The 2024 edition of the
Tour de Suisse is set to be a dream race for the GC contenders, with more 18,000 metres of climbing over the eight-day stage race, as well as around 20km of time trialling.
The race begins with a 4.8km-long individual time trial around Vaduz, where stage 2 will also start, taking the riders over a 177.9km undulating course to Regensdorf. Stage 3 from Steinmaur to Rüschlikon could be the only opportunity for the pure sprinters that decide to take on the race, but with the Albis Pass shortly before the finish, it could still be a challenge for the fast men to take the win.
The first of four consecutive mountaintop finishes will take place on stage 4, with the final climb of the Gotthard Pass featuring a cobbled sector. The stages to Carì on stage 5 and Blatten-Belalp on stage 6 are fairly similar on paper, as they both feature approximately 3500 metres of climbing over around 150km with summit finishes.
The penultimate stage around the hilltop town of Villars-sur-Ollon is the shortest road stage of the race at 118.7km in length, with two laps of a finishing circuit and a climb to the finish to make it one of the hardest stages in the race with 3070 metres of climbing.
The eighth and final stage of the race also finishes up the same climb to Villars-sur-Ollon in a 15.7km-long time trial, which starts from the town of Aigle, where the UCI world-governing body is based.
Whilst the time trial on the first stage is unlikely to have any impact on the overall outcome of the race, the final race against the clock could be decisive in the general classification if the time gaps are tight going into the stage, as it features just under 900 metres of climbing.
Ultimately, the general classification contenders will have to be in good form in the mountains and also take time in the two time trials if they have hopes of taking the overall victory at the race in mid-June. The Tour de Suisse is often graced with a strong start list, as it is regularly used by many riders as a preparation race for the Tour de France later in the summer.
