Tour de Romandie neither one-day nor monument, 28/04-03/05 2026

[QueenStagiaire]

It can‘t be true that this race does not have a thread!!!
Pogačar goes for another Big 7 stage race before it files for bankruptcy. Lipowitz wants the very rare Catalunya-Itzulia-Romandie Podium sweep. Roglič is here and a few other good riders as well. No real TT, tells you how dire it‘s looking for the organisers as they‘re obsessed with those. Only 15 teams which is absolutely ridiculous
Weather looks changeable as always, but no really dire days in the forecast. The rain may influence proceedings tomorrow as well.

Prologue:

Stage 1:

Stage 2:

Stage 3:

Stage 4:

Stage 5:

 

[QueenStagiaire]

Still need two more poll options to annoy @Netserk and complete the poll.

 

[canina82]

4th and 6th options seem locked to me.

 

[jsem94]

Decent field, the battle for the podium might be interesting.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

I know it isn't everyone's cup of tea, but I've always liked the prologue+ITT format in this race so it's a shame to see it gone.

The major questions are what yesterday's victor will do, and by that I'm obviously referring to Nairo Quintana, and also what kind of show the Super Friends led by Ratman & Rogbin have planned for us to watch. It should be exciting.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

Picnic will get their first win of the season in this race, and it will come from the Italian atapuma Mattia gaffuri

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Weird that Leysin as the MTF is the last stage when all the others have descent finishes. Ovronnaz is tough enough that it should see the field split up regardless, but the other two stages, the Orbe and the Jaunpass one, probably would be better after Leysin. I do like the prologue + TT in this race typically in fairness, but nevertheless.

Ideally same stages but ordered Prologue, stage 2, stage 5, stage 3, stage 1, stage 4.

 

[Sciatic]

Looking forward to have this to watch this week, but it does have an odd spot—for both riders and fans— in the race calendar, sandwiched between the end of the spring classics season and the start of the Giro. Im always a bit disappointed to have the big classics season end, even when LBL isn’t always a compelling race. I guess I could look at Romandie as my transition to GT racing.

 

[gunara]

One TT? 4 road stages make some funny jump and runaround maps in this little strip of the world.

 

[Escarabajo]

I don't see the Quintana option to wear the leader's jersey?

 

[Rob5091]

Söderqvist to win the prologue, Pogi gets bored and wins everything else.

 

[Coppi-Bartali]

Does Pogacar have to start last because he has number 1?
It's going to be very windy at the end.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

This 800 meter climb (7%) will take about 40% of the TT time so it will be important. Pogi can win it.
To me the main question is if Pogi will test his bazooka w/kg tomorrow (9 km at almost 10% is a big wall). There's 25 km of dead flat to the finish but I think he will go for it.

 

[Ancalagon]

I’m keen to see if Onley has fully regained his form after his illness. If so, I can see him battling Lenny and Lipowitz for the second step of the podium.


If Tiberi finds his early-season legs again, he could be in the mix for third as well.


Personally, I’m hoping to see Nordhagen in the top 5, with an outside chance at the podium. Also looking forward to Andrew August's performance.

 

[KZD]

One of the historical week long stage races. Hopefully, they can find a new sponsor to keep the race alive.

Pogacar is the obvious favourite, he will most likely kill the race already on Wednesday.

The first for the other podium positions should be good, I am going with Lipowitz and Lenny.

 

[KoopaCycling]

Hopefully not the last edition

 

[search]

This 800 meter climb (7%) will take about 40% of the TT time so it will be important. Pogi can win it.
To me the main question is if Pogi will test his bazooka w/kg tomorrow (9 km at almost 10% is a big wall). There's 25 km of dead flat to the finish but I think he will go for it.

I think he has a good chance to win every stage, yeah, and that should be motivation enough to go for it.

Here's another profile of the prologue today. A bit too extreme, of course, but it gives you a better idea that the flattish one above.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

They should tell Pogacar/UAE to reign themselves in a little, because if they don't Pogacar will win every stage and I don't think that that would make for great PR at a time when the race desperately needs it.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

I think he has a good chance to win every stage, yeah, and that should be motivation enough to go for it.

Here's another profile of the prologue today. A bit too extreme, of course, but it gives you a better idea that the flattish one above.

The downhill is even steeper than I thought. It won't last long and will produce tiny gaps. It's Pogacar's stage to lose IMO.

They should tell Pogacar/UAE to reign themselves in a little, because if they don't Pogacar will win every stage and I don't think that that would make for great PR at a time when the race desperately needs it.

If Pogi wins all stages it will be popular news.

 

[Berniece]

Where is the none of the above option? Don't think any of it will actually happen

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Looking forward to have this to watch this week, but it does have an odd spot—for both riders and fans— in the race calendar, sandwiched between the end of the spring classics season and the start of the Giro. Im always a bit disappointed to have the big classics season end, even when LBL isn’t always a compelling race. I guess I could look at Romandie as my transition to GT racing.

For a long time the race has been heavily dependent on whether or not GT riders are interested in the Ardennes, because its spot in the calendar usually meant that Ardennes challengers would either be resting or coming off form at this point in time, and it's often so close to the Giro that those racing the Corsa Rosa are reluctant to go all out for it. As a result, during times when the big GT contenders were interested in the Ardennes, it would serve as a sort of stage racing proving ground for lesser names and prospect contenders, but during times when the big GT contenders were not interested in the Ardennes, it would have some very strong fields and be a key battleground in the psychology of the season.

During most of the 2000s and early 2010s, therefore, it was not a very strong field (maybe a couple of major contenders but not a very deep field), with the early 2000s being about the super-peaking to try to compete with the dominance of Not Assigned in July, and the late 2000s and early 2010s seeing a lot of guys like Valverde, Evans, the Schleck brothers, Rodríguez, Cunego and co all being interested in the Ardennes so either not showing in Romandie or coming there as form tapered off (Evans did win the race twice). However, during the 2010s, a lot of the main GT GC men were not explosive Ardennes types, and so guys like Wiggins, Froome and Quintana would seldom be bothering with Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, giving Romandie added importance in their calendar and seeing its value increased with deeper GC fields.

It's been moving back towards its early 2010s self in the post-pandemic times, it still draws decent fields but isn't a focal point as more of the current GC men have developed interest in the hilly classics (and in the cases of Pogačar and Evenepoel, the northern ones too) meaning that they will be unlikely to be at peak form here as for many riders it's the last race of the spring before a bit of a break.

 

[Rechtschreibfehler]

They should tell Pogacar/UAE to reign themselves in a little, because if they don't Pogacar will win every stage and I don't think that that would make for great PR at a time when the race desperately needs it.

I don't know, it would mostly mean that there'd be a chance of the race being mentioned outside of the usual cycling news in some more mainstream places. Also Pogi isn't exactly unpopular, outside of the forum moaning.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

I don't know, it would mostly mean that there'd be a chance of the race being mentioned outside of the usual cycling news in some more mainstream places. Also Pogi isn't exactly unpopular, outside of the forum moaning.

If Pogacar was such a big commercial draw, then a title sponsor would have stepped in on a one-off basis.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

GC guys (Roglic, Lipowitz, Onley, Lenny) start earlier but Pogi at the end: Did UAE miss larger chance for rainfall in late afternoon? Or does Pogi need more time to recover from Liege?

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Yeah, I also think that apart from him losing the GC, preferably to Voisard, him winning all the stages could be the best advertising they could get. However, the actual racing might not really have any impact on the sponsor situation, cause just like with teams struggling to attract investments, it often seems random whether the organisers manage to secure new partners or not.