From Lausanne to Crans-Montana: the stages in brief

Tuesday, 24 April: prologue in Lausanne, 3.34 km.

Lausanne will be the setting for the prologue which it last hosted in 2009. The route will not be exactly the same. On that previous occasion, the prologue was won by the Czech rider, Frantisek Rabon. This time the riders will not begin the race by climbing Avenue d'Ouchy; instead, the start will be given on Avenue des Bains. Major feature of this exercise: a negative gradient difference with a slight downward run beginning after 1.7 km on the flat and extending over some 500 m. This suggests that the winner will be able to reach an average speed of more than 50 km/h.

Arrival in Ouchy, place du Port. First departure at 14h50. The last time Lausanne hosted a stage of the Tour de Romandie was in 2009, again with a prologue.

Wednesday, 25 April: 1st stage, Morges - La Chaux-de-Fonds, 184.5 km.

This could be a highly competitive stage with several ascents of average difficulty. As a further attraction for spectators, the riders will cross the finishing line twice because of a final circuit of 67.7 km.

Arrival in La Chaux-de-Fonds, avenue Léopold Robert scheduled at around 17.20 based on the fastest time schedule. The last time a stage finished in La Chaux-de Fonds was also in 2009.

Thursday, 26 April: 2nd stage, Montbéliard (F) - Moutier, 149.1 km.

With 2nd and 3rd category climbs, the route chosen for this stage of which the first 19 km will take place on French territory will be rather like the previous day's race. The programme will include in particular the La Caquerelle ascent which will also feature on the 8th stage of the Tour de France ending in Porrentruy on 8 July. The arrival at the entrance to the Moutier ice skating rink will not be easy with a slight adverse gradient on the final kilometre.

Arrival in Moutier, opposite the ice skating rink at around 17.30. Moutier has not seen the arrival of a TDR stage for more than 20 years. The last winner in this city was Charly Mottet who took the prologue and was also the overall winner of this 44th edition of the event.

Friday, 27 April: 3rd stage, La Neuveville - Charmey, 157.6 km.

As was already the case for the 1st and 2nd stages, this route will not include any major mountain passes. But followers will not forget that in 2007 the road between Moudon and Charmey practically changed the outcome of the race completely when a bunch of riders took a big lead of more than 20 minutes. This will be a final for tough riders as the last 3 km are on a gentle rising gradient. Arrival in Charmey, at the level of the Tamoil garage, expected at 17.20.

Saturday, 28 April: 4th stage, Bulle - Sion, 184 km.

An impressive and long mountain stage with four ascents including three listed in the first category. Arrival at Sion, Avenue de la Gare, expected at 17.20.

Following a year on the sidelines, Sion will once again be hosting the arrival of a stage. Two years ago, Alejandro Valverde, won the stage along the Place de la Planta, beating Igor Anton, Simon Spilak and Denis Menchov in the sprint. However, the Spanish rider did not figure among the winners of that edition of the Tour of Romandie and is not classed as the winner of the Sion stage either because a few days later he was given a two-year suspension with retroactive effect.

Sunday, 29 April: 5th stage CLM, Crans-Montana - Crans-Montana, 16.24 km.

An individual time trial which looks like being particularly challenging for the leaders of the general ranking . The climb between Mollens and Aminona (between the 4th and 10th km with an altitude difference of nearly 400 m) will surely need a daunting effort on the part of the riders and may well turn out to be the decisive leg. The TDR has often passed through Crans-Montana - most recently in 2010 - but the last time a stage ended here was in 1984, on the occasion of the 38th event.