Tour de Suisse 2024 - Favourites: Can Skjelmose hold his own against the UAE's superiority?

Tour de Suisse 2024: The most important facts in brief

• Date: 9-16 June, 8 stages
• Distance~ 950 kilometres
• Start: Vaduz, GoalVillars-sur-Ollon
• ProfileFour mountain finishes, two hilly stages, two individual time trials, including one mountain time trial
• UCI categoryWorld Tour
• OrganiserCycling Unlimited
• Premiere1933, 87th edition
• All stages at a glance

The TOUR favourites by stars*

* Sergio Higuita, Isaac del Toro

** Tom Pidcock, Einer Rubio, Wout Poels, Damiano Caruso, Richard Carapaz

*** Egan Bernal, Cian Uijtdebroeks, Lenny Martinez

**** Felix Gall, Enric Mas, Mattias Skjelmose, Joao Almeida

***** Adam Yates

* The more stars a driver receives, the stronger he is rated

Note: The start list has not yet been finalised at the time of publication of this article, so changes may still occur

>> Route change at the Tour de Suisse

>> The results of the Criterium du Dauphine

Yates top favourite for the Tour de Suisse 2024 with a strong UAE team

UAE Team Emirates has a powerful team for the Tour de Suisse 2024: With helpers such as Marc Hirschi and Finn Fisher-Black, captain Adam Yates once again has a better chance of winning the overall classification. This year, however, the Brit still needs to get into his stride, as he only managed 13th place overall at the Tour of Romandie, but his outstanding performances in 2023 with podium finishes at the UAE Tour, the Criterium du Dauphine and the Tour de France mean that he is clearly a force to be reckoned with. He is the top favourite.

Yates' biggest rival could come from his own ranks. With Joao Almeida, UAE has another top-ranked rider at the start. Third place at the 2023 Giro d'Italia underlined Almeida's ability to ride at the front of the race. For his team, however, he will only be the B option behind Yates, which is why he only receives four stars.

Can Skjelmose defend his title?

Although UAE Team Emirates is in a strong position, there are teams and riders who could upset the team from the United Arab Emirates at the Tour de Suisse 2024. The field of favourites is broad. Last year's winner Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) is also aiming to attack at the front again. The Dane prevailed against greats such as Juan Ayuso and Remco Evenepoel in 2023 and is once again impressing with good placings in the 2024 season. With Patrick Konrad and Bauke Mollema, among others, he has strong and experienced helpers at his side.

In addition to Skjelmose, Enric Mas (Movistar) and Felix Gall (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) are also likely to be in with a chance of a top placing. The experienced Spaniard is always a force to be reckoned with, but it's been a while since he finished on the podium in a Tour. On paper, however, he is still one of the best riders in the field. The Austrian Gall, on the other hand, is lacking a few results after a strong last year in the 2024 season. However, he should slowly get back into the swing of things, as his season highlight is coming up soon with the Tour de France.

Bernal is slowly getting back on track

For Ineos Grenadiers, Egan Bernal probably has the best chance of a top finish. The former Tour de France winner finished on the podium again at the Tour of Catalonia, He is slowly returning to the form of his earlier days. Alongside him, the two top talents Cian Uijtdebroeks (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Lenny Martinez (Groupama-FDJ) could also surprise. Uijtdebroeks has numerous strong helpers at the start with his Dutch team and rode a good Giro until his retirement, while lightweight Martinez can prove his climbing skills on the extremely mountainous profile.

Will the Bahrain one-two surprise?

For Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers), the profile might be a little too mountainous, so that he could probably only be the B option behind Egan Bernal. Bahrain-Victorious's double lead-out could also be exciting. With Wout Poels and Damiano Caruso, the team has two experienced mountain specialists at the start, both of whom could play a good role in the overall classification. With the right tactics, Bahrain could attack at the front. With Isaac del Toro, UAE Team Emirates has an extremely talented rider at the start who has already caused a furore in his debut season. However, with Yates and Almeida, two riders from his team are likely to be ahead of him in the hierarchy. Meanwhile, Sergio Higuita could bag a top ten place for the German team Bora-Hansgrohe. Or perhaps Emanuel Buchmann, whose non-nomination for the Giro d'Italia caused a stir.

Sprinting celebrities at the Tour de Suisse 2024

The Tour de Suisse 2024 will feature a number of prominent sprinters who are in with a chance of winning the 2nd and 3rd stages. Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan Team) is aiming to put the finishing touches to the Tour de France in order to become the rider with the most stage wins in history. Alongside the Briton, the German Pascal Ackermann (Israel-Premier Tech) will also be at the start. Arnaud De Lie (Lotto Dstny), Bryan Coquard (Cofidis), Arnaud Demare (Arkea-B&B Hotels), Michael Matthews (Team Jayco-AlUla) and Bora-Hansgrohe's Jordi Meeus can also count themselves in with a chance should there be sprint finishes.