With the Tour de France 2026 on the horizon, the top talent in the cycling world is being spread across a series of elite events that allow them to test themselves against many of the sport’s best and continue their preparation for the year’s premier race.
One of those events, the Tour de Suisse, will feature the No. 1 rider in the world, two-time defending TDF champion Tadej Pogacar.
The five-stage Tour de Suisse will take place June 17-21 and feature a new look that will allow the men and women to share the spotlight. Both races will run on the same days and use the same start and finish locations.
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Pogacar has made the rounds in recent years and will be making his debut at the Tour de Suisse.
Last June, he participated in the Critérium du Dauphiné, which he won. In 2024, he rode in the Giro d’Italia in May, going on to become the first rider since 1998 to win the Giro and the Tour de France in the same season.
Though shorter than the other late spring races, the Tour de Suisse continues to provide everything the riders need to gauge their form – distance, altitude, a tough field, a variety of terrain, 4,000 meters of altitude and even a time trial.
The 2026 races will begin in Sondrio, Italy, the first foreign start for the Tour de Suisse, and while each stage for the men and women will start and finish in the same locations, the actual routes will vary a little bit.
The men will open with a 144-kilometer ride that will be bouncy and challenging, but it won’t be the toughest of the five days.
There actually isn’t any reprieve built into the 634.5-kilometer course, and the event will conclude with a 151.1-kilometer mountain stage that reaches more than 4,200 meters of altitude.
The women will cover 459 kilometers during the five days and also will wrap with a day in the mountains.
The women will race before the men each day.
The first stage of the Tour de Suisse 2026 will get underway at 4 a.m. Eastern, with FloBikes coverage for viewers in Canada, the United States and U.S. territories, beginning at 4:05 a.m. EDT.
Schedule For The Tour de Suisse 2026 Men’s Race
- Stage 1 – June 17: Sondrio – Sondrio (144km)
- Stage 2 – June 18: Locarno – Locarno (157.7km)
- Stage 3 – June 19: Bad Ragaz – Bad Ragaz (157.9km)
- Stage 4 (ITT) – June 20: Aarburg – Aarburg (23.8km)
- Stage 5 – June 21: Villars-sur-Ollon – Villars-sur-Ollon (151.1km)
Total kilometers for 2026 is 634.5.
To see the complete routes and race information, click here.
Broadcast Schedule For The Tour de Suisse 2026 Men’s Race
All Times Eastern
- Stage 1 – June 17: 9 a.m.-12:15 p.m.
- Stage 2 – June 18: 9 a.m.-12:15 p.m.
- Stage 3 – June 19: 9 a.m.12:15 p.m.
- Stage 4 – June 20: 9 a.m.-Noon
- Stage 5 – June 21: 8:45 a.m.-Noon
Schedule For The Tour de Suisse 2026 Women’s Race
- Stage 1 – June 17: Sondrio – Sondrio (109.3km)
- Stage 2 – June 18: Locarno – Locarno (105.3km)
- Stage 3 – June 19: Bad Ragaz – Bad Ragaz (120.3km)
- Stage 4 (ITT) – June 20: Aarburg – Aarburg (23.8km)
- Stage 5 – June 21: Villars-sur-Ollon – Villars-sur-Ollon (100.3km)
Total kilometers for 2026 is 459.
To see the complete routes and race information, click here.
How To Watch The Tour de Suisse 2026
The Tour de Suisse 2026 is streaming on FloBikes and the FloSports app for viewers in Canada, the United States and U.S. territories.
Highlights, replays and breaking news will be available on both platforms.
About The Tour de Suisse 2026
The Tour de Suisse 2026 will be the 89th edition of the race for the men and 10th for the women, but the format has changed for this season.
Instead of eight stages for the men and four stages for the women, and the men not beginning until the final day of the women’s event, the races will be parallel.
Both fields will endure similar routes across the five-stages over the same days – June 17-21.
Strategically, the changes are good for organizers, valuable for sponsors, give fans access to both fields of riders in one location and will provide equal challenges for both genders, while not overwhelming them with too many stages that close to the Tour de France.
In looking at the entry lists, it seems the riders have responded positively to the enhancements, as both lists are loaded with talent.
For the men, Pogačar, Mathieu van der Poel, Primož Roglič and Tom Pidcock are the premier athletes. For the women, it’s Demi Vollering, Marlen Reusser, Elise Chabbey, Lotte Kopecky and world champion Magdeleine Vallières Mill.
Over the five days, the men will see three hilly stages (1,2,3), a time trial (Stage 4) and a tough mountain finale (Stage 5) on June 21.
The women will get hills on two days (Stage 1,2), a flat Stage 3, the same time trial in Stage 4 and a shorter mountainous finale.
History OF The Tour de Suisse
The first Tour de Suisse – or Tour of Switzerland – was held in 1933. It started in Zurich and only featured five stages.
It wasn’t until the 1950s that the raced moved to its current June timeslot to serve as a warm-up event for many riders headed to the Tour de France.
The Tour de Suisse was not held for three years during World War II and went on hiatus again in 2020 due to COVID-19.
Similar to the Tour de France and other multi-stage races, the Tour de Suisse offers a variety of jersey colors rewarded for success along the route – overall leader (yellow), points leader (black), king of the mountains (red) and best young rider (white).
The same applies for the women’s Tour de Suisse, which debuted in 1998 and was held until 2001, before taking a long hiatus of its own. It returned in 2021. This year will mark the 10th running of the women’s race.
Italy’s Pasquale Fornara has the most wins at the Tour de Suisse with four – 1952, 1954, 1957 and 1958, while three other riders have won three times, and seven have a pair of victories.
As a country, Switzerland tops the wins list at the men’s Tour de Suisse with 23 wins, followed by Italy (20) and Belgium (eight), and Germany and Portugal (four). Three other countries have won three times, seven have won twice and six others have been represented in the winner’s circle once.
Zulfiya Zabirova has the most wins on the women’s side with two, while Switzerland’s Reusser is the reigning champion.
For the men in 2025, it was Portugal’s João Almeida taking the trophy. A teammate of Pogacar, Almeida won three stages last year, including the final two (Stage 7 and Stage 8).
Tadej Pogacar Just Got A Warning From Jonas Vingegaard
Gregor Brown goes behind the scenes at the Giro d’Italia 2026 to examine the biggest question in cycling: what comes next for Jonas Vingegaard?
After winning Paris-Nice, Catalunya and now the Giro d’Italia with five stage victories, the Danish superstar looks stronger than ever. But can he carry this form into July and challenge for the Tour de France?
And what will Tadej Pogačar be thinking as he watches Vingegaard's dominant Giro performance from afar ahead of their highly anticipated showdown later this summer?
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