LIVE stage 3 Tour of Switzerland 2025 | Everything is possible today at Lake Constance

For the second day in a row, the riders will start in the city of Aarau. On Monday, the peloton rode in a long, straight line to Schwarszee and had to return by bus. On Tuesday, we will head east, as the finish line is located near the German border in Heiden.

The riders will face a flat opening phase to get there—at least flat by Swiss standards. That means there are no categorized climbs on paper, but in practice, quite a few meters of elevation must be conquered, which will make a difference at the end of the race.

The focus is definitely on the last quarter of this stage, where a kind of Ardennes course has been mapped out towards the finish in Heiden. A good 40 kilometers from the finish, it starts with a three-kilometer climb at 5.2 percent, followed fairly quickly by a long descent that takes the riders to the foot of the Knolhusen.

With 5.2 km at 6.2%, serious damage can already be done there, after which the Büriswilen (2.0 km at 6.9%) and the final 3.5 km at 5.3% will do the rest. The final phase is also quite irregular, with sections of 8% to a flats section in Heiden, which is located on Lake Constance. Interesting!

Climbs
178.4 km: Knolhusen (5.2 km a 6.2%)
185.3 km: Büriswilen (2.0 km a 6.9%)

Times
Start: 12:47 PM local time (06:47 AM EDT)
Finish: 5:00 PM local time (11:00 AM EDT)

It was sunny and pleasant (26 degrees Celsius), but the wind blew all day, which is normally an advantage for the peloton and, therefore, not for the breakaway riders.

Tuesday's stage is a mix between Sunday and Monday. It won't be as steep as the Michaelskreuz (stage one), but it will be significantly more difficult than the final stretch towards Schwarzsee on Monday. While the better climbers and powerful riders prevailed then, we now expect the sprinters to come to the fore.

Jan Christen (UAE Emirates-XRG) fell short with his late attack on Monday but is motivated to give his all in his home country. This third stage may suit him best, although his team is still closely monitoring GC contender Joao Almeida.

Both men were out of contention in stage one, so Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ) is now in the lead. The Frenchman stayed with Kévin Vauquelin (Arkéa—B&B Hotels), Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor), and Bart Lemmen (Visma | Lease a Bike) from a group of 28, so we can expect to see these guys again today. Alaphilippe and Lemmen still have riders in their teams who are suited to this type of work, namely Marc Hirschi and Tiesj Benoot.

We also expect a mix of climbers, punchers, and classic types. Clément Champoussin (XDS-Astana), Joe Blackmore, Michael Woods (Israel-Premier Tech), Roger Adria (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), Pello Bilbao, Niccolo Burrati (Bahrain), Neilson Powless, and perhaps Vincenzo Albanese of EF, Oscar Onley on behalf of Picnic PostNL, and Javier Romo of Movistar, to name but a few. Mauro Schmid (Jayco AlUla) made a good impression on Monday during the early breakaway, but he seems to be saving his legs for the final.

Top favorites: Jan Christen (UAE Emirates-XRG) and Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ)
Outsiders: Kévin Vauquelin (Arkéa - B&B Hotels), Mauro Schmid (Jayco AlUla), Tiesj Benoot (Visma | Lease a Bike), Clément Champoussin (XDS-Astana) and Marc Hirschi (Tudor)
Long shots: Joe Blackmore (Israel-Premier Tech), Joao Almeida (UAE Emirates-XRG), Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor), Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious), Oscar Onley (Picnic PostNL), Andrea Bagioli (Lidl-Trek), Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) and Javier Romo (Movistar)