About the Tour de Romandie
The idea to create a cycling race in French-speaking Switzerland came from Max Girardet, André Jaccard, Fernand Jayet and Paul Denier, members of the Management Committee of the Union Cycliste Suisse (UCS), over a fondue in 1946.
Originally, it was intended to be a one-off event organised to mark the UCS’ 50th birthday. The very first edition thus saw the day one year later, during the Ascension weekend. Ten teams of four riders were invited, representing 11 different bike brands, mainly Swiss ones. Désiré Keteleer was the big winner of this race, the first in a long list that continues to lengthen year after year.
Julian Cerviño – Patrick Testuz, « Tour de Romandie – Dans la roue de l’histoire »
The calendrier UCI WorldTour calendar has now been bringing together the world’s finest cycling races, including the Tour de Romandie, for several years. The biggest stage races – in particular, the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia and the Vuelta a España – as well as the most prestigious one-day events such as Paris-Roubaix or Il Lombardia, are also part of this calendar.
The quality of the sporting show is guaranteed by the participation of the best teams – and, therefore, the best riders – in the 37 events of the UCI WorldTour. The UCI WorldTeams, which are carefully selected according to ethical, financial, administrative, organisational and, above all, sporting criteria, participate in all the events on this calendar, which is an international circuit with individual and team classifications.
Thanks to the quality of its organisation and its strategic position in the calendar, the Tour de Romandie attracts the very best riders.
The media impact of the Tour de Romandie goes well beyond Swiss borders.
The event brings together all the French-speaking cantons as a single entity, and represents a powerful driver for touristic and cultural promotion for the Romandie region. The show put on by the Tour de Romandie delights the greatest sports fans, while the beauty of the landscapes crossed – enhanced by the televisual production – captivates everybody.
As a key event in terms of the sporting heritage of French-speaking Switzerland, the Tour de Romandie enables the political, economic, sporting and media circles to further develop their relationships, while promoting French-speaking Switzerland around the world.
The Tour de Romandie in figures:
Quelques chiffres :
161
coureurs professionnels
6
jours de course
400
bénévoles / staff
23
équipes
322
accompagnants
6000
nuitées
26
millions de téléspectateurs dans le monde
800
articles de presse
90
représentants des médias
135
pays de diffusion
30
enfants participant au P’tit Tour
