BiciRace.com :: 2006 Tour de Romandie

2006 Tour de Romandie, Preview

Tour de Romandie, Switzerland

25 - 30 April

Preview

Overall Map
Startlist
Photos
2005 Results

Stages
25 April, Prologue, Genève TT, 3.4K, Map
26 April, Stage 1, Payerne – Payerne, 169K, Map
27 April, Stage 2, Porrentruy – Porrentruy, 171.2K, Map
28 April, Stage 3, Bienne – Leysin, 164.6K, Map
29 April, Stage 4, Sion – Sion, 127.7K, Map
30 April, Stage 5, Lausanne TT, 20.4K, Map
Total 656.3K

Botero Final GC Winner, photo: Tour de Romandie

The 60th Tour de Romandie starts tomorrow and will offer many possibilities. The Swiss race will be the 2006 debut for Jan Ullrich (T-Mobile), the Giro d'Italia warm-up for Paolo Savoldelli (Discovery Channel) and a chance for many riders to stake claim at a prestigious week-long race. Last year it was Santiago Botero (Phonak) who marked his comeback by winning in Switzerland over Damiano Cunego.

The riders will face 656.3 kilometers, including a prologue, four road stages and the final time trial, all within the western French-speaking region of Switzerland.

The opening 3.4K prologue in Genève will sort out the general classification and decide who will wear the leader's yellow jersey. It will be a good chance for riders like Bradley McGee (Française Des Jeux) or Il Falco Bergamasco to shine.

Overall Route of 60th Tour de Romandie

The following day, Wednesday 26 April, the race takes in a circuit around Payerne. This 169K stage might be the only opportunity for the sprinters: Alessandro Petacchi will not start, so watch for Robbie McEwen (Davitamon-Lotto) to blast away.

Stage 2 could be the doozy, a chance for someone to swipe the GC after the final Cat. 1 climb, Col de la Croix. The climb, which leaves less than 15K to the finish, will be a chance for an aggressive coup. Any gains will have to be defended the following day's stage 3, 164.6K to Leysin, which is the only mountaintop finish. The stage will finish on the Le Sépey, a Cat. 1 climb up to 1318 meters.

Watch the J-Man, Julich, photo: Beth Seliga

Stage 4, starting and finishing in Sion, should be a day for an opportunist escape to battle over the three Cat. 1 passes. The GC men will watch each other with their minds on the following day's finale, a 20.4K TT in Lausanne. The Lausanne parcours are very challenging and will be a chance for a crono-man to swipe GC victory, like the success of Botero last year over Cunego.

Stay tuned. This six-stage Swiss affair will be an explosive affair that will likely be decided on the final day.