Stages & route Tour de Suisse 2026 - Tadej Pogacar faces colossal circuit mountain stage

The 2026 Tour de Suisse will be taking place from the 17th to the 21st of June this year, a special edition in which the race has been thinned down from eight to five race days. Tadej Pogacar headlines the final pre-Tour de France World Tour event, which every years brings in a luxurious startlist. We preview the race and look at its stages.

The race was created back in 2033 and was first won by Max Bulla. The race has had winners such as Gino Bartali, Eddy Merckx, Roger de Vlaeminck, Sean Kelly and Lance Armstrong throughout it's almost century-long history.

More recently the likes of Fabian Cancellara, Rui Costa, Egan Bernal, Richard Carapaz, Geraint Thomas, Mattias Skjelmose and Adam Yates have become winners. In 2025, it was João Almeida who took the overall win after a set of dominant performances on the mountain stages.

The race begins in the city of Sondrio, with the opening stage taking place fully outside of Swiss territory. The race in fact begins in Italy and the riders will be having a hilly day where the puncheurs and climbers will set their first differences.

The first 55 kilometers of the stage are in fact flat but then, in the middle of the Alps, the organizers have designed a route for the puncheurs, with plenty short but sharp climbs to be tackled. The first of which is right away 2.8 kilometers at 10%.

The riders go through some climbs but it will be a slow build-up towards the finish. With 16 kilometers to go the riders tackle a climb that is 1.4 kilometers at 9%, followed by a very fast descent into an intermediate sprint.

With almost no break then comes the final climb to Bordighi, which is 1.1 kilometers at 11.5%. This climb will decide the stage, ending with a mere 5 kilometers to go. Most of the way to the finish is through a very fast and also slightly technical descent, before the final 1.5 kilometers flatten out as the riders enter the finishing city.

Stage 2 takes place in the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland, however this time around actually in Switzerland itself. But that doesn't make things any easier, as it is another day designed for the puncheurs - or because of Tadej Pogacar's presence, there isn't much distinction between who fights for the win.

The stage has a difficult climb close to its start, averaging 6.3% for over 5 kilometers, in which the breakaway should go up the road. Most of the day is then flat and should be calm, before a final set of climbs that is not overly difficult from the previous day.

The first ascent is to Fanghi, with 3.5 kilometers at 7% - ending with 14 kilometers to go. The decisive attacks may indeed come here as its the longest of two climbs, and the descent off of it is very short but very steep and technical.

The riders are dropped off at the literal base of the final ascent to Orselina which is 1.4 kilometers long at 8.5%. It ends with 9 kilometers to go, with another short but very technical descent taking the riders down to the center of Locarno where the stage will finish.

Stage 3 is perhaps the easiest of the race and the only one where a sprint is somewhat possible. However, in no way is it a flat stage. It features a very unusual profile in fact, starting off with a 2-kilometer climb at 10% literally from kilometer 0.

This means a strong breakaway will go up the road. Even if it does not happen there, it will happen on the first of the first-category climbs which is almost 9 kilometers long at 7%. A second tough climb that has 8% for over 4 kilometers ends with 95 kilometers to go.

For the sprinters that are in the race, the stage then becomes more favourable. There is a plateau section still before the riders come down again to the altitude of Bad Ragaz. The final 58 kilometers are flat, which allows for an organized chase to still take place.

The finale is not technical in any way and, it is slightly uphill however it is realistic to believe a bunch sprint could possibly happen here.

The race's individual time trial takes place in Aarburg, with a route that is 23.6 kilometers in length and is virtually pan-flat. Unlike most time trials nowadays, there is no climbing to be tackled amidst the effort, whilst the route is also not technical - allowing the specialists to use their abilities to their best.

The queen stage of the race and the only mountainous stage of the year. There will be several important stages for the overall classification, but in another unusual move, the only mountain stage is a circuit.

The riders begin the stage in Villars-sur-Ollon, where they will also finish a few hours later. Right away they climb the Col de la Croix for the first time, 3.9 kilometers at 8.8% where the breakaway is expected to go.

Then the riders ascent the entire Col de la Croix on two separate occasions. The climb is a total 19 kilometers at 7%, it is a grizzly mountain challenge, specially when tackled twice... The climbs end with 93.5 and 42.5 kilometers to go respectively.

It wouldn't come as a surprise to see the main attacks on the day come in the second climb - if this is Tadej Pogacar's doing, as Tour de France training. That is because the riders then descend 1300 meters in altitude before reaching the final climb.

Which is once again the Col de la Croix, but this time around only climbed until Villars-sur-Ollon, So this will be 9.6 kilometers long at 8%, the most difficult part of the climb. There will be 4500 meters of climbing in 151 kilometers.