The Tour de Romandie is a stage race which is part of the UCI World Tour. It runs through the Romandie region, or French-speaking part of Switzerland. The competition began in 1947, to coincide with the 50-year anniversary of Swiss Cycling. It was held without interruption until the COVID-19 pandemic caused the cancellation of the 2020 edition.[1]

Tour de Romandie
2024 Tour de Romandie
Race details
DateApril–May
RegionRomandie, Switzerland
English nameTour of Romandy
Local name(s)Tour de Romandie (in French)
DisciplineRoad
CompetitionUCI World Tour
TypeStage race
Web sitewww.tourderomandie.ch Edit this at Wikidata
History
First edition1947 (1947)
Editions77 (as of 2024)
First winner Désiré Keteleer (BEL)
Most wins Stephen Roche (IRL) (3 wins)
Most recent Carlos Rodríguez (ESP)

The course of the race usually heads northwards towards the Jura mountains and Alpine mountain ranges of western Switzerland. The race traditionally starts with an individual time trial prologue and ends with an individual time-trial in hilly terrains, often in Lausanne. The final time-trial traditionally starts in the stadium north of Lausanne, goes downhill southwards to Lake Léman (Lake Geneva), and makes its way back uphill to the stadium again. The winner and several of the top-ten finishers are usually excellent time trialists.

Four winners of the Tour de Romandie had gone on to win the Tour de France in the same year; Stephen Roche in 1987, then Cadel Evans, Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome in 2011, 2012 and 2013, respectively.

Tour de Romandie is also usually considered a preparation race for the Giro d'Italia, which starts one week later.

In 2022, the Tour de Romandie Féminin was held for the first time in the UCI Women's World Tour – as part of the 75th anniversary celebrations of the race.[2]

Winners

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Year Country Rider Team
1947   Belgium Désiré Keteleer
1948    Switzerland Ferdinand Kübler
1949   Italy Gino Bartali
1950   France Édouard Fachleitner
1951    Switzerland Ferdinand Kübler
1952   Netherlands Wout Wagtmans
1953    Switzerland Hugo Koblet
1954   France Jean Forestier
1955    Switzerland René Strehler
1956   Italy Pasquale Fornara
1957   France Jean Forestier
1958   France Gilbert Bauvin
1959    Switzerland Kurt Gimmi
1960   France Louis Rostollan
1961   France Louis Rostollan
1962   Italy Guido De Rosso Molteni
1963   Belgium Willy Bocklant
1964    Switzerland Rolf Maurer
1965   Italy Vittorio Adorni
1966   Italy Gianni Motta Molteni
1967   Italy Vittorio Adorni
1968   Belgium Eddy Merckx Faema
1969   Italy Felice Gimondi Salvarani
1970   Sweden Gösta Pettersson Ferretti
1971   Italy Gianni Motta Salvarani
1972   France Bernard Thévenet Peugeot–BP–Michelin
1973   Belgium Wilfried David Flandria–Carpenter–Shimano
1974   Netherlands Joop Zoetemelk Gitane
1975   Spain Francisco Galdós Kas–Kaskol
1976   Belgium Johan De Muynck Brooklyn
1977   Italy Gianbattista Baronchelli Scic
1978   Netherlands Johan van der Velde TI–Raleigh
1979   Italy Giuseppe Saronni Scic–Bottecchia
1980   France Bernard Hinault Renault–Elf–Gitane
1981   Sweden Tommy Prim Bianchi
1982   Norway Jostein Wilmann Capri Sonne
1983   Ireland Stephen Roche Peugeot–Shell–Michelin
1984   Ireland Stephen Roche La Redoute
1985    Switzerland Jörg Müller Skil–Sem
1986   Belgium Claude Criquielion Hitachi
1987   Ireland Stephen Roche Carrera Jeans–Vagabond
1988   Netherlands Gerard Veldscholten Weinmann-La Suisse
1989   Australia Phil Anderson TVM
1990   France Charly Mottet RMO
1991    Switzerland Toni Rominger Toshiba
1992   United States Andrew Hampsten Motorola
1993    Switzerland Pascal Richard Ariostea
1994    Switzerland Pascal Richard GB–MG Maglificio
1995    Switzerland Toni Rominger Mapei–GB–Latexco
1996   Spain Abraham Olano Mapei–GB
1997   Russia Pavel Tonkov Mapei–GB
1998    Switzerland Laurent Dufaux Festina–Lotus
1999   France Laurent Jalabert ONCE–Deutsche Bank
2000   Italy Paolo Savoldelli Saeco–Valli & Valli
2001   Italy Dario Frigo Fassa Bortolo
2002   Italy Dario Frigo Tacconi Sport
2003   United States Tyler Hamilton Team CSC
2004   United States Tyler Hamilton Phonak
2005   Colombia Santiago Botero Phonak
2006   Australia Cadel Evans Davitamon–Lotto
2007   Netherlands Thomas Dekker Rabobank
2008   Germany Andreas Klöden Astana
2009   Czech Republic Roman Kreuziger Liquigas
2010   Slovenia Simon Špilak Lampre–Farnese Vini [3]
2011   Australia Cadel Evans BMC Racing Team
2012   Great Britain Bradley Wiggins Team Sky
2013   Great Britain Chris Froome Team Sky
2014   Great Britain Chris Froome Team Sky
2015   Russia Ilnur Zakarin Team Katusha
2016   Colombia Nairo Quintana Movistar Team
2017   Australia Richie Porte BMC Racing Team
2018   Slovenia Primož Roglič LottoNL–Jumbo
2019   Slovenia Primož Roglič Team Jumbo–Visma
2020 No race due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021   Great Britain Geraint Thomas Ineos Grenadiers
2022 Aleksandr Vlasov[a] Bora–Hansgrohe
2023   Great Britain Adam Yates UAE Team Emirates
2024   Spain Carlos Rodríguez Ineos Grenadiers

Multiple winners

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Wins Rider Editions
3   Stephen Roche (IRL) 1983 + 1984 + 1987
2   Ferdinand Kübler (SUI) 1948 + 1951
  Jean Forestier (FRA) 1954 + 1957
  Louis Rostollan (FRA) 1960 + 1961
  Vittorio Adorni (ITA) 1965 + 1967
  Gianni Motta (ITA) 1966 + 1971
  Tony Rominger (SUI) 1991 + 1995
  Pascal Richard (SUI) 1993 + 1994
  Dario Frigo (ITA) 2001 + 2002
  Tyler Hamilton (USA) 2003 + 2004
  Cadel Evans (AUS) 2006 + 2011
  Chris Froome (GBR) 2013 + 2014
  Primož Roglič (SLO) 2018 + 2019

Wins per country

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Wins Country
13
  Italy
12
  Switzerland
10
  France
6
  Belgium
5
  Great Britain
  Netherlands
4
  Australia
3
  Ireland
  Slovenia
  Spain
  United States
2
  Colombia
  Russia
  Sweden
1
  Czech Republic
  Germany
  Norway

Most stage wins

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# Rider Stage wins
1   Mario Cipollini (ITA) 12
2   Hugo Koblet (SUI) 8
  Ferdinand Kübler (SUI)
4   Vittorio Adorni (ITA) 6
  Michael Albasini (SUI)
  Knut Knudsen (NOR)
  Gianni Motta (ITA)
  Tony Rominger (SUI)
  Johan van der Velde (NED)
10   Laurent Dufaux (SUI) 5
  Urs Freuler (SUI)
  Pascal Richard (SUI)
  Giuseppe Saronni (ITA)
  Paolo Savoldelli (ITA)

Media coverage

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The Tour de Romandie is broadcast throughout Europe and in other areas:

  • United Kingdom — Eurosport and Discovery+
  • United States — FloBikes[4]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Farrand, Stephen (16 March 2020). "Coronavirus: Race cancellations expand into late April and May". Cycling News. Future Publishing. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  2. ^ Frattini, Kirsten (2021-09-22). "Three-day Tour de Romandie added to the Women's WorldTour in 2022". cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 2022-04-30.
  3. ^ Alejandro Valverde finished the 2010 edition as winner, but his results were expurgated as a consequence of a retroactive suspension.
  4. ^ "How to watch the 2024 Tour de Romandie". 23 April 2024.

Notes

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a As of 1 March 2022, the UCI announced that cyclists from Russia and Belarus would no longer compete under the name or flag of those respective countries due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[1]

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  1. ^ "The UCI takes strong measures in the face of the situation in Ukraine" (Press release). UCI. 1 March 2022. Retrieved 7 April 2022.