Tour de Suisse

The Tour de Suisse (Tour of Switzerland) is an annual road cycling stage race. Raced over eight days, the event covers two weekends in June, and along with the Critérium du Dauphiné, it is considered a proving ground for the Tour de France, which is on the calendar approximately two weeks after the end of the Tour de Suisse. Since 2011 the event is part of the UCI World Tour, cycling's highest level of professional races.

From 2021, a women's race has been held at the same time, with the event joining the UCI Women's World Tour from 2023.

History
The race was first held in 1933 and has evolved in timing, duration and sponsorship. Like the Tour de France and the Dauphiné, the Tour de Suisse has several stages with significant mountain climbs in the Swiss Alps and at least one individual time trial. Several winners of the Tour de Suisse have also won the Tour de France, including Eddy Merckx and Jan Ullrich. In 2005 the Tour de Suisse was included in the inaugural UCI Pro Tour and organisers moved the race to earlier in June.

The first winner of the race was Austrian Max Bulla in the 1933 edition. The rider with most wins is Italian Pasquale Fornara with 4 wins in the 1950s. The most recent winner is Mattias Skjelmose, who won for the first time in 2023.

Women's race
A women's race was first held in 1998, won by Lithuanian rider Rasa Polikevičiūtė. Three further editions were held between 1999 and 2001. The event was restarted in 2021 in conjunction with the men's event, taking place over two days. In 2022, the race was lengthened to four days and in 2023 the race joined the UCI Women's World Tour. The race is considered a proving ground for the Giro Donne, which is on the calendar after the Tour de Suisse.