Découvrez la cartes du parcours du #TDR2024, dévoilée ce matin à Vernier (GE). Concentré et nerveux comme un "espresso", ce Tour de Romandie!
The Tour de Romandie is scheduled from the 23rd to the 28th of April. A staple in the World Tour calendar, this race offers numerous opportunities for riders to clinch victories, serving as the first major stage-race after the Ardennes classics. Let's explore its profiles.
Prologue: Payerne - Payerne, 2.2 kilometers
The race begins with a 2.2-kilometer prologue in the town on Payerne. This is going to be quite an interesting day, where big gaps will not happen, but a first leader will be found at the end of the day.
However this may not be a specialist. This is not a prologue that actually fits the time-trialists, and no-one in specific except for good bike handlers. See this prologue features nothing short of 10 90-degree corners.
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This means there is a corner on average every... 220 meters. Funnily enough, most of them are actually situated in the final two thirds of the course. It's an extremely corner-dense prologue where the differences should actually be made according to how fast the riders take the corners. High risks will be taken by some, with a high reward however.
Stage 1: Château-d'Oex - Fribourg, 165.6 kilometers
Stage 1 of the Swiss race will have a finale in Fribourg after 165 kilometers in a day that features quite a lot of rolling roads. Possibly, it's a day for the sprinters, but there could be some surprises. The riders have a two-lap circuit towards the end of the stage with two main climbs where sprinters can be dropped.
One of them is 700 meters at 13% which summits with 36.5 kilometers to go, followed by rolling roads. This particularly is an attractive place to attack, but perhaps too early for the likings of some riders - although if it were a classic, without a doubt there would be action here.
The final climb is 1.8 kilometers at 7.3% into Arconciel, it ends with 10 kilometers to go. It is close enough to the finish that a strong group going up the road can be very hard to bring back. The peloton will not be able to have a full-on chase after these efforts.
The riders descend almost all the way into the final 4 kilometers. These will then be flat into Fribourg, there is still time to bring things back into a sprint.
Stage 2: Fribourg - Salvan-Les Marecottes, 171.6 kilometerss
Roads that will be familiar to the Romandie peloton. A lot of the route from Fribourg into Aigle has been raced in the past, but the finale of the stage will be quite hard and should set some important differences in the fight for the overall classification. Stage 2 ends in the climb to Les Marecottes.
The first half of the stage is almost completely flat, and the riders then find the climb to les Mosses which summits with 57 kilometers to go. However the climb is not steep. What follows is a long descent into Aigle where the headquarter of the UCI is.
The riders will not stop, but instead race into the final climb which starts a few dozen kilometers later. The climb to Les Marecottes is 8.4 kilometers at 7.4%. Not overly long, overly steep or overly technical, but all-in-all tough enough to make differences. It's a rather constant ascent but it does feature double-digit gradients in the final kilometer which means that differences can be created right until the finish line.
Stage 3 (ITT): Oron - Oron, 15.5 kilometers
A decisive day of racing, the time-trial in Oron is 15 kilometers long and will create big differences. These may be key for the outcome of the overall classification. But it is not an average stage against the clock, featuring some climbing and descending. Time-trial bikes will not be replaced by a road bike, but we will surely see some different tactics on how to manage the efforts that will be in store.
The riders will climb from 635 to 853 meters of altitude in the first 7.5 kilometers into the intermediate point. This means this whole section averages around 4% gradient; whilst it's toughest section is 1.8 kilometers at 6.5%. This climbing will take a few minutes and can absolutely see gaps emerge at the top.
Following that, we've got some descending and then actually flat roads for a few kilometers, but after that around two downhill kilometers into Oron which will be very fast but also technical. They can be dangerous, and with the finish line in sight they have to control the risks.
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Stage 4: Saillon - Leysin, 151.3 kilometers
The queen stage perhaps? That argument definitely holds up when we see the amount of climbing on the menu. A small hilltop at the start, but perhaps the most difficult feature of the day is the first categorized ascent ascent to Ovronnaz. It is 9.1 kilometers at 9.5%; a brutal climb where a breakaway may be formed, attacks may come or a team may put on the pressure and break the race into pieces. Everything is possible, but it is still quite early in the day.
The 3500 climbing meters on the day come from a string of ascents that come later on the day. 2.1Km at 8.6% (72.5Km to go), 9.6Km at 5.4% (51Km to go) and 4.1Km at 8.2% (44Km to go). These are unlikely to see attacks, but will continue to create damage in the peloton. A very technical descent follows.
But the attacks are expected in the final ascent to Leysin. A known finale, but a more difficult one than normal. It's 15 kilometers at 5.9%, with some tough gradients close to the finish. The final kilometers are it's toughest; and the final kilometer features some technical and tight streets which should make for spectacular footage.
Stage 5: Vernier - Vernier, 150.4 kilometers
The final day of racing this year is a hilly day fully made up of a circuit around the city of Vernier. 1600 meters of climbing in 150 kilometers, not overly hard, the profile definitely oversells it. But the prospects of a breakaway cannot be discounted as the rolling roads will be fatiguing in the peloton, but also not the easiest to chase.
Until 11 kilometers to go the riders are in the circuit, with a few small big-ring hilltops where attacks are possible, but also some sprinters may be dropped.
However, a bunch sprint is quite possible at the end of this race. If so, it will not be an easy one, with a few corners in the final 1.5 kilometers that will stretch things out. The final one with only 350 meters to go, it will definitely see a race to that corner, before the final sprint.
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