Tour de Romandie 2024 – Stage 1

Stage 1 should end in a sprint.

Route

2200 climbing meters is not the hardest stage in the world. Lorette is a little far from the finish. Despite it being on cobblestones, these are made by Swiss workers. Not thrown down from the sky like the ones in Flanders and northern France.

The last climb comes just 11 km from the line. 1800m at 6.2%, After what I think will be a relatively easy day, most of the sprinters should survive.

The last 5000m are filled with roundabouts. The last bend comes with 750m left.

Weather

I think we will see rain tomorrow, it does look like it. It will also be quite cold.

Contenders

Maikel Zijlaard – brilliant win today. As mentioned in the preview yesterday, he is a lead-out man. Do the Swiss team change tactics in order to get another day in yellow, or do they race for Dainese?

Alberto Dainese – I think this is the best option. They’ve gotten their stage win, now they should aim for a second stage win. Alberto Dainese is the fastest sprinter present.

Milan Menten – usually sprints well after a hilly day on the bike. He should challenge for a top-5.

Alex Aranburu – his type of stage 2. The issue is he rarely wins outside of Spain.

Thibau Nys – is it him or Consonni? I think Nys. He seems like an excellent choice for a top-3 tomorrow.

Ethan Hayter – 118th today. Don’t even ask me. In theory, he should challenge for the win tomorrow.

Who will win?

I’m not certain how selective the stage will get tomorrow. I think a few teams want to test Zijlaard on the hills.

Therefore, I will go for Thibau Nys. He should be able to hang on and will likely have Consonni with him in the finale.

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