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Yesterday, organisers of the Tour de Suisse released details of next year’s route at a press conference in Zug. However, the presentation has sparked several talking points, including the race’s three summit finishes, which organisers hope will attract Tour de France general classification contenders to their event.
Next year’s Tour de Suisse, which will be the 80th edition of the race, will run from June 11-19, with further details of the route being revealed early next year.
The parcours appears to have been designed in an attempt to re-position the event as the premier preparation race for the Tour de France, a title for which it usually has to compete with the Critérium du Dauphiné, which also takes place in June.
The race will commence in Zug, with the municipality of Baar hosting two days of racing, the first of which will be a prologue, followed by a circuit race. The sprinters will also no doubt look forward to the two subsequent stages, which should offer relatively flat and fast racing.
Stage 3 starts in Grosswangen, where riders will pass through the Central Plateau before reaching what is anticipated to be a sprint finish in Rheinfelden. Although Stage 4 departs from the same town, the race has yet to secure a finish location, with race organisers calling upon any interested cities in the French-speaking area of Romandy – which also plays host to the Tour de Romandie in April/May – to come forward as a potential host city.
After leaving Romandy, the race then enters the mountains, where three summit finishes await.
Stage 5 concludes with a mountain top finish in the village of Carì, however, before the riders reach the top of the climb, organisers promise they will have to make their way through a series of yet-to-be-named legendary alpine passes.
A mountain top finish is again the order of the day on Stage 6, which finishes in Amden, while Stage 7 features a steep finish up the Rettenbach glacier in Austria, the last 13 kilometres of which will be particularly challenging.
The Rettenbach is no doubt a climb that will still be etched in many of the riders’ minds, having featured in the queen stage of last year’s race, which was the scene of Thibaut Pinot’s impressive solo victory that allowed him to take the leader’s jersey off Tom Dumoulin.
The final two stages will take place in what organisers are calling the “finishing hub” of Davos Klosters, a popular holiday destination where riders will be faced with two difficult stages, one of which is a time trial. Given the region’s predominantly mountainous surroundings, the race against the clock will likely prove to be very interesting, if not decisive, with regards to the general classification, just as it was in this year’s race.
There has been some talk in the German-speaking media about the fact that Bern was not named as the race’s finishing hub. Yesterday’s announcement that Davos Klosters will be assuming this role has taken many by surprise, particularly in light of earlier comments by race organisers that the race would routinely conclude in Bern from 2015 onwards.
Many had considered there to be a partnership, albeit unofficial, between the city and race organisation to this effect, and there has been some dismay that Bern has instead opted to host a stage of next year’s Tour de France, and declined to stage the Tour de Suisse finale.
The reason given at the route presentation for this overhaul of the race’s finishing location is that Bern was unable to meet the necessary logistical and financial requirements to host the finish. And the town’s hosting commitments to the Tour de France would have no doubt placed significant strain on these resources.
Nevertheless, Tour de Suisse general director Olivier Senn remains optimistic, indicating that the possibility of a partnership between the nation’s capital and Switzerland’s largest cycling event still exists for 2017 and beyond.
However, as far as next year is considered, the race will likely be one of the most difficult editions in recent years, and with its mountainous terrain it will no doubt provide a solid opportunity for Tour de France contenders to test their form ahead of the year’s biggest race.
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