The Tour de Suisse ( en, Tour of Switzerland) is an annual road cycling stage race. Raced over eight days, the event covers two weekends in June, and along with the

Critérium du Dauphiné The Critérium du Dauphiné, before 2010 known as the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré, is an annual cycling road race in the Dauphiné region in the southeast of France. The race is run over eight days during the first half of June. It is part ...

, it is considered a proving ground for the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

, which is on the calendar approximately two weeks after the end of the Tour de Suisse. Since 2011 the event is part of the

UCI World Tour The UCI WorldTour (2009–2010: ''UCI World Ranking'') is the premier men's elite road cycling tour, sitting above the UCI ProSeries and various regional UCI Continental Circuits. It refers to both the tour of 38 events and, until 2019, an annual ...

, cycling's highest level of professional races.

History

The race was first held in 1933 and has evolved in timing, duration and sponsorship. Like the Tour de France and the Dauphiné, the Tour de Suisse has several stages with significant mountain climbs in the

Swiss Alps The Alpine region of Switzerland, conventionally referred to as the Swiss Alps (german: Schweizer Alpen, french: Alpes suisses, it, Alpi svizzere, rm, Alps svizras), represents a major natural feature of the country and is, along with the Swiss ...

and at least one

individual time trial An individual time trial (ITT) is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock (in French: ''contre la montre'' – literally "against the watch", in Italian: ''tappa a cronometro'' "stopwatch stage"). There are also track-b ...

. Several winners of the Tour de Suisse have also won the Tour de France, including

Eddy Merckx Édouard Louis Joseph, Baron Merckx (, ; born 17 June 1945), better known as Eddy Merckx, is a Belgian former professional road and track bicycle racer who is among the most successful riders in the history of competitive cycling. His victorie ...

and

Jan Ullrich Jan Ullrich (; born 2 December 1973) is a German former professional road bicycle racer. Ullrich won gold and silver medals in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, Sydney. He won the 1999 Vuelta a España and the HEW Cyclassics in fro ...

. In 2005 the Tour de Suisse was included in the inaugural

UCI Pro Tour The UCI ProTour was a series of road bicycle races in Europe, Australia and Canada organised by the UCI (International Cycling Union). Created by Hein Verbruggen, former president of the UCI, it comprises a number of 'ProTour' cycling teams, ...

and organizers moved the race to earlier in June. The first winner of the race was Austrian

Max Bulla Max Bulla (September 26, 1905 – March 1, 1990) was an Austrian professional road bicycle racer. In the 1931 Tour de France, Bulla won three stages and wore the yellow jersey for one day. He eventually finished the Tour in 15th place overall an ...

in the 1933 edition. The rider with most wins is Italian

Pasquale Fornara Pasquale Fornara (29 March 1925 – 24 July 1990) was a professional Italian road bicycle racer who gained fame in the 1950s by winning the Tour de Suisse stage race four times, a record that still stands to this day. In addition to his Tour de ...

with 4 wins in the 1950s. The most recent winner is

Geraint Thomas Geraint Howell Thomas, (; born 25 May 1986) is a Welsh professional racing cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam , Wales and Great Britain. He is one of the few riders in the modern era to achieve significant elite success as both a tra ...

, who won for the first time in

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

Winners

Multiple winners

By country

Notes

References

Sources

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tour De Suisse UCI ProTour races Cycle races in Switzerland Recurring sporting events established in 1933 1933 establishments in Switzerland UCI World Tour races Annual sporting events in Switzerland Summer events in Switzerland Challenge Desgrange-Colombo races Super Prestige Pernod races