The 2019 Tour de Suisse kicks off on June 15, comprising of nine stages concluding on Sunday June 23. With the Tour de France looming around the corner, the Swiss race represents a perfect warm-up for the grand tour which dominates the annual calendar.
The start list is dotted with riders aiming to demonstrate their strength before the main event in France – and with two mountain stages, an ITT on the penultimate day, and Queen stage right at the end, the race itself looks likely to represent an explosive affair.
The route amounts to 1,172 kilometres, with 18,994 metres climbed – there’s more detail on the Tour de Suisse 2019 route here.
Wales’ Geraint Thomas lines up for Team Ineos. With Chris Froome in intensive care after undergoing surgery following a crash at the Critérium du Dauphiné, Thomas is now the team’s key Tour hopeful and he’ll have the support of Egan Bernal in Switzerland.
Fabio Aru (UAE Team Emirates) will be back in action, having returned from a recent surgery which saw him miss the 2019 Giro d’Italia.
Last year’s winner, Richie Porte (now Trek-Segafredo) will not be at the Tour de Suisse, instead selecting the Dauphiné as his Tour prep race.
The sprinters will need to check their condition too. Stage two will be a hilly circuit race, featuring three ascents up the Chuderhüsi Pass and Schallenberg Pass – so perhaps not your traditional fast finish. However, stage three features a flat stretch in to the old town of Murten – a good opportunity provided the fast men can survive the hills en route, and stage five’s fast run in to Einsiedeln looks like a good bet too.
If it comes to a bunch kick, eyes will be on Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates) as they prepare for the sprinter’s jersey battle ahead.
Tour de Suisse 2019 start list
AG2R La Mondiale
FRANK Mathias
LATOUR Pierre
BIDARD François
VANDENBERGH Stijn
PARET-PEINTRE Aurélien
BOUCHARD Geoffrey
WARBASSE Larry
Astana Pro Team
CONTRERAS Rodrigo
FRAILE Omar
HIRT Jan
KUDUS Merhawi
NATAROV Yuriy
SÁNCHEZ Luis León
ZEITS Andrey
Bahrain Merida
AGNOLI Valerio
DENNIS Rohan
GARCÍA CORTINA Iván
GAROSIO Andrea
MOHORIČ Matej
NIBALI Antonio
POZZOVIVO Domenico
EF Education First
BROWN Nathan
CARTHY Hugh
CRADDOCK Lawson
DOCKER Mitchell
LANGEVELD Sebastian
MCLAY Daniel
SCULLY Tom
VANMARCKE Sep
Team Dimension Data
KREUZIGER Roman
JANSE VAN RENSBURG Reinardt
KING Ben
MEINTJES Louis
MÄDER Gino
SLAGTER Tom-Jelte
VALGREN Michael
WYSS Danilo
Movistar Team
ANACONA Winner
BARBERO Carlos
BETANCUR Carlos
CARRETERO Héctor
MAS Lluís
PRADES Eduard
ROELANDTS Jürgen
SOLER Marc
Mitchelton-Scott
TRENTIN Matteo
ALBASINI Michael
BEWLEY Sam
EDMONDSON Alex
GRMAY Tsgabu
HEPBURN Michael
STANNARD Robert
Lotto Soudal
NAESEN Lawrence
BENOOT Tiesj
MONFORT Maxime
DEWULF Stan
HANSEN Adam
VAN DER SANDE Tosh
VANENDERT Jelle
Groupama – FDJ
KÜNG Stefan
ARMIRAIL Bruno
FRANKINY Kilian
GENIETS Kevin
HOELGAARD Daniel
MORABITO Steve
THOMAS Benjamin
VINCENT Léo
Bora-Hansgrohe
BODNAR Maciej
SAGAN Peter
KONRAD Patrick
PÖSTLBERGER Lukas
BURGHARDT Marcus
SCHILLINGER Andreas
OSS Daniel
Deceuninck – Quick Step
MAS Enric
VIVIANI Elia
MØRKØV Michael
RICHEZE Maximiliano
ASGREEN Kasper
DEVENYNS Dries
LAMPAERT Yves
CCC Team
BEVIN Patrick
VAN AVERMAET Greg
SCHÄR Michael
VAN KEIRSBULCK Guillaume
GESCHKE Simon
SAJNOK Szymon
WIŚNIOWSKI Łukasz
UAE-Team Emirates
ARU Fabio
BOHLI Tom
BYSTRØM Sven Erik
COSTA Rui
HENAO Sergio
KRISTOFF Alexander
MORI Manuele
Trek – Segafredo
STUYVEN Jasper
BRAMBILLA Gianluca
CONCI Nicola
DEGENKOLB John
FELLINE Fabio
GOGL Michael
REIJNEN Kiel
Team Sunweb
KRAGH ANDERSEN Søren
ARNDT Nikias
HIRSCHI Marc
KÄMNA Lennard
KELDERMAN Wilco
MATTHEWS Michael
ROCHE Nicolas
Team INEOS
THOMAS Geraint
BERNAL Egan
CASTROVIEJO Jonathan
ELISSONDE Kenny
ROWE Luke
SWIFT Ben
DOULL Owain
Team Katusha Alpecin
ŠPILAK Simon
BATTAGLIN Enrico
FABBRO Matteo
HAAS Nathan
HOLLENSTEIN Reto
SMIT Willie
ZABEL Rick
Team Jumbo-Visma
TOLHOEK Antwan
VAN DER HOORN Taco
BOUWMAN Koen
DE TIER Floris
DE PLUS Laurens
LINDEMAN Bert-Jan
ROOSEN Timo
VAN POPPEL Danny
Team Total Direct Energie
CALMEJANE Lilian
BOUDAT Thomas
COUSIN Jérôme
GÈNE Yohann
GRELLIER Fabien
LIGTHART Pim
OURSELIN Paul
SICARD Romain
TAARAMÄE Rein
Rally UHC Cycling
ANDERSON Ryan
CARPENTER Robin
DE VOS Adam
JOYCE Colin
MAGNER Ty
MANNION Gavin
MCNULTY Brandon
MURPHY John
MURPHY Kyle
ORONTE Emerson
TUFT Svein
Switzerland National Team
BADILATTI Matteo
FRIESECKE Gian
IMHOF Claudio
LIENHARD Fabian
PELLAUD Simon
SCHELLING Patrick
THALMANN Roland
