For anyone into professional road cycling, I just thought I'd let you know that the Tour de Romandie started yesterday evening in Fribourg. This is an event on the UCI's ProTour calendar, and so all of the major teams are taking part, with many of the biggest names in the sport included.

Highlights will probably be the mountain stage on Saturday and the time trial around Lausanne on Sunday. Here are some more details, full info is available on their website.

Following yesterday's prologue time-trial, today is stage 1, starting near Fribourg and ending in La Chaux de Fonds.
Tomorrow they go from La Chaux de Fonds to Lucens (near Moudon).
Stage 3, on Friday, is from Moudon to Charmey (just past Bulle along the Jaun pass).
Stage 4, on Saturday, is the big mountain stage from Charmey to Morgins (above Monthey, in the Portes du Soleil ski region), including the Juan pass, Col du Pillon, from Aigle up the Col de la Croix as far as Villars, then the climb to Morgins - 3400m of climbing in total.
On Sunday they finish with a time-trial around Lausanne. Starting and finishing at the Olympic stadium, they descend to the lake in between, going over Pont Chauderon, all the way along the lake-front in Ouchy. To get back up to the top of the city, they go up Ave. de la Harpe and then hit the toughest part - climbing the cobbles of Rue de Petit Chene (a gradient of up to 16%). Finally, they cross Place de la Riponne before getting back to the stadium.

Most stages will start around midday and finish around 5pm. It's absolutely free to watch it, and you may well pick up some free stuff that is being thrown from the advertising cars that precede the riders by half an hour or so (the kids love that part). If you're driving then get there early because the roads will be closed well before the race arrives.

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Cycling in Switzerland | Photo blog (mostly travel pics from Switzerland)

Hello Chris if you are going to watch this on Sunday let me know I would like to come along

Sam

We certainly plan to watch it on Sunday. We'll probably be on Petit Chene (the cobbled street leading up from the train station) just below Place St. Francois. It'll be great if you can make it, we'll probably be joining one or two other friends there, too. The last rider should go past at about 17:25, so we'll plan to get there at about 15:30.

Of course, the more the merrier, so anyone else is also welcome to join us - if you haven't already met Heather or I at a pub night then PM me and ask for a description so you can find us.

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Cycling in Switzerland | Photo blog (mostly travel pics from Switzerland)

We were on petit-chêne last year and got great views of the cyclists powering their way up - it was really very impressive to see them fly up so quickly!

If you're there a bit early, keep an eye out for the British cyclist Nicole Cooke, 2006 womens' world road racing champion, who should be participating in the Magali Pache Souvenir timetrial which precedes the main race. This young Welsh cyclist's achievements are really quite outstanding: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/othe...ng/5253924.stm

How about expanding this thread to discuss all elements (good and bad) of the UCI pro tour (Including the Grand tours). With the Giro start Just a week away, then the tour of Switzerland and "LeTour" just around the corner, we will have plenty to talk about over the coming months.

The Giro should at least be interesting not so much for who is going to be there competing, but more so for who is missing it out. Will Cunego or Simoni or Salvadeli manage to stand on top of the podium or will we see some young upstart put the more experienced members of the Peleton to shame.

Mind you there is always the possibility of someone storming away and winning by 9 minutes and then claim that they weren't doping, but intended to dope in the Tour de France.