Seven conclusions from the Tour de Suisse - Domestique Debrief

After a Critérium du Dauphiné dominated by the biggest hitters of the sport, the Tour de Suisse was very much cast in the supporting role when it came to the two final Tour de France build-up races, at least on paper. Ultimately won convincingly by world champion Tadej Pogačar, where the higher profile Dauphiné may have given us a clear snapshot of the form of the leading contenders for La Grande Boucle, the Tour de Suisse would address questions surrounding the form of a number of other contenders, and with a list of favourites all ranked relatively closely in race previews (with the possible exception of João Almeida), the race began with an air of opportunity, offering those who would dare the chance of scoring big in the WorldTour, away from the aliens of the sport.

What transpired was a far more compelling narrative, from a GC perspective, than the race’s French counterpart. Though UAE Team Emirates came out as the overall winners in the end, they were made to work hard for it, on the back foot following an explosive opening stage which set the tone for the week ahead. Added to that a well-designed parcours that invited open, attacking racing; two last-gasp sprints between the GC favourites on stages 5 and 7, and a decisive final time-trial, and all the ingredients were present for a race to remember. 

The tangible sense of possibility manifested itself in a chaotic opening stage, which exposed a lack of control on the part of race favourites UAE Team Emirates-XRG. A short, sharp, attacking profile drew out a substantial breakaway group containing numerous GC hopefuls, with UAE missing out. With the weather gradually worsening, things didn’t get better for UAE, as with so many teams represented in front group, the gap was unbridgeable, with those left behind shipping over three minutes in the end. 

It put into perspective the contrast between races featuring the giants of the sport – Tadej Pogačar, Jonas Vingegaard, Remco Evenepoel – and those without, where a wider range of teams feel they have the opportunity to make an impact, freed from the tight control exerted by the top teams working in service of the superhuman superstars of the current generation. 

In torrential rain, the large group broke up into smaller parts, with Groupama-FDJ's Romain Grégoire using his punch to great effect, to take the first yellow jersey of the week, and for the Frenchman and the rest who went clear in the lead group, the gauntlet was thrown down to UAE - catch us if you can.

Two years after his tragic death at the Tour de Suisse, tributes were paid to the late Gino Mäder from the race organisation, along with his teammates, other riders, and the wider cycling community. Quinn Simmons returning to the race for the first time since 2023, dedicated his win on stage 2 to Mäder, and Mäder’s teammate Pello Bilbao attacked on stage 5, heading into the breakaway to honour the memory of his friend and colleague. At the beginning of the stage that day, in the town of La Punt - the location of the stage finish on the day of Mäder's death - a memorial statue was unveiled close to the Albulapass, the climb on which the accident occurred. It was a moving tribute, as his mother joined a huge gathering of riders, staff and organisers to unveil the statue.

The Tour de Suisse organisation posted an image of the memorial ceremony, along with the caption: ‘We still miss you Gino. But now we have a place to always come by and remember you as an inspiring person.’

It’s been a pretty torrid year for French teams and riders so far. With two of the French WorldTour teams facing relegation, and the other two arguably under-performing compared with expectation, the Tour de Suisse represented a revival of sorts. Three of the main protagonists of the race were the early leader Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ), the eventual runner-up, Arkéa-B&B Hotels’ Kévin Vauquelin, and the effervescent Julian Alaphilippe. The former world champion was lively throughout his new team Tudor Pro cycling’s home race, elevating himself on the GC, a role which he hasn’t characteristically embraced since arguably his 14-day stint in the yellow jersey at the 2019 Tour de France, preferring breakaways and one-day efforts than this kind of sustained, consistent performance, which comes right on time, marking him out as being in excellent form ahead of the Tour de France.

For Groupama-FDJ it was a first WorldTour level victory in a season which has seen them struggling to accrue points where it matters, as Grégoire showed his strength to take the win on stage 1, then held onto yellow until the Queen stage. Gregoire’s efforts defending his lead came back to bite him eventually, as he was unable to hang on despite a herculean effort to stay with the strongest GC riders on the climbs. It marked a considerable step forward for the 22-year-old from Besançon, who refused to be cowed having poured out everything in defence of his lead, immediately going in the breakaway on the following stage with teammate Stefan Küng – you can't keep a good man down.

Finally, Vauquelin, who proved himself to be the more complete all-around rider once again, staying the course on the queen stage as Grégoire fell off the pace, and sprinting it out with the best on stage 7, to set up a final time trial showdown against pre-race favourite, João Almeida.

In the end, it was heartbreak for the nation who can claim to be the finest exponents in the area of tragically missing out, and indeed, despite possessing excellent time trialling skill, it’s not even the first time Vauquelin has suffered misfortune on a final ITT – one only has to look back as far as Étoile de Bessèges in 2024 for a further example of a near miss, where he actually won the final test against the clock, beating Mads Pedersen, only to find he had missed out on closing the gap to the overall victory by just two seconds. Nevertheless, it’s progress for the French who are still seeking out their next big GC hope, forty years after Hinault last won the Tour de France for the home nation.

Following the tactical misstep that saw him over three minutes off the pace in the overall classification following stage 1, UAE Team Emirates-XRG leader and pre-race favourite João Almeida regrouped and took matters into his own hands, to bring about a dramatic comeback. Almeida displayed his trademark resilience and unerring patience to chip away at the gap as the lead changed hands and the other contenders began to watch one another. 

He struck the decisive blow on stage 4, soloing away from the bunch on the long descent following the Splügenpass and opening up over a minute to then leader, Grégoire. He then proceeded to throw himself down the descent, managing to hold off the chasing GC group containing Grégoire, Vauquelin, O’Connor and Onley, who effectively neutralised themselves, to take 40 seconds off of his deficit.

Almeida played it smart, doing everything he could following his disastrous start to put himself in with a chance of overall victory come the stage 8 time trial. He took three stage wins for his team, who continued to present a disordered unit behind the scenes; following stage 2, rouleur Mikkel Bjerg remarked to Danish press that the team were unhappy with Jan Christen's lack of team play following a late solo attack at the end of stage 2, suggesting that once again, there was dissent within the ranks.

Ultimately, it didn't matter, as Almeida protected his own interests - not the first time he has done so since joining the Emirati team who seem to thrive on the chaos that pervades in the absence of their talismanic leader, Tadej Pogačar.

For GC riders looking ahead to the Tour de France, this Tour de Suisse was a chance to ascertain form ahead of the biggest race of the year, and while some flourished, others floundered. 

Kelso’s Oscar Onley (Team Picnic-PostNL) will come away from the race feeling buoyed, following a stand-out performance on the Queen stage. A double ascent of the brutal category 1 Castenada – a short, steep climb that suited Onley’s characteristics perfectly – allowed him to shine, and he went toe-to-toe with Almeida as the race reached its crescendo on the second of the two ascents, forcing a rush for the finish line which the 22-year-old from Kelso managed to win, taking precious seconds and confidence. The performance represents another step up in the progress of the young Scot, who continues to brush off a series of injuries to keep himself in the frame when considering future stars.

Lennard Kämna was another rider who put in a sound all-around performance at the race, taking the next step on his recovery from his horrific training crash in 2024, and putting together a solid week of progress for his new team Lidl-Trek - by far his best outing since joining the team and a sign that he's on the way back to his best.

Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale’s main GC hope following the departure of Ben O’Connor is Felix Gall, and with sole leadership all but assured, the race was Gall’s chance to reward the team’s faith in him. He logged a solid performance, recording second place in the final time trial and finishing fourth overall, while his former teammate O’Connor struggled by contrast, certainly not in the kind of shape he will hope to be in in two weeks’ time in Lille.

In the end, while the race provided excellent entertainment, it was a stark reminder that it takes a serious, concerted effort to beat the talents contained within the ranks of UAE Team Emirates-XRG. The team have shown their dominance in one-week stage races in 2025, winning seven of the nine WorldTour level week-long races - three of those going to Almeida - underscoring the point in-fighting or no, they possess an array of leadership talent unmatched in the peloton.

The rest were left to reflect on how they let a lead of over three minutes slip through their fingers, and Tour de France GC hopefuls will head away to regroup in the hope that come July, they can put together a more complete performance. Even then, though, it looks inevitable that they will be scrapping in an effort to prove themselves ‘the best of the rest’.