The Tour de Romandie returns for a 76th edition, April 25-30, 2023, with six days of racing across the high alpine mountains of Switzerland that serve as a proving ground for teams looking for climbing and time trialling to prepare for the Grand Tours.
Similar to last year, there are 702.5 kilometres of racing, but 25.5 of that comes across two time trials, an opening prologue in Le Bouveret on the southern shore of Lake Geneva and 18.75 on stage 3.
Last year Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) unseated Rohan Dennis (Jumbo-Visma) in an uphill time trial on the final day of racing to secure the title. This year the moves in the ITT may be negated by big mountains, as the 18.75km race against the clock comes mid-race at Châtel-Saint-Denis to the north-east of Lake Geneva.
Not only are the races against the clock enticing for conditioning prior to the Giro d’Italia as well as the Tour de France, but Romandie packs in 12,991 metres of elevation gain across the six days. After the second ITT a giant mountain contest looms from Sion to Thyon 2000 for the penultimate day that finishes at 2,000 metres. The decisive stage 5 is a hilly finale that leads to Geneva.
Prologue: Le Bouveret, Port Valais to Le Bouveret, Port Valais
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The week begins with a long but flat prologue, 6.8km in the village of Le Bouveret, tucked on the southernmost end of Lake Geneva in Port-Valais.
The opening kilometres head south and then turn after 2.5km to follow the Rhône River as it empties into the lake. Like the river waters, the riders will rush to the finish on the banks of Lake Geneva and set early GC expectations in the city centre of Le Bouveret.
Stage 1: Crissier to Vallée de Joux
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The second day of racing is a hilly day of 170.9km from Crissier to La Vallée de Joux (Le Sentier) that the sprinters may survive.
The first set of category 2 climbs hit just 7.5km apart in the first half of racing, the Fontanezier (4.5km at 7.8%) and the Mauborget (5.4km at 7.9%), the second reaching 1,190 metres. Another 50km later, with a long descent from Sainte-Croix leading to Vallorbe, the Col Mont d’Orzeires (3.8km at 6.9%) must be crested to clear the way…
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