Date June Type Stage race Editions 80 (as of 2016) Discipline Road bicycle racing Race director Olivier Senn | English name Tour of Switzerland First edition 1933 (1933) | |
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Local name(s) Tour de Suisse (French) Most wins Pasquale Fornara (ITA) (4 wins) | ||
Tour de suisse 2016 hd stage 9 full race
The Tour de Suisse (English: Tour of Switzerland) is an annual cycling stage race in Switzerland. Raced over nine days, the event covers two weekends in the latter half of June. Along with the Critérium du Dauphiné, it is considered a proving ground for the Tour de France, which is on the calendar 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.
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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 organizers 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 Slovenian Simon Špilak, who gained the lead with a second place ride in the final time trial.