Tour de Suisse 2019: The Route

The Tour de Suisse starts on Saturday 15 June with an ITT in Langden to finish with the Queen Stage on Sunday the 23th. Featuring two mountain stages - one to the massive Gotthard Pass - and another ITT, the race will come down to the final weekend.

The Tour de Suisse kicks into gear with a short and flat time trial in Langnau im Emmental before the race continues with the 2nd stage, which is a hilly circuit race. The route features the Chuderhüsi Pass and Schallenberg Pass both three times.

Stage 3 is once again a hilly endeavour, but the finale is as flat as it gets in Switzerland. The finish is at the historic gate to the old town of Murten.

The 4th stage winds past the Jura Mountains and over the Passwang Pass before finishing in Arlesheim – possibly, a day for the breakaway. A sprint finish is the most likely scenario for the 5th stage, which starts in the outskirts of Basel and cuts straight across the Swiss Plateau.

At 120 kilometres, the 6th stage is the shortest in this year’s Tour de Suisse. Possibly, this will be the first key moment in terms of the GC-battle as the race concludes with a tough ascent of 10.8 kilometres at 9% to the line in Flumserberg.

The race intensifies in stage 7 with a summit finish on the glorious St. Gotthard Pass. The route includes the Lukmanier Pass and once the riders leave Biasca in Ticino, the rest of the stage is a relentless uphill of 50 kilometres. The finale is the 12.7 kilometres climb to the St. Gotthard Pass, which is partly covered with cobbles.

Time for a breather? Not for the GC riders. The penultimate stage is an ITT of 19 kilometres in Ulrichen in the district of Goms. The course is predominantly flat, which is not exactly the case on the last day of action. The Queen Stage travels over the Furka Pass, Susten Pass and Grimsel Pass – all HC climbs – and features more than 4,000 vertical metres. The Grimsel is the last peak on the Tour de Suisse and it is crested 21 kilometres before the finish line in Ulrichen.

The route of the 2019 Tour de Suisse amounts to 1,172 kilometres and features 18,994 vertical metres.