The men’s Tour de Suisse, the final warm-up race before the Tour de France, starts on Wednesday 17th June in the Italian region of Valtellina and finishes the following Sunday, 21st June, with a brutal mountain stage up to Villars-sur-Ollon. Together with the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, this week-long race will be where Tour hopefuls test their legs before the Grande Boucle, which begins just two weeks later.
UAE Team Emirates-XRG made it two in a row last year, with João Almeida claiming the overall title on the race’s final stage. This year, the team hope to make it a hat-trick of wins here in Switzerland, and they’ve brought the big gun, Tadej Pogačar. Yes, the world champion makes his Tour de Suisse debut to the absolute fright of his colleagues in the peloton. The Slovenian starts as the red-hot favourite, with Primož Roglič, Lenny Martinez and Tom Pidcock expected to be the best of the rest during this five-day race.
Still mourning the loss of Gino Mäder, the organisers will continue to retire his race number (44) from the tragic 2023 edition, and the #rideforGino prize will also be given to the first rider to cross the highest point of the race.
Tour de Suisse 2026 key information
- Dates: Wednesday 17th-Sunday 21st June 2026
- Start: Sondrio (Italy)
- Finish: Villars-sur-Ollon
- Stages: Five
- Television coverage: HBO Max, TNT Sports, FloBikes, SRF, RTS and RSI
- Most wins: Pasquale Fornara (four)
- 2025 winner: João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG)
Tour de Suisse 2026 route
The Tour de Suisse will look quite different in 2026. Firstly, it has shrunk to five stages instead of the previous eight. Secondly, every stage will start and finish in the same town, meaning we are going to be seeing a lot of lapped parcours. Regardless, the race manages to visit the Italian, German and French-speaking regions throughout the five stages.
Now it’s down to five stages, there are fewer mountain days. In fact, the only real mountain stage comes on the final day. Luckily, there’s a 23km time-trial to filter things out somewhat between a barrage of rolling profiles in the early days.
Ultimately, it looks as though the race will be decided in the two final stages. However, since Tadej Pogačar is coming, he might find a way to pick up some more stage wins throughout the week.
Tour de Suisse 2026 stage-by-stage preview
Stage 1: Wednesday 17th June, Sondrio – Sondrio, 144km
The first stage takes place in Italy rather than Switzerland. The mountain area of Valtellina plays host, with a punchy circuit to round things out in Sondrio.
Stage 2: Thursday 18th June, Locarno – Locarno, 157km
Another punchy finale to Stage 2, but with a pair of longer climbs this time around.
Stage 3: Friday 19th June, Bad Ragaz – Bad Ragaz, 157km
This is the closest we’ll get to a flat stage all week. Don’t let the category 1 climbs fool you, this should end in a sprint.
Stage 4: Saturday 20th June, Aarburg – Aarburg, 23.8km (ITT)
The race’s only time-trial comes on the penultimate day. Its distance is relatively average and there’s very little elevation gain. That means it should suit the specialists.
Stage 5: Sunday 21st June, Villars-sur-Ollon – Villars-sur-Ollon, 152km
The final stage looks the most decisive. It covers around 4,400m of climbing, split up over four ascents of the Col de la Croix. It’ll be tackled in full on two occasions, but it’ll be cut down slightly for the final lap. The slopes however are at an average 8% gradient, so it’ll be tough nonetheless.
Tour de Suisse 2026 favourites
There’s a unanimous favourite coming into this year’s race: Tadej Pogačar. He’s never ridden the Tour de Suisse before, but he’s been unbeaten in stage races in around three seasons. The Slovenian has just come off an altitude camp in the Sierra Nevada, so he’s likely in fighting form.
As for the rest, I don’t think there are any direct challengers.
Primož Roglič is the most established contender among them, but his form has been inconsistent so far in 2026, as demonstrated by podium misses at Tirreno-Adriatico and the Tour de Romandie. Instead, Lenny Martinez has been looking really strong so far this year, having finished on the podium of the aforementioned Tour de Romandie. The Frenchman has gone well at stage races recently, and another podium finish is well within reach.
Cyclist’s ratings
- ★★★★★: Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG)
- ★★★★: Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious),
- ★★★: Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q356.5), Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious),
- ★★: Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost), Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates-XRG)
- ★: Max Poole (Picnic-PostNL), Gregor Mühlberger (Deacathlon CMA CGM), Ilan van Wilder (Soudal Quick-Step), Enric Mas (Movistar), Alessandro Pinarello (NSN Cycling), Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ United), Aexandr Vlasov (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe)
Tour de Suisse 2026: Live TV and streaming guide
The Tour de Suisse will be streamed throughout the week on HBO Max in the UK and Europe. For British and Irish audiences, TV coverage will be on TNT Sports 1 for Stages 1 to 4. Stage 4 will be shown on TNT Sports 4, while Stage 5 will be broadcast to TNT Sports 3.
Elsewhere, fans in the US and Canada can catch the action on FloBikes. For free-to-air coverage, Swiss national broadcasters SRF, RTS and RSI, depending on which language you speak.
If the race isn’t being broadcast in your country or you are travelling abroad, a VPN will allow you to hide your device’s location to access content that is normally geo-blocked. One such VPN provider is ExpressVPN, which is well reviewed, helps users to find free-to-watch cycling, and costs start from around £5 per month.
Live TV and streaming times
All times are listed in BST and are subject to change, as are the TNT Sports channels provided.
Stage 1: Wednesday 17th June
- HBO Max: 14:30-17:00
- TNT Sports 3: 14:30-17:00
Stage 2: Thursday 18th June
- HBO Max: 14:30-17:30
- TNT Sports 1: 14:30-17:30
Stage 3: Friday 19th June
- HBO Max: 14:30-17:30
- TNT Sports 1: 14:30-17:30
Stage 4: Saturday 20th June
- HBO Max: 14:30-17:30
- TNT Sports 4: 14:30-17:30
Stage 5: Sunday 21st June
- HBO Max: 14:15-17:15
- TNT Sports 3: 14:15-17:15