Tour de Suisse 2026: Route preview and live coverage of the women’s and men’s races

Tour de Suisse 2026: Key facts at a glance

• Date: 17–21 June, 5 stages
• Distance: ~ 635 kilometres (men); ~ 460 kilometres (women)
• Home: Sondrio, Objective: Villars-sur-Ollon
• UCI category: (Women’s) WorldTour
• Organiser: Cycling Unlimited Ltd
• Premiere: 1933, 89th edition (men); 2021, 6th edition (women)
• Last year's winner: João Almeida; Marlen Reusser

Tadej Pogačar has decided not to take part in this year’s Tour Auvergne – Rhône-Alpes and is instead focusing on the Tour de Suisse as his final preparation for the Tour de France. The Tour de Suisse consists of five stages, which will challenge the riders particularly with their climbs: Over a total of 635 kilometres, 11,751 metres of climbing must be conquered – 4,226 of these metres alone are on the final stage, which will demand everything from the riders and is the only stage classified as a mountain stage. Before that, there are three hilly stages, each with over 2,000 metres of climbing, and an individual time trial.

The women’s race follows a similar route to the men’s. On the first stage, the final section is slightly shorter, and on the second day, Monte Ceneri is omitted, meaning the route remains flat for a long stretch. The third stage, meanwhile, is a classic sprint stage, but like the men’s race, it starts and finishes in Bad Ragaz. The individual time trial on day four is identical for both races. The route of the final stage is also the same, although the women will complete the circuit twice instead of three times.

The Tour de Suisse starts on 17 June in Sondrio, Italy. On Sunday 21 June, the riders will cross the finish line in the Swiss spa town of Villars-sur-Ollon. Less than two weeks later, on 4 July, the Tour de France will get underway.

Tour de Suisse 2026: An overview of all the stages in the men’s race

Stage 1 | Wednesday, 17 June 2026 | Sondrio – Sondrio | 144 kilometres | 2,455 metres of climbing

The first stage begins with a long flat section, before the final 86 kilometres are characterised by constant ups and downs. The final stretch features two third-category climbs, suggesting that the stage victory will be decided amongst a small group or individual riders.

Stage 2 | Thursday, 18 June 2026 | Locarno – Locarno | 157.7 kilometres | 2,110 metres of climbing

Monte Ceneri, which was skipped in the women’s race, effectively marks the start of the second stage of the men’s race. The route remains undulating thereafter, but the final section features two more Category 3 climbs. As a result, a sprint finish is not expected on the second day either.

Stage 3 | Friday, 19 June 2026 | Bad Ragaz – Bad Ragaz | 157.9 kilometres | 2,690 metres of climbing

Things look different on the third day. The route starts without a warm-up, with a short, intense climb, then runs flat for around 20 kilometres before tackling two Category 1 climbs. The crux of the stage is the Schwägalp. If the sprinters can’t keep up there, they might well have enough time afterwards to make up the deficit through good teamwork and thus decide the stage victory amongst themselves.

Stage 4 | Saturday, 20 June 2026 | Aarburg – Aarburg | 23.8 kilometres (individual time trial) | 270 metres of climbing

The individual time trial is a race for specialists: there’s little elevation gain and just a few technical sections where riders can make up time.

Stage 5 | Sunday, 21 June 2026 | Villars-sur-Ollon – Villars-sur-Ollon | 151.1 kilometres | 4,226 metres of climbing

With over 4,000 metres of climbing, the final stage is also the queen stage. The circuit begins with a climb up to the Col de la Croix, then descends before tackling the climb once again. The Col de la Croix must be conquered a total of three times – flat sections? Not a chance.

Tour de Suisse 2026: TV coverage & live stream

In Germany, the men’s race of the 2026 Tour de Suisse will be broadcast on Eurosport 1 on Saturday from 1.30 pm to 3.00 pm, and the women’s race on Sunday from 3.00 pm to 4.00 pm. A paid live stream of all stages of the women’s and men’s races is also available on Discovery Plus.