Domestique Stars: The favourites for the Tour de Suisse

Beginning June 15, the Tour de Suisse  serves as the final WorldTour stage race before the Tour de France, and its demanding terrain offers GC hopefuls a crucial proving ground. João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) lines up as the clear favourite, returning to defend UAE’s title after a dominant 2024 performance where he and Adam Yates shared the last four stage wins and sealed a 1–2 overall finish. 

But how do Bence and Dieter see the race playing out?

"Last year, led by Adam Yates and João Almeida, UAE–Team Emirates dominated the Tour de Suisse, winning the last four stages with the two leaders finishing first and second in the general classification. Yates is skipping this race in 2025, but Almeida again prepares for the Tour de France in Switzerland. During this season, João has learned how to win big races, and we have seen the Portuguese rider perform better than ever on various terrains and conditions. With more mountain finishes than in previous years, he is the favourite to win the Tour de Suisse." 

"However, there are many contenders for second and third place on the podium. I have chosen two very strong climbers for these spots: Oscar Onley has shown great climbing form throughout the season, and this race is notably important for his team, Picnic PostNL, as they have a strong chance of scoring serious UCI points. For the third spot, I chose Felix Gall, who arrives as a contender this year after his breakthrough in 2023 - the final mountain time trial could suit him very well. The overall profile of the race, however, presents a greater than average chance for surprises, and given that, a good opportunity arises for our readers to predict this race with a better hit rate than us, experts."

"I think there's just no one who can beat Almeida here. Without bad luck, I see him and Remco competing for the third step on the podium in Paris next month, so with that in mind, he should win this Tour de Suisse. I'm particularly curious about the performances of Jan Christen and Matthew Riccitello and how they'll hold up. I'm also looking forward to seeing how Tao Geoghegan Hart does and whether he can return to the level he reached in the past."

* Vergallito is not starting. Dieter puts Bilbao instead of him.

It’s a clean handover within UAE Team Emirates‑XRG, if our creators are right: both expect João Almeida to take the Tour de Suisse crown from Adam Yates. Behind him, however, opinions differ on which riders could leave their mark on the race. Now, it’s the riders who have the final word.