Profile & Route Tour of the Alps 2026

From the 20th to the 24th of April the riders will take on the Tour of the Alps. This is often used as the ultimate preparation race towards the Tour of the Alps, whilst in itself it is a very prestigious race with plenty high mountains and its international course, often crossing borders. We take a look at its profiles.

The race was created in 1962 and initially won by Enzo Moser. However there was a long break and in 1980 the race finally picked up speed. Some big Italian names conquered the days-long stage-race. The race, due to its position in the calendar, was a match made in heaven for the Giro contenders and plenty have won it. Only in the last decades the likes of Paolo Savoldelli, Gilberto Simoni, Damiano Cunego, Vincenzo Nibali, Ivan Basso, Michele Scarponi and Domenico Pozzovivo all won the former 'Giro del Trentino'.

The last Italian win was in 2013 however. Ever since there has been more international list of winners, of great quality. Cadel Evans, Richie Porte, Mikel Landa, Geraint Thomas, Thibau Pinot, Pavel Sivakov, Simon Yates, Romain Bardet, Tao Geoghegan Hart, Juan Pedro López and most recently Michael Storer took the overall wins. Storer won last year after five brutal days of racing with plenty big changes due to his battle with Thymen Arensman.

The race begins in Austria in the city of Innsbruck. It is the easiest stage of the race, one that may even perhaps finish in a sprint. The climb to Gotzens is ridden twice, it's 4 kilometers long at 7% and ends with 25 kilometers to go.

It's by no means a brutal stage but if it's attacked hard, then we can see gaps. If not, then we can see a reduced bunch sprint or a finale that can be very tactical in the flat roads leading back into the beautiful city that hosted the 2018 World Champions.

The second stage is rather short, only 147 kilometers in length, but quite hard. The beginning is flat out of Telfs, however the race goes into the mountains and faces three categorized climbs. The first of which is quite difficult, with around 22 kilometers in distance and just under 5% average gradient.

But the action will most likely all be left to the final climb, where the riders return to Val Martello - the climb made famous for being the end of the 2014 Giro d'Italia stage where Nairo Quintana flew away from his rivals in a snowstorm. But the riders won't go as high, instead racing the first 5 kilometers which average around 9%.

The third day of racing is brutal and can lead to the standings changing completely. The beginning is downhill however early on there is the Passo Castin on the route, 22.4 kilometers at 5.7% however it is a climb with two descents in the middle.

It features 7 kilometers at 9% close to its summit and the rest of the stage is either up or downhill, making it hard to chase attackers. The riders climb to Andalo (14.4Km; 5%; 65Km to go); Passo del Balino (9.7Km; 3.7%; 30Km to go); and the final hilltop to Ville del Monte (4.4Km; 4.4%) which ends with 16 kilometers to go. Most of the way to Arco is downhill, capping off a stage with 3600 meters of climbing.

The queen stage? Potentially. The riders depart from Arco where they've finished the day before and right from the gun they take on the Passo Bordala which is 14.8 kilometers long at 6.9%. It is a very hard climb but it is followed by two others...

The Vicolo Vattaro (8.4Km; 6.7%) and Passo Redebus (13Km; 6.7%) are each hard enough for big moves and by the time the riders crown it, they will only have ridden half of the stage.

The 167-kilometer long day then doesn't have any other categorized climb, but by no means no climbing. There are several ascents on the way down to Trento, much more explosive, but where attacks can still happen - whilst if the attacks come early on, they can be solidified.

The fifth stage of the race is the final one and is also very short, only 128 kilometers in length but with a meaningful ascent right at the star to kick things off. However before ending the week of racing in Bolzano, there will be two climbs that will require tough work from the GC contenders.

The first is Montoppio (12.7 kilometers at 7%) which ends at 35 kilometers to go; whilst the second is Cologna di Sopra - an 8-kilometer ascent which starts off with double-digit gradients and has an intermediate sprint in its middle. The top is with 16 kilometers to go.

Anything can happen there and its still a day for the pure climbers. They will have to be careful with the technical descent to the finish where the race can still be lost.