The Tour of Britain handed the reigns over to the sprinters and courageous opportunitists of the peloton, but on Thursday they will be firmly back in the hands of the climbers at the Tour de Suisse. Once again a target will be on the backs of FDJ-Suez, who are taking on the race with their climbing superteam, but this year, home favorite Marlen Reusser (Movistar) is making up for lost time and along with a few other emerging talents could challenge Demi Vollering, who won the race almost effortlessly in 2024, when the two were teammates on SD Worx-Protime.
The Tour de Suisse sits in the perfect place on the calendar for riders looking to gauge their form before refocusing on training for the Tour de France Femmes, or get a last-minute tune-up before the Giro d'Italia Women. Riders in a wide range of form will be racing, all with the same ambition in mind: see where they stand against each other before the next two "Grand Tours."
With four stages, two of them especially difficult, and a peloton of riders keen to test themselves – the Tour de Suisse promises to continue delivering the best the women have to offer to fans of women's cycling.
The Stages
For three years the women's Tour de Suisse has started with a blisteringly fast but short opening stage and featured a hilly time trial, but this year the women will increase their kilometres in Switzerland with a longer first stage and a road race on Friday instead of a race against the clock. The courses are also not as hilly as previous years – there is no mountaintop finish like the first stage Vollering won last year, but stages 1, 2 and 4 still look to be good tests for those going into the Giro d'Italia or Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift with general classification ambitions.
Stage 1: Thursday, June 12 – Gstaad to Gstaad (96.4 km)
The women won't have much time to adjust back into hilly racing, with the first stage opening on a Category 2 ascent. The climb tops out only 7.4 km into the stage but is, luckily, gradual enough that it will only warm up the legs. Roughly 15 km later they take on the next climb – a 7.9 km long ascent that averages 8% but reaches 10% grades. This would be a big one for the GC hopefuls, but once they reach the top there is still 64 km to go in the race.
That being said, it's a short stage at only 96.4 km, so some riders might want to give it a go even with over 60 km to the finish after that second summit. Someone who is either feeling confident or looking to trick their competitors might use this climb as a launchpad for a long-range move. It's something Reusser would do.
The final 35 km is all a gradual drag to the line; it might see some riders distanced, or make chasing down a breakaway harder, but likely won't trouble anyone aiming for the overall race lead.
Did we do a good job with this story?
