Tour de Romandie 2021

Geraint Thomas wins Tour de Romandie

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Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) claimed the overall victory at the Tour de Romandie, as Remi Cavagna (Deceuninck-QuickStep) won the final-day's stage 5 time trial in Fribourg.

Thomas, who bizarrely crashed when sprinting alongside Michael Woods (Israel Start-Up Nation) atop Thyon 2000 on stage 4, recovered his 11-second deficit to the Canadian on the 16km time trial course on the final day of racing.

Cavagna proved fastest in the stage 5 time trial, covering the course in 21:54, while Stefan Bissegger (EF Education-Nippo) finished second at six seconds back and Thomas finished third at 17 seconds back. Woods finished 28th at 1:11 back.

Third place was enough to push Thomas into the overall victory at the Tour de Romandie, with his Ineos Grenadiers teammate Richie Porte finishing second at 28 seconds back, Fausto Masnada (Deceuninck-QuickStep) in third at 38 seconds, Marc Soler (Movistar) fourth at 39 seconds and then Woods in fifth at 43 seconds.

Tour de Romandie date: April 27 - May 2, 2021 
Distance: 684.04km 
Start: Oron, Switzerland - 2:40 p.m.  (CEST) 
Finish: Fribourg, Switzerland - 11:54 a.m. (CEST) 
Cyclingnews live coverage: daily

After a hiatus last year due to the global coronavirus pandemic, the Tour de Romandie returns for its 75th anniversary in the French-speaking cantons of Switzerland. The 2021 race offers a record 12,500 metres of total climbing across six days of racing.

Some of the top names to take the start line on May 27 for the opening Prologue include Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers), Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe), and Chris Froome (Israel Start-Up Nation), Richie Porte (Ineos Grenadiers) and Swiss standout Marc Hirschi (UAE Team Emirates). Other home interest will spotlight Stefan Küng of Groupama-FDJ) and Stefan Bissegger of EF Education-Nippo.

Using most of the route planned for last year, the 2021 course is bookended with two races against the clock – a 4.05km Prologue to begin in Oron and a hilly 16.19km test for the finale in Fribourg.

Stage 1 will begin in Aigle, the home of the UCI, and roll 168 kilometres to Martigny, with four laps of a tough hilly circuit. Stage 2 and 3 offer similar distances, with stage 2 featuring 3,435 metres of climbing with six categorised climbs, and stage 3 providing seven third-category climbs along the way.

Stage 4 may be the toughest of the race, 161 kilometres from Sion with three cat-1 climbs, including the 20-kilometre summit finish at Thyon 2000, for a total of 4,157 metres of climbing.

Tour de Romandie history

Tour de Romandie was founded in 1947 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Union Cycliste Switzerland. It continues to bring together all the French-speaking cantons of Switzerland under a single entity and promote Romandie.

The race is used as a pre-Giro d'Italia tune-up for many teams, with the Italian Grand Tour beginning May 8 this year. The last two editions of the Tour de Romandie were won by Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma). While the terrain in Switzerland lends itself to climbing, the race offers two time trials, a prologue and longer TT, which attracts many top riders.

In 2021, 20 trade teams and a Swiss Cycling squad will participate. The preliminary start list does not feature Roglič with his Jumbo-Visma team, however the balance of last year’s podium, Rui Costa of UAE Team Emirates in second place and Geraint Thomas of Ineos Grenadiers in third, are set to race.

Tour de Romandie key features

• April 27, Prologue - Oron, 4.05km
• April 28, Stage 1 - Aigle to Martigny, 168.1km
• April 29, Stage 2 - La Neuveville to Saint-Imier, 165.7km
• April 30, Stage 3 - Estavayer, 168.7km
• May 1, Stage 4 - Sion to Thyon 2000, 161.3km
• May 2, Stage 5 - Fribourg (ITT), 16.19km

Tour de Romandie teams

• AG2R Citroën
• Astana-Premier Tech
• Bahrain Victorious
• Bora-Hansgrohe
• Cofidis
• Deceuninck-QuickStep
• EF Education-Nippo
• Groupama-FDJ
• Ineos Grenadiers
• Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
• Israel Start-Up Nation
• Jumbo-Visma
• Lotto Soudal
• Movistar
• Team BikeExchange
• Team DSM
• Team Qhubeka Assos
• Trek-Segafredo
• UAE Team Emirates
• Swiss Cycling