The Tour de Romandie, one of the most prestigious one-week stage races on the cycling calendar, kicks off this April 23 with an opening time trial where, of course, one of the most followed teams in the sport will be present: INEOS Grenadiers.
The race will be contested until April 28, and the British team will bring a powerful lineup, led by Egan Bernal, Carlos Rodriguez and Thymen Arensman, who will fight to win the overall classification of the race.
After a brilliant debut performance at Liège-Bastogne-Liège last Sunday, Bernal will be hoping to continue his resurgence this year and maintain his solid season after podium finishes at O Gran Camiño and the Volta a Catalunya in recent months.
Along with Bernal, Carlos Rodríguez and Arensman are another pair of potential general classification contenders at the Tour de Romandie. Rodriguez was runner-up in the Itzulia earlier this month, while Arensman has already finished in the top six overall this season at the Volta ao Algarve and Tirreno Adriatico.
With time trial specialist Jonathan Castroviejo, dynamic sprinter Ethan Hayter, talented American up-and-comer Magnus Sheffield and Oscar Rodriguez rounding out the lineup, it’s a team with plenty of potential to impress.
With the known absences of Pogacar, Vingegaard, Evenepoel, or Roglic, the range of favorites opens up to several riders. Apart from the above-mentioned Ineos Grenadiers, the EF Education club is expected to make a strong bet with the Olympic champion Richard Carapaz.
Lidl, on a winning streak, will field the duo Tao Geoghegan and Ciccone, and Bora will field three podium contenders in Jay Hindley, Sergio Higuita and Alexander Vlasov. It will also be interesting to see 20-year-old Frenchman Lenny Martinez in action.
The 77th edition of the Swiss race offers a demanding course to test the contenders to succeed Britain’s Adam Yates, winner in 2023. It will start with a symbolic prologue time trial of just over 2 kilometers in Payerne and will have another time trial over 15.5 km with an undulating profile.