PREVIEW | Tour de Suisse 2025 - João Almeida the big favourite for final pre-Tour de France test

From the 15th to 22nd of June the World Tour peloton will tackle the Tour de Suisse, one of the hardest races in the calendar and the last of the 'big 7' one-week stage-races in the calendar. We preview the race ahead.

The race starts off with a hilly day starting and finishing in Küssnach, featuring a steep climb that will be ridden on two occasions and should very quickly open up the fight for the overall classification.

The second day of racing in Switzerland is one open to many riders in the finale. We should have a sprint in Schawazsee but this will be between the climbers and those who resist the small climbs throughout the 177 kilometers.

Another typical Swisse day, with the hilltop finish in Heiden providing opportunity for the puncheurs and climbers to fight for the win whilst the GC fight and bonifications will be in the mind of many during the day.

A finale in Piruo will be taking place at the fourth day of racing, one whose first half will be pan flat, the second will feature a long ascent to altitude and a very long and steep descent. The final kilometers will mostly be flat, and it's an open day for many types of riders.

Another mountain stage, starting off at altitude before coming down into the valleys and featuring a steep summit finish in Santa Maria in Calanca which will be important for the overall classification.

Perhaps the day best suited to the sprinters? By no means a flat stage or one that's easy for those who struggle with climbing, but most of it does come early in the day. By all means, at this point in the race and with such ascents early on, it could be one for the breakaway.

Another difficult day marked by the steep climbs and where most of the action should wait for the final kilometers. The summit finish in Emmetten will be very difficult and will set the stage for another GC battle.

The final day of racing is a mountain time-trial which should also coincidentally be the queen stage. The ITT is 10 kilometers long, and 9 of them will average 9% uphill as the climb to Stockütte will be the most difficult of the race and will be setting big differences likely.

João Almeida - Supported by Jay Vine who - on his Tour de Romandie level - will also be a victory contender in this race, UAE Team Emirates - XRG has in Almeida a leader that provides guarantees for this race. After winning Itzulia Basque Country and the Tour de Suisse, the Portuguese has put himself as one of the leading stage-race figures in the peloton and in this peloton he will be the man to beat.

This is a race where this year there is only one time-trial and it is a mountain one, which means that the pure climbers actually stand a good chance of doing something special and not have to worry about the regular time losses. Felix Gall, a former strong performer in this race, is absolutely favoured by this, and could even be the main challenger to UAE if he has his best legs.

We've got Geraint Thomas leading INEOS Grenadiers in hopes of preparing for the Tour well, his form is not always sharp leading up to a Grand Tour but if he does come up strong in Switzerland then he could be a victory contender as well. Ben O'Connor, podium at last year's Vuelta, is typically also a strong performer but this year he's struggled to find his usual consistency.

Afterwards we've got plenty strong riders who don't usually feature near the top of the GC, but due to this field's nature, have a good opportunity to perform in a prestigious race. Aleksandr Vlasov, Matthew Riccitello, Michael Woods, Tao Geoghegan Hart, Harold Martín López, Ilan van Wilder, Oscar Onley and Movistar duo of Javier Romo and Pablo Castrillo will all be men to watch.

We don't really have pure sprint stages in this race however we still have men that will want to contest the fast finishes such as Arnaud De Lie for Lotto, Madis Mihkels for EF, or BORA who've brought both Jordi Meeus and Danny van Poppel to Switzerland.

We have time-trialists such as Stefan Bissegger and Stefan Küng who will rather be fighting for victories in breakaways instead; and very strong classics riders in Matej Mohoric, Tom Pidcock, Quinn Simmons, Neilson Powless, Christian Scaroni, Tiesj Benoot, Valentin Madouas and Tudor duo Julian Alaphilippe and Marc Hirschi - most of them chasing good form ahead of the Tour de France here. Chris Froome will also be present at the start.

*** João Almeida
** Felix Gall, Ben O'Connor, Aleksandr Vlasov
* Jay Vine, Neilson Powless, Tom Pidcock, Pello Bilbao, Matthew Riccitello, Tao Geoghegan Hart, Geraint Thomas, Harold Martín López, Oscar Onley, Ilan van Wilder, Pablo Castrillo, Javier Romo

Pick: João Almeida