{"id":92391,"date":"2026-06-21T18:48:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-21T16:48:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tourdesuisse.ch\/?p=92391"},"modified":"2026-06-21T18:48:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-21T16:48:09","slug":"the-new-tour-de-suisse-a-positive-assessment-after-the-premiere","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tourdesuisse.ch\/en\/the-new-tour-de-suisse-a-positive-assessment-after-the-premiere\/","title":{"rendered":"The new Tour de Suisse: A positive assessment after the premiere"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 89th edition of the Tour de Suisse was marked by major changes. For the first time anywhere in the world, an international stage race at the highest level was held with women’s and men’s races on the same day. The organisers draw a positive conclusion regarding the implementation of the new concept, looking back self-critically and ahead with confidence.<\/strong><\/p>\n

New concept \u2013 fit for the future<\/p>\n

The new Tour de Suisse concept has passed its baptism of fire. For the first time in its history, the Tour de Suisse Men was shortened to five days, the Tour de Suisse Women extended by one day, the women’s and men’s races were held on the same day, and the course was designed as a circuit with the start and finish in the same host town. Changing the Tour de Suisse so radically was bold and also involved risks, says CEO Gabriela Buchs, but: “After intensive discussions with sponsors, host towns, teams and riders, we have concluded that the direction we have taken and the overall result of the premiere are right.” Several innovations were implemented at this year’s Tour. For example, for the first time in world cycling history, the team presentations of men and women were held simultaneously at the level of a WorldTour stage race \u2013 a sign of the genuine commitment to gender equality in cycling.<\/p>\n

The new concept was largely rated positively by the athletes. Cycling superstar and Tour de Suisse winner Tadej Poga\u010dar said at a press conference, in essence: he likes the idea of women and men being part of the same race at the same time. This greatly enhances the standing of women’s cycling. At the Tour de Suisse, not everything had yet been ideally resolved in this first edition, but the development is heading in the right direction.<\/p>\n

The organisers are aware that this year’s Tour de Suisse is not yet the optimal final result, but rather the starting signal for a long-term development with the goal of remaining among the most significant and innovative cycling events in the world in the future as well. Gabriela Buchs: “It is once again important to me to emphasise that the new concept is not a short-term financial exercise, but a deliberate strategic investment in the future of our event.”<\/p>\n

New concept \u2013 room for improvement<\/p>\n

A conclusive analysis and concrete adjustments are not possible shortly after the end of the Tour. At first glance, there is room for improvement regarding the long transfers between the host towns for the teams, athletes and the entire Tour staff. Tour director Olivier Senn: “Logistically the format works, we have proven that. But we are aware that improvements and adjustments are needed to run the new concept successfully in the future as well.” The extraordinary commitment of all the helpers deserves particular mention. Long working days, short recovery periods, new processes and high temperatures demanded a great deal of everyone involved. “Every area delivered something tremendous during these days. We are deeply grateful to all the helpers \u2013 without their dedication and passion, implementing this new format would not have been possible,” says Gabriela Buchs.<\/p>\n

Media \u2013 great interest<\/p>\n

In total, around 170 journalists obtained accreditation, 120 of them from abroad. SRF staff are not included in these figures. The above-average media interest this year is, with great certainty, also related to the presence of Slovenian superstar Tadej Poga\u010dar, who dominates the cycling scene.<\/p>\n

The women’s and men’s races were broadcast live for four hours daily on SRF 2. Worldwide, the Tour de Suisse was shown in more than 200 countries.<\/p>\n

Social media \u2013 good reach<\/p>\n

Views on the social channels tripled, and the reach of the posts on average doubled. Notable here is the strong growth in reach outside Switzerland. Overall, there is significantly higher international visibility and stronger engagement rates than in previous years. Interactions on the Tour de Suisse’s digital channels increased markedly and reflect growing interest, which this year is certainly also linked to the Slovenian superstar.<\/p>\n

Sporting action \u2013 sheer excitement<\/p>\n

In sporting terms, the women’s race offered everything a thrilling Tour requires. Before the final stage, the question was: can Swiss world-class rider Marlen Reusser (Movistar) carry the yellow leader’s jersey to the finish? She could. In a tough final stage, the Bernese rider was never in danger of losing the leader’s jersey and ultimately rode across the line solo. Marlen Reusser thus claimed the third overall Tour de Suisse victory of her career. With Steffi H\u00e4berlin (Team SD Worx-Protime) and Jasmin Liechti (SUI), further Swiss riders placed well, in 6th and 15th respectively.<\/p>\n

Among the men, the overall winner was decided early on: no rider could pose a threat to Tadej Poga\u010dar. The tension remained high regarding the respective stage wins. The time trial in Aarburg over 23.7 kilometres was a real thriller, in which Tadej Poga\u010dar (UAE Team Emirates XRG) ultimately prevailed against his rival Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech) by a remarkably tiny margin of 0.04 seconds.<\/p>\n

Outlook \u2013 90th edition in 2027<\/p>\n

The Tour de Suisse 2027 will be the 90th edition of the traditional national tour. It is already known that the final stage will take place in Vaduz<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 89th edition of the Tour de Suisse was marked by major changes. For the first time anywhere in the world, an international stage race at the highest level was held with women’s and men’s races on the same day. The organisers draw a positive conclusion regarding the implementation of the new concept, looking back […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":77306,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[97],"class_list":["post-92391","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tourdesuisse.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92391","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tourdesuisse.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tourdesuisse.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tourdesuisse.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tourdesuisse.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92391"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.tourdesuisse.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92391\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":92397,"href":"https:\/\/www.tourdesuisse.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92391\/revisions\/92397"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tourdesuisse.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77306"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tourdesuisse.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92391"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tourdesuisse.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92391"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}