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2017 Tour de Romandie preview: Froome and Porte square off in Switzerland

After busy spring campaign, Houle tunes up for third straight Giro

Tuesday is the prologue of the 71st Tour de Romandie in Switzerland, the sixth stage race of the 2017 WorldTour. Romandie is the French-speaking part of Switzerland. In June, the Tour de Suisse is one of the two traditional tune-up races for the Tour de France along with the Criterium du Dauphiné.

It’s a little too close to the Giro d’Italia to act as the last warm-up race for most pink jersey contenders–Vincenzo Nibali just finished winning the 2.1-rated Tour of Croatia and Nairo Quintana hasn’t raced since winning the Tirreno-Adriatico in mid-March–but a few riders booked for Italy will stretch their legs. The main story of the Tour de Romandie will be an early clash between the two riders slated to vie for July’s Tour de France crown, Chris Froome and Richie Porte.

The Course
The six days of the Tour de Romandie usually include either a prologue time trial or opening team trial and then another individual time trial. The 2017 edition is no exception, and begins with a fairly flat 4.8-km time trial in Aigle.

Stage 1 isn’t messing around, getting straight into the big climbs. Along with three Cat. 3’s, there’s a Cat. 2 and then a Cat. 1 clamber to Champery that contains a section of 8% but relents near its end.

Stage 1 ends with a 14-km climb to Champery with sections of 8%.
Stage 1 ends with a 14-km climb to Champery with sections of 8%.

Stage 2 has a 4-km rise to the finish line, while Stage 3 finally offers something to the sprinters. There are four Cat. 3’s, but the last one peaks 28-km from the finish line.

Stage 4 is the queen stage, and organizers crammed three Cat. 1’s and Cat. 2 into the second half of a 163.5-km route. The final climb begins with 3-km of 8.5% before lightening up a little in the final kilometre.

Stage 4: The queen stage has four climbs in its second half.
Stage 4: The queen stage has four climbs in its second half.

The time trial finale is 18.3-km in length and riders will be begin climbing one kilometre after the start. After peaking at the 8-km mark, the course descends gently with one additional rise before two flat kilometres leading to the finish.

The Contenders

Chris Froome is the favourite to win the 2017 Tour de France, which would give him four yellow jerseys in five years. This season, pundits have tipped BMC’s Porte to give Froome a run for his money, despite last year’s fifth in La Grande Boucle standing as his best Grand Tour result since seventh in the 2010 Giro.

Froome has won the Tour de Romandie twice, while Porte was fourth in 2012 when his teammate Bradley Wiggins took the victory.

Porte started the season off right, winning the Tour Down Under, his home tour, for the first time. Froome placed sixth in his first stage race, the Herald Sun Tour.

Both riders had similar outings in their last stage races. Porte got caught out in the crosswinds early in the second stage of Paris-Nice and had to fight his way up to 12th on GC, winning Stage 7 along the way. Froome was in second place to Alejandro Valverde at the Volta a Catalunya when an early attack by Movistar and Trek on Stage 6 caught the whole Sky contingent on the back foot a la last year’s Vuelta a España. Froome came in 30th.

The time trials will be in both riders’ favour.

Chris Froome won his second TdR in 2014 on the final day chrono.
Chris Froome won his second TdR in 2014 on the final day chrono.

Which riders might upset the anglophones or make the final podium? One name to consider is last season’s third place Jon (Ion) Izagirre, now with Bahrain-Merida. Izagirre took 2016’s opening prologue. He was also seventh in this year’s Paris-Nice and third in Pais Vasco. Fifth in Sunday’s Liège-Bastogne-Liège is his best ever Monument result.

Jon Izagirre took last year's prologue and finished third on GC.
Jon Izagirre took last year’s prologue and finished third on GC.

Ilnur Zakarin (Russia/Katusha-Alpecin) won the Tour de Romandie in 2015 and came fourth last season. He has recovered from the crash that took him out of March’s Volta a Catalunya. Before that he placed sixth in Paris-Nice and runner-up in the Abu Dhabi Tour. Zakarin is riding the Giro in May.

At first it looked like the Yates twins would both be at the Giro, but recently Simon was assigned to the Tour. Simon Yates (Great Britain/Orica-Scott) placed 9th in Paris-Nice and most recently 22nd in Pais Vasco.

Another Giro racer is Bob Jungels (Luxembourg/Quick Step) who had a more impressive early season in 2016.

It’s impossible not to mention Primož Roglič (Slovenia/LottoNL-Jumbo) as a stage race contender anymore, especially when there are time trials involved. In his last three stage races he placed fifth (Pais Vasco), fourth (Tirreno-Adriatico) and first (Volta ao Algarve). Like Froome, Porte and Izagirre, Roglič is set for the Tour de France.

One Canadian will line up in Aigle on Tuesday for his first Tour de Romandie. Hugo Houle represents AG2R after a very busy February, March and April. Houle is penciled in for his third consecutive Giro.