The Tour de Romandie was for many years an important event for those targeting the Giro d'Italia, but since the calendar has become more crowded and essentially "compressed", this is no longer the case.

However, this does not detract from the fact that the race in French-speaking Switzerland remains fascinating, interesting, and challenging, especially because out of six race days, two are time trials.

This choice - with time trials taking place in the prologue and the fifth stage in Geneva - makes Remco Evenepoel, world champion in the discipline, the logical favorite, with João Almeida and Carlos Rodríguez, last year's winner, being his most anticipated rivals.

The race starts from Saint-Imier with a 3,440-meter prologue whose difficulty lies in the many curves on the course. The first stage is the Münchenstein – Fribourg of 194.4 km. It will start from the outskirts of Basel for a stage that offers three mountain passes in sequence in its central part and a finish in Fribourg that is slightly different from usual, as it will be slightly uphill and will call for the most resilient sprinters.

The third day of racing features the La Grande Béroche – La Grande Béroche of 157 km, a loop course with four mountain passes but with plenty of flat terrain in the final part. The fourth day - with the Cossonay – Cossonay of 183.1 km - will likely smile upon attackers and could conclude with a reduced sprint.

The most anticipated stage is certainly the Sion - Thyon 2000 of 127.4 km with the climbs of Anzère and Nax that will serve as an appetizer to the final climb leading to Thyon 2000 (20.8 km at 7.6%) where Adam Yates won.

To finish, the Geneva time trial measuring 17.1 km which includes a short climb to Cologny in its central part.

Among the most anticipated riders, in addition to the already mentioned Remco Evenepoel, João Almeida, and Carlos Rodríguez, there are certainly Aleksandr Vlasov, David Gaudu, Lennert Van Eetvelt, Lenny Martinez, Finn Fisher-Black, Jay Vine, Aurélien Paret-Peintre, Lorenzo Fortunato, Pablo Castrillo, and Clément Champoussin.

PARTICIPANTS

INEOS Grenadiers
1. RODRÍGUEZ Carlos
2. LANGELLOTTI Victor
3. LEONARD Michael
4. SHMIDT Artem
5. SWIFT Ben
6. THOMAS Geraint
7. WATSON Samuel

UAE Team Emirates - XRG
11. ALMEIDA João
12. OLIVEIRA Ivo
13. CHRISTEN Jan
14. GROßSCHARTNER Felix
15. HERREGODTS Rune
16. TORRES Pablo
17. VINE Jay

Soudal Quick-Step
21. EVENEPOEL Remco
22. ČERNÝ Josef
23. EENKHOORN Pascal
24. LECERF Junior
25. PEDERSEN Casper
26. SERRY Pieter
27. VANSEVENANT Mauri

Alpecin - Deceuninck
31. DILLIER Silvan
32. BAYER Tobias
33. DEBRUYNE Ramses
34. PRICE-PEJTERSEN Johan
35. RIESEBEEK Oscar
36. UHLIG Henri
37. VAN TRICHT Stan

Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe
41. VLASOV Aleksandr
42. HAJEK Alexander
43. KOCH Jonas
44. MACIEJUK Filip
45. PALZER Anton
46. SOBRERO Matteo
47. ZWIEHOFF Ben

Team Visma | Lease a Bike
51. BRENNAN Matthew
52. GRAAT Tijmen
53. HUISING Menno
54. MCLAY Daniel
55. NORDHAGEN Jørgen
56. VAN BELLE Loe
57. VERMOTE Julien

Team Jayco AlUla
61. PLAPP Luke
62. BERHE Welay Hagos
63. DUNBAR Eddie
64. FOLDAGER Anders
65. HELLEMOSE Asbjørn
66. JUUL-JENSEN Christopher
67. STEWART Campbell

Intermarché - Wanty
71. ARTZ Huub
72. BARRÉ Louis
73. BONNEU Kamiel
74. DE POOTER Dries
75. KUYPERS Gerben
76. PAQUOT Tom
77. VAN BOVEN Luca

Lidl - Trek
81. LÓPEZ Juan Pedro
82. BERNARD Julien
83. GHEBREIGZABHIER Amanuel
84. KÄMNA Lennard
85. MOLLEMA Bauke
86. MOSCA Jacopo
87. OOMEN Sam

Movistar Team
91. ROMO Javier
92. ARCAS Jorge
93. CASTRILLO Pablo
94. CIMOLAI Davide
95. OLIVEIRA Nelson
96. NORSGAARD Mathias
97. ROMEO Iván

EF Education - EasyPost
101. ASGREEN Kasper
102. BAUDIN Alex
103. CARTHY Hugh
104. NERURKAR Lukas
105. RAFFERTY Darren
106. RYAN Archie
107. SHAW James

Bahrain - Victorious
111. MARTINEZ Lenny
112. BURATTI Nicolò
113. GRADEK Kamil
114. HAIG Jack
115. PAASSCHENS Mathijs
116. PICKERING Finlay
117. VAN DER MEULEN Max

Cofidis
121. BUCHMANN Emanuel
122. ANIOŁKOWSKI Stanisław
123. DEBEAUMARCHÉ Nicolas
124. HERRADA Jesús
125. IZAGIRRE Ion
126. KNIGHT Oliver
127. TOUMIRE Hugo

Team Picnic PostNL
131. ONLEY Oscar
132. BITTNER Pavel
133. COMBAUD Romain
134. EDDY Patrick
135. KOERDT Bjorn
136. LEEMREIZE Gijs
137. ROOSEN Timo

Groupama - FDJ
141. DAVY Clément
142. CAVAGNA Rémi
143. GAUDU David
144. GERMANI Lorenzo
145. KÜNG Stefan
146. PALENI Enzo
147. ROCHAS Rémy

XDS Astana Team
151. TEJADA Harold
152. BETTIOL Alberto
153. CHAMPOUSSIN Clément
154. FORTUNATO Lorenzo
155. GAZZOLI Michele
156. HIGUITA Sergio
157. KUZMIN Anton

Arkéa - B&B Hotels
161. RODRÍGUEZ Cristián
162. CAPIOT Amaury
163. GARCÍA PIERNA Raúl
164. GUERNALEC Thibault
165. GUERNALEC Victor
166. LOZOUET Léandre
167. VENTURINI Clément

Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team
171. PARET-PEINTRE Aurélien
172. BISIAUX Léo
173. BISSEGGER Stefan
174. COSNEFROY Benoît
175. SCOTSON Callum
176. STAUNE-MITTET Johannes
177. VENDRAME Andrea

Tudor Pro Cycling Team
181. RONDEL Mathys
182. ERIKSSON Jacob
183. KLUCKERS Arthur
184. KOLZE CHANGIZI Sebastian
185. SUTER Joel
186. THALMANN Roland
187. ZIJLAARD Maikel