LIVE stage 2 Tour of Switzerland 2025 | There are no easy stages in this country

The riders will start on Monday in Aarau, where Tuesday's stage will also start. For one rider in the peloton, these will be special days: Silvan Dillier, the ever-reliable domestique of Alpecin-Deceuninck, was born in Aarau.

Although the riders will have to return to Aarau before the start of Tuesday's stage, the organizers have opted to head southwest in a straight line. The first hundred kilometers are relatively flat, at least by Swiss standards.

The riders then have to tackle the highest point of the day, the Guggisberg. On paper, this climb is 5.3 kilometers at 4.3 percent, but in reality, it is almost 27 kilometers of uphill riding.

Just south of the capital Bern, the riders then have to tackle the Heitenried (1.5 km at 7.0%, after 140 kilometers) and Rechthalten (1.6 km at 6.1%, after 160 kilometers), after which the road continues to climb until the finish at Schwarzsee. This is a bit varied, as shown in the image below. In the final kilometers, ascending, flat, and descending sections alternate.

Climbs
126.7 km: Guggisberg (5.3 km a 4.3%)
140.5 km: Heitenried (1.5 km a 7.0%)
160.8 km: Rechthalten (1.6 km a 6.1%)

Times
Start: 12:35 PM local time (06:35 AM EDT)
Finish: 5 PM local time (11:00 AM EDT)

Just like on Sunday, the weather in Switzerland is expected to be unstable on Monday. With temperatures around 20 degrees Celsius, there is a chance of rain throughout the day, while the wind will be favorable all day long.

On Sunday, in stage one, we already saw that anything can happen in the Tour de Suisse. In the 130-kilometer opening stage, a group of 28 riders broke away. Due to the flat approach, this is not necessarily what we expect in stage two, although this stage does lend itself to several scenarios.

Several sprinters have made their way to the Alpine country, but certainly not many. Arnaud De Lie (Lotto) was the first to drop out on Sunday, which does not promise much for the young Belgian in the coming stages. Other fast men such as Jordi Meeus (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), Marius Mayrhofer (Tudor), Lewis Askey (Groupama-FDJ), and Pavel Bittner (Picnic PostNL) are better climbers, but it will still be a tough job for them.

Plenty of punchers will benefit from a tough finale. Leader Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ) showed his form on Sunday, but riders such as Mauro Schmid (Jayco AlUla), Alberto Bettiol (XDS-Astana), Vincenzo Albanese (EF), Tiesj Benoot (Visma | Lease a Bike), Matej Mohoric (Bahrain Victorious), Andrea Bagioli, Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek), and Fabio Christen (Q365) can all finish quickly as classic types.

If you're thinking of pure jumpers, then you're already looking at riders like Marc Hirschi, Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor), Jan Christen (UAE), Roger Adria (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), Neilson Powless (EF) and Kévin Vauquelin of Arkéa - B&B Hotels. A late attack from someone like Javier Romo (Movistar) or Pello Bilbao (Bahrain) is also possible.

Top favorites: Mauro Schmid (Jayco AlUla) and Pavel Bittner (Picnic PostNL)
Outsiders: Alberto Bettiol (XDS-Astana), Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ), Jan Christen (UAE Emirates-XRG) and Fabio Christen (Q36.5)
Long shots: Marc Hirschi, Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor), Vincenzo Albanese (EF Education-EasyPost), Roger Adria, Jordi Meeus (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), Andrea Bagioli (Lidl-Trek), Lewis Askey (Groupama-FDJ), Matej Mohoric (Bahrain Victorious) and Tiesj Benoot (Visma | Lease a Bike)