Tour de Romandie 2024

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Prologue - Maikel Zijlaard wins prologue from early start on dry course

Maikel Zijlaard (Tudor Pro Cycling) earned the first leader's jersey of the Tour de Romandie with his victory in the prologue Tuesday. The 24-year-old completed the short 2.3km time trial in 2:55 and to the hot seat before the rain made the streets in Payerne treacherous. 

Australian Cameron Scott (Bahrain Victorious) came closest to unseating Zijlaard, taking second place with less than a second separating the duo. Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal-Quickstep) finished third.

Tour de Romandie 2024 overview

The 77th edition of the Tour de Romandie returns to the calendar on the final week of April, 23rd to 28th. The six days of racing brings together all the cantons of French-speaking Switzerland, Romandie, for WorldTour competition. 

When the event launched in 1947, there were four days of racing. It was elevated to the WorldTour in 2011 and now with six days of competition it serves as preparation for riders and teams headed to the Giro d’Italia. In 2022, organisers launched the Tour de Romandie Féminin which continues on the Women's WorldTour. 

Irishman Stephen Roche holds the current record for most GC victories, taking the title in 1983, 1984 and 1987. There are 12 other riders who have a pair of overall titles, with Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) reaching that achievement most recently with wins in 2018 and 2019.

In 2023, Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) used a solo triumph atop Thyon 2000 on stage 5 to take the general classification lead. He secured the title on Sunday, with Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar) in second, 19 seconds back, while Damiano Caruso (Bahrain Victorious) rounded out the podium at 27 seconds.

This year's Tour de Romandie route is 45.5km shorter than 2023, but still provides more than 11,000 metres of climbing. The Prologue in 2024 will take place in Payerne on the east side of Neuchâtel Lake. For a second consecutive year a mid-race individual time trial will break up the action in the mountains, this one 15.5km loop around Oron. The queen stage on Saturday will be a 151km route to the Vaud Alps resort village of Leysin, with the overall finish on Sunday at Vernier, to the west of Geneva.

Tour de Romandie race history

The Tour de Romandie was founded in 1947 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Swiss Cycling Union. That first edition brought together 10 teams and a total of 40 riders for four stages of racing, Belgium's Désiré Keteleer securing the overall victory. 

Between 1983-1987, Irishman Stephen Roche won the Tour de Romandie three times and still holds that record. Twelve riders have won the race twice, Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) last taking a pair of GC titles in 2018 and 2019.

Eight Swiss riders have won the Tour de Romandie, Tony Rominger securing the crown on home soil in 1991 and 1995, while Pascal Richard went back-to-back in 1993 and 1994.

The race was elevated to ProTour level in 2006, then five years later to WorldTour status. The high alpine mountains of Switzerland are on full display for the event, and provide the perfect tuneup for the first Grand Tour of the season, the Giro d'Italia, which arrives the following week.  

View the full list of winners.