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The 86th edition of the Tour de Suisse, June , begins in central Switzerland before heading westward to Fribourg, Vaud and Valais regions. The Queen Stage, on the fifth day features the Alpine crossings of Furka, Oberalp and Albula.The route will then move eastward to the Thurgau and St. Gallen regions for the two final stages, ending the eight-day race with a time trial. The race divvies out plenty of climbing – more than 18,000 metres over 1097 kilometres in eight days.
This year’s opener is an individual time trial in the monastery village of Einsiedeln on June 11, 2023. Though not considered a classic prologue at 12.7km long, stage 1 is expected to be a fast time trial with small time gaps for the contenders.
Stage 2 heads to the Mittelland for a hilly 174km circuit between Beromünster and Nottwil. However, as is often the case in Switzerland, sprinter stage or not, the terrain is not completely flat. In addition to speed, riders must overcome a total of 1,890 metres in altitude before they can fight for the stage win.
Stage 3 with 2677 metres of climbing, the first stage in the French-speaking region of Switzerland, will provide the first mountain finish of the Tour de Suisse 2023. After the start in Tafers, the category 1 Col des Mosses is the first major obstacle of the day. The final climb to Villars-sur-Ollon is that the real test comes at the end of the 144km stage.
After more than 70 years the Tour de Suisse returns to Monthey for stage 4, which starts off with a 24 kilometre loop. Though the first 80 kilometres is completely flat, this stage will by no means be a rest day. The first challenge will take place…
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