Tour de Romandie 2024 – Stage 2

It is the first of the two mountain stages.

Route

From Fribourg the riders head south towards Martigny.

There is only one important climb and it is right near the end. The climb has not been used before in professional racing.

It is fairly simple until they reach the hairpins with 5100m left, here the gradients go up. Therefore, it is a quite explosive climb with 5100m at 7.9%. The last 1300m are 8.8% on average, while the last 200m (after the last turn) are 6.7%.

Weather

I’m more or less interested in the wind direction on the final climb. It looks like the wind will blow from the west. It likely won’t impact the stage, as the wind speed from Meteo Suisse are very low.

Contenders

It is a short effort. If we only think about the last section of the final climb, we should see sub-20 minutes.

Ayuso – I still think he should be the sole leader for UAE. From what we’ve seen this year, he does look to be the best climber at the moment. The team is mighty strong, they decide how they want to play this. Is it a numbers game or an all out assault? I think the latter.

Vlasov – the climb isn’t awfully long and he has a good kick. I think he is past his best this spring, he has been in top shape since January. Perhaps it opens up a chance for Hindley or Higuita.

S. Yates – difficult to say how well he will do. He is a good climber and he does love a steep medium mountain. Plus, the stage in general isn’t the hardest. It will be a good chance for him to test the legs.

Bernal – the shape is great. Is he punchy enough for this? I don’t think so. A top-10.

Gaudu – his type of finale. I think he will challenge for a top-3. He has a good kick to him.

Mas – not punchy enough but he looked good today, trying to help Buru get a stage win. That was one of the few positive signs this spring from him.

Carapaz – he will win a stage this week. Will it be tomorrow? I doubt it. The stage is too easy and he is a diesel.

Who will win?

Juan Ayuso.