2026 Tour de Suisse – Men preview | Playground and Tour de France test for Van der Poel, Pogačar and Pidcock

Once the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes is done and dusted, the next major Tour de France preparation race is already waiting. The Tour de Suisse may be shorter than before, but that arguably only makes it more intense. Riders who look sharp in the Swiss mountains usually have every reason to believe their legs are coming around nicely for the Tour. IDL Procycling previews the race and will keep track of everything you need to know.

As mentioned, the Tour de Suisse has been shortened this year, going from eight days to five. Budgets in Swiss races are no longer what they once were in 2026, as we also saw earlier in the Tour de Romandie, where racing went ahead despite financial losses. The organisation, however, presents the new format as “a combination of tradition and forward-looking innovation.” We are very curious to see how it plays out.

2025 João Almeida
2024 Adam Yates
2023 Mattias Skjelmose
2022 Geraint Thomas
2021 Richard Carapaz
2020 Not held
2019 Egan Bernal
2018 Richie Porte
2017 Simon Spilak
2016 Miguel Ángel López

All five stages have the same start and finish location, allowing the organisers to send off and welcome back both the men’s and women’s races in the same place. On day one, we do not actually begin in Switzerland, but in the northern Italian town of Sondrio.

Favorites
Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech)
Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5)
Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates-XRG)

Times
Start: 2:19 p.m. CET
Finish: around 5:45 p.m. CET

After the Italian opener, the race moves to southern Switzerland, where a course has been designed around Locarno. Once again, the riders will take on one large loop, and once again there is plenty of climbing along the way. The sting is mostly in the tail. A 3.5-kilometre climb at 7 percent is followed by a punchy 1.4-kilometre ascent at 8.9 percent. The chances of strong climbing sprinters surviving this stage look a little better than on the opening day, but they will still need to be very switched on. Positioning, timing and energy management could all prove decisive in the finale.

Favorites
Matthew Brennan (Visma | Lease a Bike)
Tobias Lund Andresen (Decathlon CMA CGM)
Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Premier Tech)

Times
Start: 2:09 p.m. CET
Finish: around 5:45 p.m. CET

This looks like a wonderful opportunity for the sprinters, although they will still have to survive a demanding section of climbing first. The final 60 kilometres appear well suited to teams trying to correct any awkward race situations, bring back dangerous moves or set up a reduced bunch sprint.

Favorites
Arnaud De Lie (Lotto-Intermarché)
Matthew Brennan (Visma | Lease a Bike)
Alberto Dainese (Soudal Quick-Step)

Times
Start: 1:53 p.m. CET
Finish: around 5:45 p.m. CET

The Tour de France GC riders get an excellent chance to fine-tune their time trial positions in a test of almost 24 kilometres around Aarburg. It is a course with quite a bit of steering and technical work, but above all, there is barely any climbing. That makes it a very useful benchmark. The specialists will be able to unleash the big gears, while the climbers with Tour ambitions can measure their form, position and pacing before July. Who can keep the biggest gear turning at the highest speed for the longest time?

Favorites
Brandon McNulty (UAE Emirates-XRG)
Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates-XRG)
Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek)

Times
Start of first rider: 3:04 p.m. CET
Last rider finishes: around 5:30 p.m. CET

The final stage is essentially the only real chance for the pure climbers to properly test their legs. It is climbing right from the start, with the Col de la Croix tackled three times during the day. The first ascent, from the start location in Villars-sur-Ollon, is only 3.9 kilometres to the summit, but it still averages 8.8 percent. After that, the riders take on the full climb twice more: 19.1 kilometres at an average gradient of 7 percent. Once that final major climbing work is done, the last 15.2 kilometres back to Villars-sur-Ollon form the closing chapter of the race.

This stage should decide the overall classification, especially if the time trial has left the contenders close together. It is the day for the climbers, the day for the Tour hopefuls and the day on which any lingering questions about form will have to be answered.

Favorites
Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates-XRG)
Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious)
Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5)

Times
Start: 1:34 p.m. CET
Finish: around 5:30 p.m. CET

Naturally, there is one clear favorite, and that is Tadej Pogačar. The Slovenian from UAE Emirates-XRG can enjoy himself in the explosive finales during the opening days, before he should, in principle, look to make the difference in the time trial and on the final stage. We are also very curious to see how Brandon McNulty performs. The American is expected to be one of Pogačar’s key helpers at the Tour de France.

Pogačar’s challengers are spread throughout the start list. Bahrain Victorious brings two Tour leaders in Antonio Tiberi and Lenny Martinez, while Richard Carapaz returns to stage racing with EF Education-EasyPost after a long spell of injury trouble. That injury period also forced him to miss the Giro d’Italia in May. Lenny Martinez will therefore be one of the names to watch closely. The French climber has the profile to make the most of the final day, while Tiberi gives Bahrain another card for the general classification. If the race becomes tactical, the team could have options.

Jarno Widar is also back in action for Lotto-Intermarché. Can the Belgian compete with the very best? That is always the question with Romain Grégoire as well, because on his best days the Groupama-FDJ United rider is truly world-class. The same, of course, applies to Primož Roglič, who has another solid training block in the legs. Whether that is specifically aimed at the Tour is not yet clear. Maybe his week in Switzerland will help provide the answer.

Tom Pidcock will also want to find good legs at the Tour de Suisse as he builds toward his Tour de France summer. Outsiders for a strong GC result include Jayco AlUla riders Paul Double and Mauro Schmid, Alessandro Pinarello of NSN, and Max Poole, who returns for Picnic PostNL. Tudor also brings two interesting names in Marc Hirschi and Marco Brenner.

And where do Nairo Quintana and Enric Mas stand at Movistar? Quintana is building toward the summer, while Mas comes out of the Giro. At Visma | Lease a Bike, the focus will be on Dutch riders Wilco Kelderman and Bart Lemmen. Finally, at Soudal Quick-Step, Ilan Van Wilder is someone to keep an eye on, also after a period of training.

Top favorite: Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates-XRG)
Outsiders: Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious), Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), and Brandon McNulty (UAE Emirates-XRG)
Long shots: Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5), Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious), Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost), Jarno Widar (Lotto-Intermarché), Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ United), Mauro Schmid (Jayco AlUla), Max Poole (Picnic PostNL), Wilco Kelderman (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Ilan Van Wilder (Soudal Quick-Step)

The Tour de Suisse is organising a complete stage race for both women and men across five days, with the women’s race shown live on Eurosport during the morning and the men’s race taking over in the afternoon. Every day, the final two hours of the men’s race can be watched live on Eurosport 1 on television and online via the paid platform HBO Max.