The Tour de Romandie promises to be particularly spectacular and competitive, which will color the roads of Eastern Switzerland from April 28 to May 3. The 79th edition of the Swiss stage race, the usual appetizer before the Giro d'Italia that will start just five days later, will be enhanced by the presence of none other than World Champion Tadej Pogačar, who alongside Primož Roglič, Florian Lipowitz, and Lenny Martinez, will compose an absolutely top-level lineup.

To ensure that these and all other riders at the starting line can create an exciting contest, the organizers have designed one of the toughest and longest routes ever, introducing some interesting innovations. Among these, the most striking is the absence (for the first time since 1988) of an individual time trial, in addition to the very consolidated and confirmed inaugural prologue, which this year will be the only time trial the athletes will face.

This choice will result in one more road stage compared to the recent past, and consequently, the total kilometers will reach 853, a figure not seen since the 1996 edition, when there were seven stages in the program.

Accompanying this total distance will be, perhaps more importantly, an elevation gain of 14,183 meters (significantly higher than the last five editions, which never reached 13,000), a result of two stages (in Martigny and Orbe) drawn around a circuit, an unprecedented stage that will lead the group from Rue to Vucheres, and especially the two stages that will decide the general classification: the queen stage (entirely in Fribourg) from Broc to Charmey and the final stage from Lucens to Leysin.

Only here will we know who will succeed João Almeida, who became the first Portuguese winner in the race's history last year thanks to an excellent performance in the final time trial in Geneva (won by Remco Evenepoel), which at the last moment allowed him to overtake Lenny Martinez (2nd) in the overall standings and climb on the podium alongside his teammate Jay Vine (3rd).

THE STAGES

Prologue, April 28: Villars-sur-Glâne

1st stage, April 29: Martigny-Martigny

2nd stage, April 30: Rue-Vucherens

3rd stage, May 1: Orbe-Orbe

4th stage, May 2: Broc-Charmey

5th stage, May 3: Lucens-Leysin