For some, the Tour de Suisse marks the final preparation for the Tour de France. For others, the eight-day race is a goal in and of itself. As ever, the event attracts one of the deepest fields of the season.
The headline act is Remco Evenepoel, back in action after COVID-19 cut short his Giro d’Italia campaign. The world champion, who is not headed for the Tour de France, will look to lay down an early marker in Sunday’s opening time trial, where a familiar foe might provide some stiff opposition.
Wout van Aert is making his Tour de Suisse debut this year as he builds towards July, but the Belgian might also be minded to test himself in the mountains across the week. An intriguing contest is in store.
There are, of course, many more subplot to the Tour de Suisse, and a wide range of contenders both for the overall title and for stage wins along the way. Ahead of the race, Cyclingnews takes a look at the ten riders to watch at the Tour de Suisse.
Remco Evenepoel was in the overall lead of the Giro d’Italia after a week until COVID-19 took him out of the race, and who knows what might have happened had that misfortune not struck. Winning the Tour de Suisse will never exorcise those particular demons, but Evenepoel will look to prove a point all the same.
Evenepoel has not raced since winning the time trial on stage 9 of the Giro on May 14, with the added complication of recovering from COVID-19, plus the need to plot an upwards trajectory for his main objectives later in the summer, so it remains to be seen what sort of form he brings to Switzerland. A monster seven-hour training ride this week would certainly suggest he has laid some decent foundations.
The two time trials that bookend the race look particularly appealing, with Evenepoel having won both the Giro time trials he raced last month, and also looking ahead to the defence of his Belgian national TT crown the week after the finish of Suisse. The mountains in between look like more of an unknown but Evenepoel has the obvious calibre to be up there, and could well have some time to play with thanks to the TTs. He’ll start as the favourite.
Wout van Aert makes his Tour de Suisse debut, marking uncharted territory in his preparations for a fifth Tour de France. In three of the past four seasons, the Belgian has ridden the Critérium du…
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