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

[Rechtschreibfehler]

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

That's a different point entirely. It was about the PR of Pogacar winning all stages, not if he can, by himself, draw in a sponsor for a race he participates in.

 

[CyclistAbi]

Hopefully for Rogla to take the leaders jersey today with 1s advantage. Just the way he likes it.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Hopefully for Rogla to take the leaders jersey today with 1s advantage. Just the way he likes it.

On this route maybe 0.1 s.

 

[tobydawq]

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.

Let's hope they don't get stuck in the non-differentiable low point just before the hill.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Let's hope they don't get stuck in the non-differentiable low point just before the hill.

Teddy did some cyclocross so he'll be fine. A disaster for Rogla incoming.

 

[CyclistAbi]

On this route maybe 0.1 s.

Too stressful for the fans a hefty 1s will do fine.

Teddy did some cyclocross so he'll be fine. A disaster for Rogla incoming.

Rogla can jump over thanks to his pre cycling occupation.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Rogla can jump over thanks to his pre cycling occupation.

He has to remember to stay on his bike though.

 

[CyclistAbi]

@Krzysztof_O

Not while in the air.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

That's a different point entirely. It was about the PR of Pogacar winning all stages, not if he can, by himself, draw in a sponsor for a race he participates in.

It isn't a different point, it's a different aspect of the same point. Any rider winning all stages in a race will hurt the reputation of that race no matter what race or rider it is. So if the mere presence of Pogacar isn't enough of a positive to draw in a sponsor, then if you combine the two effects it's possible that him being there is a net negative if he wins all stages. On the other hand, if he doesn't win all stages, then his presence almost certainly won't be a net negative from a commercial perspective. So it would be better if he doesn't even setting aside sporting stakes.

 

[Coppi-Bartali]

 

[Rechtschreibfehler]

It isn't a different point, it's a different aspect of the same point. Any rider winning all stages in a race will hurt the reputation of that race no matter what race or rider it is. So if the mere presence of Pogacar isn't enough of a positive to draw in a sponsor, then if you combine the two effects it's possible that him being there is a net negative if he wins all stages. On the other hand, if he doesn't win all stages, then his presence almost certainly won't be a net negative from a commercial perspective. So it would be better if he doesn't even setting aside sporting stakes.

You mean the reputation inside the sport, or the reputation of the race for the viewers and sponsors?
Inside the sport, I might see your point, but I disagree that it doesn't matter who the rider is. It would be another marvel in the cabinet of Pogacar wonders, not a no name but a name one expects extraordinary things from.

For the relation to the public, I still don't understand what the issue with winning all stage should be, but maybe you can explain it to me.

 

[BigCoward]

Having the information for the mountain on stage 1 listed as 3 seperate sections is annoying beyond belief.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

You mean the reputation inside the sport, or the reputation of the race for the viewers and sponsors?
Inside the sport, I might see your point, but I disagree that it doesn't matter who the rider is. It would be another marvel in the cabinet of Pogacar wonders, not a no name but a name one expects extraordinary things from.

For the relation to the public, I still don't understand what the issue with winning all stage should be, but maybe you can explain it to me.

For the relation to the public. It's harder to take an event seriously when the same guy wins everything. Compare to the clay events in tennis when Nadal was at his most dominant - that was consistently the least popular part of the men's season, and things devolved into publicity stunts like the Madrid organisers with their blue clay. Or compare where darts was when Phil Taylor won nine world titles in a row to where it is now. Or heck, go back a century in this sport to the time when the Giro organisers paid Alfredo Binda to not start the race because people didn't care for his domination anymore. Or compare the viewership figures for the 2024 and 2025 Giri. Perhaps with the exception of athletes who become global brands, the presence of big names doesn't help any sporting event as much as the absence of competition hinders it - and Pogacar is nowhere near that level of stardom.

 

[Rob5091]

Maybe moving the race in the calender to a date, when the well heeled of Switzerland are off on their yachts, so more of "Romandie" can be utilized might help save the race. I don't suppose for one minute that the well to do in the Cantons are, shall we say enamored with the idea of road closures, lots of extra traffic and the sporting riff raff in their neighbourhoods.

 

[Ancalagon]

I’m currently in French-speaking Switzerland, where Pogačar’s presence is clearly the main selling point. The organizers have scaled up their staff this year and media credentials are higher than in previous years. Having him here is obviously a boost for the event.

 

[Rechtschreibfehler]

For the relation to the public. It's harder to take an event seriously when the same guy wins everything. Compare to the clay events in tennis when Nadal was at his most dominant - that was consistently the least popular part of the men's season, and things devolved into publicity stunts like the Madrid organisers with their blue clay. Or compare where darts was when Phil Taylor won nine world titles in a row to where it is now. Or heck, go back a century in this sport to the time when the Giro organisers paid Alfredo Binda to not start the race because people didn't care for his domination anymore. Or compare the viewership figures for the 2024 and 2025 Giri. Perhaps with the exception of athletes who become global brands, the presence of big names doesn't help any sporting event as much as the absence of competition hinders it - and Pogacar is nowhere near that level of stardom.

I follow your reasoning, and mostly agree, yet I think there is a difference between a "one off domination event" (for this race) that would get some headlines outside the sport, and suffocating domination in specific popular events.

Overall of course good competitive racing is better to attract interested viewership of the people actually viewing already, in the case of a small event like TdR I honestly don't know what kind of specific PR sucess they'd need to get a sponsor again. So maybe a historic news wothy feat does a better job, in this instance, not in general, to promote it again. But maybe it would also backfire, I don't know. It's in the end an empirical question we won't find an answer to a priori, and probably not at all because he isn't going to win all of the stages anyway.

As a last question: don't you think it would be better to have him win all stages and get some extra attention, rather than have him win by 3 min and win say 4 stages? Because that would just be utter domination as well, but without any newsworthyness.

 

[Netserk]

It isn't a different point, it's a different aspect of the same point. Any rider winning all stages in a race will hurt the reputation of that race no matter what race or rider it is. So if the mere presence of Pogacar isn't enough of a positive to draw in a sponsor, then if you combine the two effects it's possible that him being there is a net negative if he wins all stages. On the other hand, if he doesn't win all stages, then his presence almost certainly won't be a net negative from a commercial perspective. So it would be better if he doesn't even setting aside sporting stakes.

i dont think so

as much as it made the gc a non event , vingegaard in o gran camino got a lot more attention than the past two editions

and while romandie is a different case , i also think the organisers would love for pogi to win all the stages

 

[CyclistAbi]

If the same rider wins everything that is mostly bad for the sport itself, although Pogi hasn't win everything this year. As for race organiser, the idea is to have the best there and that is always an achievement when they come.

As for this specific race i wouldn't worry too much that Pogi will win everything.

 

[search]

Having the information for the mountain on stage 1 listed as 3 seperate sections is annoying beyond belief.

CyclingCols – Ovronnaz – ride every col ⛰️🚴

www.cyclingcols.com

Don't think it was ever (or not in modern years at least) used in a decisive phase of the race - only early on in 2024. In a somewhat similar finish in 2010 it was climbed from the other side.

 

[SHAD0W93]

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

Going for the worst score option.

 

[topcat]

Where is the option in the poll that in the 5 stages, everyone lets Pog ride away before he wants to attack and then the peloton consists of 150 Valverdes? Of course everyone apart from Pog would freewheel the prologue and walk the climb. If this doesn't happen, then I refuse to watch the race and I'm putting the UCI on notice.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

i dont think so

as much as it made the gc a non event , vingegaard in o gran camino got a lot more attention than the past two editions

and while romandie is a different case , i also think the organisers would love for pogi to win all the stages

Vingegaard never won all stages at OGC.

I also think that the baseline for a new and unheralded race is different than for Romandie, and that overlapping with the monuments this year has also really driven down attention for OGC, but that's a different story.

 

[Taxus4a]

And who in the startlist is able to beat Pohgacar at this Prologue?
I dont know if is it thecnic or dangerous. That way it depends Pogacar intention..But if not, It is just up to Pogacar.

 

[TheKidsCallMeBoss]

Let's see if the new Colnago TT bike is any good or if it's *** like the previous version

 

[CyclistAbi]

Let's see if the new Colnago TT bike is any good or if it's *** like the previous version

Will you take the average team or best team member performance to make the conclusion?