Favorites stage 2 Tour of Romandie 2025 | Will top favorite Brennan be challenged on the tough Swiss hills?

In the first stage, the riders already had to tackle quite a bit of elevation, and they will continue to do so in the second stage. At the start of the stage, they will face two tough climbs: the Col de la Tourne (11.2 kilometers at 6%) and the Mauborget (10 kilometers at 5%). But that's not all. After a few flat kilometers, the next climbs are already waiting.

With 70 kilometers to go, the Les Grattes (7.1 kilometers at 6%) awaits — but that's just a preview of the final climb. The climb to Chaumont (3 kilometers at 12%) is a steep wall where a decisive battle is likely to occur. The last 30 kilometers to the finish are flat, and the finish itself holds few surprises, making a sprint between a small group likely. Will today be a day for the climbers or punchers, or are there still powerful sprinters who can challenge for the win in La Grande Bérouche?

Times
Start: 1:40 PM local time (07:40 EDT)
Finish: 5:27 PM local time (11:27 AM EDT)

The riders can look forward to a wonderful day of racing! The sun will shine all day, and temperatures will rise to around 24 degrees around midday, with hardly any wind. It will be a lovely summer's day, both for the riders and the fans watching from the sidelines.

Like Wednesday, Switzerland is serving up a tough stage, but the final kilometers are flat. It is quite possible that a depleted peloton will reach the finish. And if Matthew Brennan is still there, no one seems able to stop him. Visma | Lease a Bike's top talent dominantly won the first stage and seems unbeatable in terms of speed.

But then he will have to survive a difficult stage. He managed to do that on Wednesday, but what if he gets dropped? Look at the finish results in Fribourg, and you will see riders such as Aurelièn Paret-Peintre (Decathlon AG2R) and Artem Schmidt (INEOS Grenadiers). They are more suited to a difficult finish, but if a peloton of 30 riders remains, you can bet they will be in the mix. Clément Venturini (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) and Milan Menten (Lotto) are other fast riders.

But the final climb is much closer to the finish than the first stage. So, there are likely to be some thrill seekers looking to make a breakaway. And why shouldn't that be Remco Evenepoel? The Soudal Quick-Step leader likes to shake things up on days like this, and it's a good way to test the legs after the Ardennes. The same goes for Alexander Vlasov (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), Oscar Onley (Picnic PostNL), and Clément Champoussin (XDS Astana): attackers with climbers' legs.

Several riders will have a chance in this difficult stage. That makes it difficult to predict, so there are also a lot of outsiders. Think of riders who did well on Wednesday (Huub Artz of Intermarché-Wanty and Alex Baudin of EF Education-EasyPost) but also riders who have kept their legs fresh and are aiming for a breakaway (Iván Romeo and Pablo Castrillo of Movistar and Benoit Cosnefroy of Decathlon AG2R). Short story: there are plenty of contenders!  

Top favorite: Matthew Brennan (Visma | Lease a Bike)
Outsiders: Aurelièn Paret-Peintre (Decathlon AG2R), Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step), Jan Christen (UAE Team Emirates), Oscar Onley and Artem Schmidt (INEOS Grenadiers)
Longshots: Benoit Cosnefroy (Decathlon AG2R), Alexander Vlasov (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), Alex Baudin (EF Education-EasyPost), Huub Artz (Intermarché-Wanty), Clément Champoussin (XDS Astana), Clément Venturini (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) and Milan Menten (Lotto)