Preview: Tour de Suisse 2023

The pre-Tour de France races are coming thick and fast. If the Dauphiné wasn’t enough, we’ve got another week-long stage race coming up next week as some of the big favourites head to the Tour de Suisse. Two time trials, some big climbing, and some exciting punchy stages means a thrilling week of racing awaits, with the likes of Remco Evenepoel and Wout van Aert back in action in Switzerland.

Previous winners

2022: Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers)

2021: Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers)

2019: Egan Bernal (Team Sky)

The route

It’s a time trial-heavy affair at the Tour de Suisse this year, but don’t worry, it won’t all be an against-the-clock battle - there’s plenty of big Swiss mountains to contend with, plus some punchier stages for the sprinters’ benefit and to test the overall riders.

Stage 1: Einsiedeln → Einsiedeln (ITT) (12.7km)

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Tour de Suisse 2023 stage 1 profile.

The race is book-ended by individual time trials, with the first one the easier of the two. It’s largely pan flat, and not particularly long at 12.6km, so this will be one for the powerful, pure time trialists. There are some technical turns in the city around the start and finish, and a final rise to the line, but the main loop on the shores of the Sihlsee lake should be straightforward.

Stage favourites: Stefan Küng, Stefan Bissegger, Remco Evenepoel, Wout van Aert, Filippo Ganna

Stage 2: Beromünster → Nottwil (173.7km)

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Tour de Suisse 2023 stage 2 profile.

The first road stage of the Tour de Suisse heads into lumpier territory with a rolling route between Beromünster and Nottwil, just outside Lucerne. There are two categorised climbs - in the first and last 25km of the stage - but several uncategorised rises through the day too. None of them are too long or steep, so we may see attacks on the final climb, but with 24km to go still it could well come back together for a sprint as the run-in is flat.

Stage favourites: Arnaud Démare, Tim Merlier, Biniam Girmay

Stage 3: Tafers → Villars-sur-Ollon (143.8km)

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Tour de Suisse 2023 stage 3 profile.

Stage 3 heads towards the proper climbs, with the 13.5km Col des Mosses followed by an uphill finish in Villars-sur-Ollon. The climb to Villars-sur-Ollon is 10.7km in length, with a challenging average gradient of 7.8%, so this will be a long battle to the top. Being so early on in the race, it’s difficult to judge whether the GC riders will want to show their cards or let the break contest this win. The profile of the stage sets up well for a breakaway, with little flat road on which to organise a chase, so we think a well-composed group has good chances here, and may see a change in the leader’s jersey.

Stage favourites: Gino Mäder, Ion Izagirre, Marc Hirschi, Quinn Simmons

Stage 4: Monthey → Leukerbad (152.5km)

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Tour de Suisse 2023 stage 4 profile.

The climbing really ramps up on stage 4 with a route that takes in Crans-Montana, recently seen as the finishing climb on stage 13 of the Giro d’Italia. On this stage, it’s the first climb with the riders going up and over the 14.6km, 6.7% ascent, before climbing back up the Höhenweg, a climb that’s long but gentler, only 4.5% average over 19km. From the top of that climb, the riders will dip down slightly before a final kick to the line. The stage is poised well for a hilltop sprint between the GC favourites, who will be looking to make it hard and force gaps on both Crans-Montana and the final climb.

Stage favourites: Remco Evenepoel, Romain Bardet, Tom Pidcock

Stage 5: Fiesch → La Punt (211km)

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Tour de Suisse 2023 stage 5 profile.

Stage 5 is a brute of a day, both long and filled with big climbs - two HC, and one category 1 with some tricky descents to deal with in the middle. The road goes up after just 22km, heading straight up the HC Furkapass, a 16.5km slog with an average gradient of 6.4%. A break should go here, but there’s a lot of road left for them to be caught and by the time they reach the Albulapass, a 17.4km, 6.8% gradient effort, this stage should bring GC fireworks. A rider will want to go solo here, as it’s a descent to the line in La Punt.

Stage favourites: Remco Evenepoel, Neilson Powless, Sergio Higuita

Stage 6: La Punt → Overwil-Lieli (215.3km)

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Tour de Suisse 2023 stage 6 profile.

After two big days of climbing, it settles down a little on stage 6. There’s a first and second category climb to deal with in the first 50km, but then it’s a much flatter route towards the line. After a lumpy final 50km, there’s a 2.5km climb to the line, averaging at 6.7%, so this should be a day for the puncheurs. The GC riders will have to be vigilant to not be caught out, though, as you could shell time on the final climb.

Stage favourites: Wout van Aert, Tom Pidcock, Dylan Teuns

Veloviewer

Tour de Suisse 2023 stage 7 profile.

Stage 7: Tübach → Weinfelden (162.7km)

Stage 7 is another up and down day, which the sprinters will be looking at carefully to assess whether they can make it to the line. The strongest sprinters should be able to, but if the stage is raced particularly aggressively, they risk ceding to punchier riders, especially with the final 3.4km climb coming within the final 20km. The final few kilometres are very flat, so it should definitely be a sprint of some sort, but whether that’s a fast bunch or a smaller group is in the balance.

Stage favourites: Tim Merlier, Wout van Aert, Tom Pidcock

Stage 8: St. Gallen → Abtwil (ITT) (25.7km)

Veloviewer

Tour de Suisse 2023 stage 8 profile.

After six hard days of road racing, it’s back on the time trial bikes for one last against-the-clock effort. It’s perhaps an interesting choice from the organisers, given the Tour de France only features one time trial, but the specialists will be glad of more opportunities to show off their skills this summer. This one is a harder challenge than the opening stage, featuring a big rise in the last 10km, and ramps that reach up to 8%. The pure time trialists are still in a good shout of winning, but the slightly lighter riders will have an advantage.

Stage favourites: Remco Evenepoel, Wout van Aert, Jay Vine

The contenders

Overlapping with the final day of the Critérium du Dauphiné, the Tour de Suisse start list is also largely determined by who is chasing to race where, and this year it seems many of the big overall Tour favourites have picked the Dauphiné. That said, there are some exciting names lining up in Switzerland, and the open GC should make for some interesting racing.

The name at the front of everyone’s mind will be Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step), who is returning to racing for the first time since abandoning the Giro d’Italia through Covid. With no Tour de France on this schedule, this isn’t so much a preparation race for the Belgian, but more a chance to pick up some wins and get some racing in the legs before the national championships. His lack of racing means we don’t quite know where his form is, but he’s coming into this race with little to lose and a lot to gain, so we’re expecting to see Evenepoel chasing some redemption after his Giro disappointment. The two time trials play right into his hands, so he is a big favourite for the overall.

Outside of Evenepoel, the GC is fairly open, with a lot of riders on a similar level. Whilst the more obvious names are at the Dauphiné, Suisse should give some more underrated riders the chance to show themselves before the Tour. Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) hasn’t raced since his very promising spring, so he will be an important rider to watch here. Romain Bardet (Team DSM) is likely too weak a time trialist to contend for the overall, but could claw back a lot of time with some good results in the mountains. Jay Vine will perhaps enjoy the chance to lead UAE Team Emirates, and has a promising combination of climbing and TTing prowess that could prove very fruitful at this race. Last year’s runner up Sergio Higuita (Bora-Hansgrohe) isn’t always the strongest time trialist, but should be one of the favourites in the mountains.

Velo Collection (Alex Broadway) / Getty Images

Neilson Powless impressed in the spring Classics and stage races.

Two of the youngest riders in the race, and teammates of Vine and Higuita, could also be looking at good results in Switzerland. Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) has only raced one race this year, the Tour de Romandie, but he won a stage there and could come back to Switzerland and do that same. Fellow 20-year-old and Tour de l’Avenir winner Cian Uijtdebroeks (Bora Hansgrohe) is also a name to keep an eye on as he continues his stage race development.

Two riders for whom the overall might be slightly out of reach but will certainly be in the frame are Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) and Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers). Built in similar moulds, they’re both extremely strong all-rounders, but perhaps not - or not yet - fully formed stage racers. Both will be hoping to do well in the time trials and the punchy stages, whilst testing themselves and perhaps limiting losses in the mountains. Pidcock is certainly capable of winning big mountain stages, as he did on Alpe d’Huez last year, but this will be a big test on how the Brit can string together back-to-back climbing days in pursuit of the GC.

With two time trialists bookending the race, it’s also worth looking at the pure time trialists heading to Suisse. Home riders Stefan Küng (Groupama FDJ) and Stefan Bissegger (EF Education-EasyPost) are going to be the obvious favourites for the first shorter, flatter time trial, their powerful style perfectly suited to that terrain, and we should see both riders up there on the slightly harder closing stage too. Other TTers to keep an eye on will be Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers), world champion Tobias Foss (Jumbo-Visma) and Rohan Dennis (Jumbo-Vimsa), who was also climbing well in the Giro.

There are not too many opportunities for the pure sprinters, and many have chosen either the Dauphiné or the Belgium Tour for their pre-Tour prep, but riders to look out for in the flatter finishes will be Arnaud Démare (Groupama-FDJ), Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step), Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty) and Bryan Coquard (Cofidis).

GCN’s Preview Pick

Velo Collection (Stuart Franklin) / Getty Images

Remco Evenepoel looked on excellent form before Covid forced him out of the Giro d’Italia.

It might be the obvious choice, but it’s very hard to look past Remco Evenepoel for this race. The time trial-heavy course was practically made for him, and we think he’ll be starting this race with fire in his belly after not getting the chance to fulfill his ambitions at the Giro. With no Tour de France looming, the Belgian doesn’t have to worry about tapering or conserving energy, he can just give it everything in Switzerland, and his everything is usually pretty unbeatable.