Favorites prologue Tour of Switzerland 2024 | Time trialists, sprinters, cyclocross riders, and GC contenders

As we wrap up the Critérium du Dauphiné on Sunday, the next big race, the Tour of Switzerland, is already gearing up. The WorldTour event kicks off in Liechtenstein with a prologue of 4.77 kilometers. IDLProCycling.com tells you everything you need to know about day 1.

Course prologue Tour of Switzerland 2024

The Tour of Switzerland starts with a short prologue of 4.77 kilometers, which doesn't require much explanation. In Vaduz, the capital of the tiny state of Liechtenstein, a simple square course has been designed. In total, the course includes four turns, simple as that.

Climbs
None

Times
Start: 2:08 PM (first rider)
Finish: 5:00 PM (last rider)

Weather for the prologue of the Tour of Switzerland 2024

The prologue of the Tour of Switzerland could well be affected by rain. In Vaduz, some rain is expected throughout the day, but with summer temperatures.

Favorites for the prologue Tour of Switzerland 2024

The Tour of Switzerland, as the tradition goes, includes two time trial stages, one of which often takes place on the first day. This is partly due to the qualities of some of the better riders from that country: last year in Einsiedeln, Stefan Küng proved that he can handle such a chrono test very well, which led to the first leader's jersey for the Groupama-FDJ rider.

Former European champion Stefan Bissegger is perhaps even better at short distances, at least on paper, but the EF Education-EasyPost rider has been struggling with his form for a while. His teammate Alberto Bettiol certainly is not struggeling, nor is sprinter Marijn van den Berg. These men could also pull off a great result in Vaduz.

In a prologue, it's always good to keep an eye on the fast riders. In this race, we particularly think of Michael Matthews (Jayco AlUla), Ethan Hayter (INEOS Grenadiers), and Cees Bol (Astana Qazaqstan Team), all of whom have an excellent time trial legs. Other explosive time trialists include Jannik Steimle (Q36.5), Yves Lampaert (Soudal Quick-Step), and Soren Kragh Andersen (Alpecin-Deceuninck), but don't discount cyclo-cross riders like Thibau Nys (Lidl-Trek), Jan Christen (UAE-Team Emirates), and Tom Pidcock (INEOS Grenadiers).

General classification riders may find it more challenging over such distances, but we would not dismiss Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) and Kévin Vauquelin (Arkéa - B&B Hotels) either. Riders like Joao Almeida (UAE) and the purer climbers will need to shine in the longer efforts. Finally, we want to mention two wild cards, both from the Lotto-Dstny camp: what can Arnaud De Lie and Maxim Van Gils do?

According to IDLProCycling.com, who are the favorites for the 2024 Tour of Switzerland prologue?

Top favorites:Michael Matthews (Jayco AlUla) and Stefan Bissegger (EF Education-EasyPost)
Outsiders: Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ), Ethan Hayter (INEOS Grenadiers), Alberto Bettiol (EF Education-EasyPost) and Yves Lampaert (Soudal Quick-Step)
Long shots: Mattias Skjelmose, Thibau Nys (Lidl-Trek), Tom Pidcock (INEOS Grenadiers), Jannik Steimle (Q36.5), Cees Bol (Astana Qazaqstan Team), Soren Kragh Andersen (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Jan Christen (UAE-Team Emirates) and Kévin Vauquelin (Arkéa - B&B Hotels)