The 75th edition of Tour de Romandie will take place from Tuesday, April 26, to Sunday, May 1. The race is staged in the Romany region of Switzerland, where it has been held annually since 1947.
The only exception to that happened in 2020 when Tour de Romandie was canceled due to the COVID pandemic.
Serving as the final multi-stage race ahead of Giro d’Italia, the Tour de Romandie is often billed as a preparation race for the teams and riders who will head to Italy and compete in one of the most prestigious cycling events of the year.
Interestingly, riders who do well in Tour de Romandie tend to also perform strongly in Italy – most notably, Cadel Evans, Bradley Wiggins, and Chris Froome won Tour de Romandie and Giro d’Italia in the same year – in 2011, 2012, and 2013. However, this has not happened once in the past nine years.
Last races records
The Tour de Romandie will follow La Flèche Wallonne, which was won by the home-crowd favorite, Dylan Teuns, with Alejandro Valverde in second, and Aleksandr Vlasov placing third. By winning the race, Teuns collected his first victory of the season and his first top-three finish.
Prior to that, we saw riders compete at Paris–Roubaix, which was won by Dylan van Baarle, with Wout van Aert finishing second and Stefan Küng. Like La Flèche Wallonne, the Paris–Roubaix produced a first-time winner, a trend that was already seen at the Amstel Gold Race and Tour of the Basque Country – but will the same happen at Tour de Romandie?
Race Information
- Time, day: April 26 – May 1
- Location of the race: Switzerland
Tour de Romandie Betting Analysis
The Tour de Romandie consists of six stages and offers a very tough test for all the riders. That is largely due to the variety of challenges the track provides, with stages offering climbers, punchers, and sprinters to prove their worth. Ultimately, it is the most well-rounded riders who come out on top, but most of the time, it’s strong time-triallists who shine the brightest.
Geraint Thomas
Ineos Grenadiers have been dominating of late and have looked fantastic with their Spring Classics performances. Moreover, Ineos Grenadiers have not been too shabby in the stage races either.
Most notably, Dani Martínez won at Itzulia Basque Country and Eddie Dunbar won Coppi e Bartali. Besides that, Magnus Sheffield, Ethan Hayter, and Carlos Rodríguez have all collected a handful of stage wins.
With the cycling stats they have, there is no doubt that Ineos Grenadiers will make a splash in Switzerland, but the question is whether the team will support the defending champion Geraint Thomas or give one of the younger riders a chance to shine.
Thomas has the tools to win, but he is not a good cycling betting pick, as there are too many questions about his team’s strategy for this race.
Rohan Dennis
The two-time winner, Primož Roglič, won this race two times, but he won’t attend it this year. That is due to his knee injury, and in his stead, Jumbo Visma opted to send most of his Tour de France team to warm up.
Since the time trialing is crucial, Rohan Dennis could be leading the team, giving him an excellent chance to dominate.
It’s also worth noting that Rohan Dennis has done well here in 2021 as a member of Ineos Grenadiers, and with strong support around him, he should be in the mix once more.
Brandon McNulty
UAE Team Emirates has been struggling without Tadej Pogačar, and it seems like the team lacks strong leadership. That was most notable at Volta a Catalunya, but they travel to Romandy with strong options.
Brandon McNulty is the man we’re most excited about of all team members. He has been showing good form this season, but it remains to be seen whether these youngsters can unite under one leader. Still, he is a strong climber, and that could be the difference-maker in this race.
Updates
There isn’t any big news ahead of this race, although it’s important to note that Chris Froome is expected to race.
Following a knee tendon injury during winter, which kept him off the bike for most of December, Frome has returned to the race and has been confirmed for the Tour of the Alps and the Tour de Romandie.
He still has a lot of work to do, but Foome feels hopeful that Tour de Romandie can help him get back on track and be competitive again.
“Obviously, that would be the dream scenario for me: to get back into the Tour and be competitive again. But there are lots of steps that need to come before that, said Froome.
It’s worth mentioning that this racer has been historically dominated by Italian (13 wins) and Swiss (12 wins) riders, with French (10) and Belgian riders (6) close behind. Interestingly, not a single rider from these four countries has won Tour de Romandie since 2002.
Rather, it was Slovenian (3 wins) and Great Britain (4) riders who shone the brightest – in Chris Froome (2013, 2014) and Primož Roglič (2018, 2019).
Tour de Romandie Betting Preview
Al mentioned riders and teams have a strong chance to come out on top. But as any sports betting guide will tell you, in the past, riders who have fared well in other mountain stage races will deliver at Tour de Romandie.
With that in mind, it’s worth keeping an eye on Ion Izagirre, who came second in the Itzula. Damiano Caruso won the Tour of Sicily and will be supported by a strong team at Romandie, including Gino Mäder. Sergio Higuita won the Volta aq Catalunya, so he could be viewed as a threat, but he retired from Itzula, so his condition is a big question mark.
Other contenders include Groupama-FDJ with their strong climbing team in Thibaut Pinot and Michael Storer. Both have done well recently, but in our book, not well enough for us to bet on either of them.
Tour de Romandie Betting Prediction
All cycling betting guides will tell you that Tour de Romandie is tough to predict, and it’s true. It is a highly demanding race that requires you to pick a rider with the right combination of time-trialing chops and climbing ability, and there are very few that check the marks.
However, we believe that if UAE Team Emirates can get their act together and show what they’re capable of, Brandon McNulty can come out ahead. It won’t be easy, as he needs to outperform the strong opposition in Ineos, Bora, and Jumbo Visma, but McNulty has the talent and the team around him to achieve that.
Admittedly, McNulty has yet to win here but is in great form and a solid pick at the offered cycling betting odds. He won the Faun-Ardèche Classic and Trofeo Calvià and the fifth stage of Paris–Nice. Moreover, he was second at Volta ao Algarve and Trofeo Pollença – Port d’Andratx and fourth at Trofeo Serra de Tramuntana.
Prediction: Brandon McNulty to win +800
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