This year’s 76th edition of the Tour de Suisse is the last big stage race before the Tour de France. Riders who aren’t racing the Critérium du Dauphiné will be using this to do their last bit of form racing. Sprinters, in particular, use this race to prepare for the Tour de France.
What kind of race is it?
The Tour de Suisse is a nine-day stage race which, like the Critérium du Dauphiné, combines mountain climbs with time trials to give the riders a flavour of the upcoming Tour de France. The Tour de Suisse is one of the 12 European stage races in the UCI WorldTour Calendar. The last five winners of the race were:
2007 Vladimir Karpets (Caisse d’Epargne)
2008 Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas)
2009 Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank)
2010 Frank Schleck (Saxo Bank)
2011 Levi Leipheimer (RadioShack) Continue reading