Preview Tour of Switzerland 2025 | This race will also make us wiser ahead of the Tour
CyclingThursday, 12 June 2025 at 09:40
With the Critérium du Dauphiné behind us, we’ve already seen the key preparation race for the Tour de France, but the Tour de Suisse is still well worth watching. These days, many of the biggest stars skip the Alpine race due to tighter scheduling, which opens the door for other riders to shine in the lead-up to the Tour. IDLProCycling.com brings you up to speed!
No Jonas Vingegaard, Tadej Pogacar, or Remco Evenepoel in Switzerland this year. In 2025, many riders still choose to go to altitude training after the Critérium du Dauphiné, and with the Tour de Suisse starting just one week later, it’s much harder to fit both into the schedule.
Egan Bernal remains the last rider to win both the Tour de Suisse and the Tour de France in the same year, back in 2019, and that’s unlikely to change this year. Defending champion Adam Yates won’t be racing, but last year’s runner-up João Almeida, currently in impressive form, will be there.
Most recent winners Tour of Switzerland
2024 Adam Yates
2023 Mattias Skjelmose
2022 Geraint Thomas
2021 Richard Carapaz
2020 Not ridden
2019 Egan Bernal
2018 Richie Porte
2017 Simon Spilak
2016 Miguel Angel Lopez
2015 Simon Spilak
2023 Mattias Skjelmose
2022 Geraint Thomas
2021 Richard Carapaz
2019 Egan Bernal
2018 Richie Porte
2017 Simon Spilak
2016 Miguel Angel Lopez
2015 Simon Spilak
Tour of Switzerland 2025: Course, weather and times
Stage 1, Sunday, June 15: Küssnacht - Küssnacht (129.4 km)
The Tour of Switzerland kicks off with a short 129-kilometer stage that focuses on the Michaelskreuzstrasse. This 3.9-kilometer climb, at 9.0 percent average, must be conquered both at the beginning and at the end of the stage.
Favorites
Roger Adria (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe)
Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ)
Jan Christen (UAE Emirates-XRG)
Roger Adria (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe)
Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ)
Jan Christen (UAE Emirates-XRG)
Times
Start: 2:30 PM (local time) | 8.30 AM (ET)
Finish: 5:30 PM (local time) | 11.30 AM (ET)
Start: 2:30 PM (local time) | 8.30 AM (ET)
Finish: 5:30 PM (local time) | 11.30 AM (ET)
Stage 2, Monday, June 16: Aarau - Schwarzsee (177.0 km)
Stage two is also one for the punchy types, although we do not reach the steep gradients of day one. The last thirty kilometers are purely uphill, with a false flat profile, except for the last five hundred meters.
Favorites
Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost)
Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek)
Mauro Schmid (Jayco AlUla)
Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost)
Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek)
Mauro Schmid (Jayco AlUla)
Times
Start: 12:35 PM (local time) | 6.35 AM (ET)
Finish: 5:00 PM (local time) | 11:00 AM (ET)
Start: 12:35 PM (local time) | 6.35 AM (ET)
Finish: 5:00 PM (local time) | 11:00 AM (ET)
Stage 3, Tuesday, June 17: Aarau - Heiden (195.6 km)
Stage three of the Tour of Switzerland features even more elevation gain than the previous days: a total of 2,881 meters. The bulk of that comes in the final forty kilometers, where the climbs come in rapid succession. The final 3.4 kilometers average a 5.3% incline.
Favorites
Joe Blackmore (Israel-Premier Tech)
Jan Christen (UAE Emirates-XRG)
Pablo Castrillo (Movistar)
Joe Blackmore (Israel-Premier Tech)
Jan Christen (UAE Emirates-XRG)
Pablo Castrillo (Movistar)
Times
Start: 12:15 PM (local time) | 6:15 AM (ET)
Finish: 5:00 PM (local time) | 11:00 AM (ET)
Start: 12:15 PM (local time) | 6:15 AM (ET)
Finish: 5:00 PM (local time) | 11:00 AM (ET)
Stage 4, Wednesday, June 18: Heiden - Piuro (193.2 km)
In stage four, the riders head into Italy, but to get there, they first have to cross the Splügen Pass (8.9 km at 7%, reaching 2,117 meters in elevation). This is the only major obstacle of the day after about 100 kilometers, although the final kilometers also rise gradually with a false flat incline.
Favorites
Tiesj Benoot (Visma | Lease a Bike)
Rui Costa (EF Education-EasyPost)
Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious)
Tiesj Benoot (Visma | Lease a Bike)
Rui Costa (EF Education-EasyPost)
Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious)
Times
Start: 11:50 AM (local time) | 05:50 AM (ET)
Finish: 5:00 PM (local time) | 11:00 AM (ET)
Start: 11:50 AM (local time) | 05:50 AM (ET)
Finish: 5:00 PM (local time) | 11:00 AM (ET)
Stage 5, Thursday, June 19: La Punt - Santa Maria (183.5 km)
On day five, the Tour de Suisse organizers present the riders with a serious mountain stage. Starting from La Punt, the route includes 4,000 meters of elevation gain, finishing on the steep Castenada climb. This climb is 4.5 kilometers long at an average gradient of 10.0% and must be tackled twice in the final part of the stage.
Times
Start: 12:05 PM (local time) | 06.05 AM (ET)
Finish: 5:00 PM (local time) | 11:00 AM (ET)
Start: 12:05 PM (local time) | 06.05 AM (ET)
Finish: 5:00 PM (local time) | 11:00 AM (ET)
Stage 6, Friday, June 20: Chur - Neuhausen (186.7 km)
The sprinters who are still in the race get their first real opportunity in stage six. Although, in Switzerland, that's always relative, there are still over 2,000 meters of climbing to conquer. The first half of the stage includes two serious climbs.
Favorites
Jordi Meeus (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe)
Michael Matthews (Jayco AlUla)
Marius Mayrhofer (Tudor)
Jordi Meeus (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe)
Michael Matthews (Jayco AlUla)
Marius Mayrhofer (Tudor)
Times
Start: 12:30 PM (local time) | 06:30 AM (ET)
Finish: 5:00 PM (local time) | 11:00 AM (ET)
Start: 12:30 PM (local time) | 06:30 AM (ET)
Finish: 5:00 PM (local time) | 11:00 AM (ET)
Stage 7, Saturday, June 21: Neuhausen - Emetten (207.3 km)
In stage seven, we will be back near where we started the race: Küssnacht. However, we finish in Emetten, on a 3.9 kilometer climb at eight percent. A chance for the breakaway, or will the GC contenders take over?
Favorites
Oscar Onley (Picnic PostNL)
Marc Hirschi (Tudor)
Christian Scaroni (XDS-Astana)
Oscar Onley (Picnic PostNL)
Marc Hirschi (Tudor)
Christian Scaroni (XDS-Astana)
Times
Start: 11:45 AM (local time) | 05:45 AM (ET)
Finish: 5:00 PM (local time) | 11:00 AM (ET)
Start: 11:45 AM (local time) | 05:45 AM (ET)
Finish: 5:00 PM (local time) | 11:00 AM (ET)
Stage 8, Sunday, June 22: Beckenried - Stockhütte (10.1 km, individual time trial)
To conclude the Tour of Switzerland, we will do the same as last year with an uphill time trial. This time we'll put another layer on top of the finish on day seven: from Emetten we'll add 5.3 kilometers at 9.8 percent average to the Stockhütte.
Favorites
Jao Almeida (UAE Emirates-XRG)
Matthew Riccitello (Israel-Premier Tech)
Aleksandr Vlasov (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe)
Jao Almeida (UAE Emirates-XRG)
Matthew Riccitello (Israel-Premier Tech)
Aleksandr Vlasov (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe)
Times
Start: 11:20 AM (local time) | 05:20 AM (ET)
Finish: 5:00 PM (local time) | 11:00 AM (ET)
Start: 11:20 AM (local time) | 05:20 AM (ET)
Finish: 5:00 PM (local time) | 11:00 AM (ET)
Favorites final classification Tour of Switzerland 2025
Compared to the start list at the Critérium du Dauphiné, the field at the Tour de Suisse is a bit weaker, we have to be honest about that. There is one clear top favorite: João Almeida. The Portuguese rider won his last two races, the Tour of the Basque Country and the Tour de Romandie, and has also posted some impressive stats on Strava. He’ll be supported by Jan Christen and Jay Vine.
Jayco AlUla is one of the few teams sending its Tour de France squad to Switzerland, which means Ben O'Connor will be leading the charge. The Aussie hasn’t had a standout season so far, but he’ll be looking to turn things around this summer. In a similar situation is Aleksandr Vlasov of Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe, who also has yet to shine this year.
At Decathlon AG2R, pure climber Felix Gall finds a route that suits him well. Israel–Premier Tech is sending several climbing specialists to Switzerland too, including Matthew Riccitello, George Bennett, and Michael Woods. INEOS Grenadiers brings former winner Geraint Thomas and Laurens De Plus to the race.
Oscar Onley will need to score crucial UCI Ranking points for Picnic PostNL, as they battle against teams like XDS-Astana with Harold Martin Lopez and Cofidis with Ion Izagirre. Other general classification riders include Javier Romo and Pablo Castrillo from Movistar, and Soudal Quick-Step’s Ilan Van Wilder. And it’s possible that punchy riders like Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ), Pello Bilbao (Bahrain), and Joe Blackmore (Israel–Premier Tech) could go far as well.
Who are the favorites for the final classification of the Tour of Switzerland 2025, according to IDLProCycling.com?
Top favorites: Joao Almeida (UAE Emirates-XRG) and Ben O'Connor (Jayco AlUla)
Outsiders: Oscar Onley (Picnic PostNL), Felix Gall (Decathlon AG2R), Aleksandr Vlasov (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) and Matthew Riccitello (Israel-Premier Tech)
Long shots: Jan Christen (UAE Emirates-XRG), Harold Martin Lopez (XDS-Astana), Ilan Van Wilder (Soudal Quick-Step), Pablo Castrillo, Javier Romo (Movistar), Laurens De Plus (INEOS Grenadiers), Michael Woods (Israel-Premier Tech) and Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ)
Outsiders: Oscar Onley (Picnic PostNL), Felix Gall (Decathlon AG2R), Aleksandr Vlasov (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) and Matthew Riccitello (Israel-Premier Tech)
Long shots: Jan Christen (UAE Emirates-XRG), Harold Martin Lopez (XDS-Astana), Ilan Van Wilder (Soudal Quick-Step), Pablo Castrillo, Javier Romo (Movistar), Laurens De Plus (INEOS Grenadiers), Michael Woods (Israel-Premier Tech) and Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ)
TV coverage Tour of Switzerland 2025
Eurosport and HBO Max will once again broadcast the Tour de Suisse live every afternoon this year, both on TV and via their online platforms.
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Latest Comments
- Carsapaz and Del torro were not capable of chasing Yates. They paused and looked at each other because they didn't have it in them. Yates had kept his powder dry waiting for this stage and demolished both of them. They lost Yates won. Your second guessing is utter nonsense., if either felt they could close Yates down they would have , just like they did countless times for other riders. They blew up , Yates excelled.Uphillbilly05-06-2025
- Carapaz is full of it. He is absolutely irrelevant after a rant at del Toro. Isaac had no obligations to do anything for Carapaz. It should remind one of the saying that goes lke this: "If I jump off the bridge, are you going to jump too?" If Caapaz wanted to win the Giro he should have chased Yates with or without Isaac. And if del Toro could follow, then so be it. But it was Carapaz's choice to slow down and stare at Isaac. Isaac was on the radio at times and you can bet he was being told by the Team car to do just what he was doing. Did I like that he didn't set out after Yates himself, NO. But the 21 year old was probably being instructed to do what he did, otherwise you can bet we would have heard from UAE mgmt. that Isaac chose to ignore their orders. But what we did hear was they were happy with his result. Which I think was a terrible betrayal of their young rider, who I think was capable of more than that penultimate stage showed. The Giro finished on a truly sour note as far as I'm concerned, because it was not "raced" The most crucial stage of the whole 21 stage race was simply given away, playing games with the unwritten rules of bicycle racing. "Leaders jerseys responsibility" and all that nonsense. Just RACE! It was disgraceful.
reemmo004-06-2025 - Well this aged like fine milkGlyn31-05-2025
- This is just mean-spirited.agnessk29-05-2025
- Something a bit misleading with this headline...mrbobke23-05-2025
- Jonas will lose to Pogi and retire after this yearqpshealing22-05-2025
- The secret 2.5mm shorter cracks that's going to magically give him 30 more watts. Couldn't be anything else😅Veganpotter20-05-2025
- No comment but here's my comment!Veganpotter09-05-2025
- No comment but here's my comment!Veganpotter09-05-2025
- Jos van Emden is right to speak out. The UCI’s lack of transparency and inconsistent decision-making have eroded trust among teams, riders, and fans alike. When even experienced professionals like Van Emden lose faith, it’s a clear signal that the system needs serious reform. Integrity and fairness should be at the core of any governing body, something the UCI needs to be reminded of.ahmed06-05-2025