in the previous stage, the participants also had to complete an additional lap in Grenchen before reaching the finish.

4. The fourth stage of the Tour de Suisse led from Grenchen to Brunnen. This was the flattest stage, so sprinters in particular were able to show off their skills. A feature of this stage was that it led through a number of different cantons, so that the participants could fully enjoy the beauty of Switzerland - at least in the context of the race. In the Mythen region, an additional lap awaited the participants, which demanded quite a bit of them with the ascent over the saddle.

5. The fifth stage from Ambri to Novazzano was 193 km long in total, with an additional 80 km loop to complete. Since this stage is completely in Ticino, the riders could get to know the beautiful sides of this special region here.

6. The sixth stage from Locarno to Moosalp is comparatively short at 180 km. Nevertheless, the riders had to give it their all, since at the latest from the ascent to the Nufenen Pass a lot of strength and energy was required from the inside. The descent through the Upper Valais was also a highlight again and offered fantastic views of the magnificent nature all around.

7. The seventh stage led from Ambri to Malbun and is comparable to the 6th stage. Initially, every ounce of strength was demanded of the riders if they were to master the mountain landscape.

8. In the eighth stage, the start and finish were in Vaduz and the route was just 26 km long. Here the riders had to compete not only against each other, but above all against the clock. The winner of the stage was Remco Evenepoel.

The favorites of the Tour de Suisse

At the beginning of the Tour de Suisse, all UCI World Teams were still racing. Due to health problems, however, it was necessary for some of the Teams departed from the tournament. Teams that participated in the tour included UAE Team Emirates, Israel Premier Tech, Team DSM, Swiss Cycling Team and Human Powered Health. This Tour has already seen a number of riders retire. However, there were some favorites: Felix Grossschartner, Sergio Higuita, Hugo Houle, Bob Jungels, Andreas Krohn, Stefan Küng, Neilson Powless or Andreas Lekness and were among the favorites of this tournament. This shows the international character of the Tour de Suisse. However, the Tour de Suisse was ultimately won by Welshman Geraint Thomas.

Conclusion

For the first time in his career, Welshman Geraint Thomas, who had also won the Tour de France in the past, has taken victory in the Tour de Suisse. The decisive factor was the last stage in Vaduz, where he was able to knock Colombian Sergio Higuita out of first place in the overall standings by finishing second. So it remained exciting until the last minute.