How in the sweet world are we already here?
The Classics have come, and gone (there may, or may not, be further reflection from me about this – watch this space). Now we stand with Grand Tour season ahead of us, rising like the sun before our eyes, soon to bedazzle us with its brilliance and capture us in its thrall for several weeks of our summer.
Before all that juicy goodness can begin, however, there is first the small matter of a few more stage races (well, for the men – the women proceed without further ado to La Vuelta Femenina, which begins on Sunday) to get the legs ready for the tests to come. The first of these is the Tour de Romandie. A hilly, punchy, time-triall-y sort of week, with one fearsome mountain test – the one with the best name in stage-racing ‘Sion-Thyon’ (I know I'm not the only one who thinks of Bob Marley every time).
Before we begin in earnest with a teeny weeny prologue tomorrow (29 April), here for your reading pleasure, is a selection of the key headlines ahead of the race, along with the far more interesting stuff – what I’M really excited for, at the Tour de Romandie. Onward!
The Headlines (yada, yada)
Evenepoel takes the stage (race)
Fresh from his successful return to racing in the Ardennes, Remco Evenepoel sets his sights on stage racing, as he builds towards the Tour de France.
With two of the six days of racing tests against the clock, plenty of rolling terrain and one major uphill day, Evenepoel will likely go into the race as favourite to win the overall GC. On the one hand, the parcours suits him and he will gain valuable seconds in the time trials, but on the other, with four big race days in his legs from the Ardennes, and having only just come back to the peloton following his accident earlier in the season, fatigue may play a role in his ability to produce a consistent performance across a week-long race – however he appeared to take this into account yesterday, selecting to withdraw from Liège–Bastogne–Liège rather than fight an unwinnable battle against a flawless Tadej Pogačar. But whether he’s actually fatigued or was playing it safe and will come in all guns blazing, it’s an important preparation race for him and his team will be backing him 100%.
Almeida the adversary
With no Yates or Ayuso (not to mention no Pogačar), João Almeida should have the full support of his UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammates as he attempts to thwart Remco’s GC bid. With his strong performances so far this season he’s proven his good form, and with his time trialling prowess there’s no doubt he’s the primary challenger to Evenepoel, perhaps even the race favourite given the Belgian’s uncertain form, and with the Giro d’Italia on the horizon, will be keen to sharpen his weapons. His readiness may well prove to be his advantage in the end, as Evenepoel eases himself back into stage racing.
INEOS with options
If either Evenepoel or Almeida falter during the week, INEOS Grenadiers may be the team to prosper. They have been an exciting team to watch in the early part of the season, with the likes of Axel Laurance, Tobias Foss and Josh Tarling animating races, but for Romandie there’s a hint of ‘back to business’ about their line-up. They combine strength and experience, with two GC candidates in Laurens De Plus and Carlos Rodriguez. Though De Plus regularly works as a domestique at the Grand Tours, he’s proven more than capable of handling himself in a leadership role, recording a podium finish at the Volta ao Algarve and sixth place at Catalunya. But make no mistake this is also a team preparing for the Grand Tours. With that in mind, Rodriguez may well take precedence, though the proof will be in the way the legs respond on the road.
Now we’ve got all that headline stuff out of the way, it’s time for: THE STORIES (ALMOST) NO-ONE IS TALKING ABOUT (ie, what I’M really excited about, at the Tour de Romandie).
Cosnefroy returns to rising Decathlon side
It was all about Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale at the beginning of 2024. New sponsors, new bikes – the whole organisation were delivering a true sense of reinvigoration and energy. They immediately implemented that positive upward trajectory on the roads, taking several wins in the first half of the season as the momentum created a kind of snowball effect. At the heart of the success, their long-time talisman and fan favourite Benoît Cosnefroy. Then 28, the man from Cherbourg just couldn’t stop winning, with victories including a stage win and two jerseys at the Tour de Alps Maritimes in February, then Paris-Camembert, before he went on to take a win in the Ardennes at Brabantse Pijl then scoring three more victories in May at one-day and stage races within France.
In fact, Cosnefroy’s final victory for the team in May 2024 was the team’s 21st, of an impressive 30 they achieved throughout the season. But it’s interesting to note that they achieved those 21 victories in a four month period. By contrast, the following five months of the season yielded just nine, the most significant of these being at the Vuelta a España, where Ben O’Connor’s brilliant stage win would set up a long run in the red jersey; the Australian’s swansong for the French team who gave him his first pro contract.
Cosnefroy’s absence from the Tour de France team was purportedly due to his intention to prepare for his home Olympic Games in Paris – and given his run of form, selection looked like a foregone conclusion. When he was overlooked for Paris 2024, with no Tour de France on the horizon, the wind went out of the sails somewhat, and following a collarbone injury in a crash at the Renewi Tour at the end of August, Cosnefroy’s season was over. What followed was a tough period in which a pre-existing knee injury requiring surgery forced him to the sidelines for the beginning of this 2025 season; now, finally, he has rehabilitated himself and is ready to begin.
Cosnefroy is one of the most exciting riders in the peloton on punchy, rolling terrain – often an agitator, he’s never afraid to shake up a race and his attacking style saw him wear the KOM jersey for the majority of the Tour de France in 2020. After missing the Tour in 2024 – his first since his debut in 2019 – he will surely be on the road to taking on the race this summer – and it starts here.
As for his team, though they’ve fared well so far this season – 7 wins compared to 11 by this point in 2024 – over half of these have come from a resurgent Sam Bennett, and with morale on the up following last week’s Tour of the Alps, the team will certainly be hoping to reinforce both physically and psychologically with Cosnefroy’s presence.
Matthew Brennan - what can he do?
Break-out star of the season so far, Team Visma-Lease A Bike’s Matty Brennan, starts the Tour de Romandie after taking on his first Paris-Roubaix and finishing (a feat in itself, on debut) a creditable 44th.
In Romandie, he will be looking to replicate the kind of form that propelled him to two stage victories at the Volta Catalunya, and at this stage in his career, it’s difficult to rule anything out. He managed the climbing tests at the Spanish stage race better than many might have expected given his sprinter capabilities, and with just one major mountain test in Romandie, if he can manage the time trials consistently, he might hope to record a decent result on GC. Alternatively, he might just tear up the hilly stages on a stage raid, in a young Visma team with nothing to lose, and plenty of options depending on who has the legs. Brennan himself is a blank page – he could either impress once again, or perhaps following such a sustained period of high level performance, we may see him fall back into a supporting role. Whatever happens, whenever his name is on a start list from here on out, we’ll all be playing close attention.
Onley you, Lenny Mart-win-ez, and more
(I’m working on my tabloid style pun-headlines – like them?!)
Speaking of young GC prospects, there are plenty more who will have their eyes set on glory in Romandie, whether they’re intending to go all in for the overall or just to target stages.
Team Picnic-PostNL have suffered horrible luck so far this season and in Oscar Onley, they have a young British climbing talent who has the potential to hang with the major players throughout this race and lift the spirits of his beleaguered team. The 22-year-old Scot has made the top ten at three stage races already this season, and has come second in two stages – at the Tour Down Under and UAE Tour – and is a solid bet for a top five finish if he can dial in his time trial performances.
Lenny Martinez is another rider on the up. The pocket-sized Frenchman has been building his form in his first season at Bahrain-Victorious, and he flourished at Paris-Nice, taking his first World Tour level victory. He’s notched up strong performances at a number of races and more importantly, has been building his consistency. He’s still just 21, and his time-trial abilities may rule him out of overall contention in Romandie, but his climbing skill and punch on steep uphill finishes may well allow him to take a stage or two here.
Outside of these two, more young riders to look out for include: Lennert van Eetvelt (Lotto) and Finn Fisher-Black (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) on GC; Iván Romeo (Movistar) and Ewen Costiou (Arkea-B&B Hotels) for stage hunting; and Maikel Zijlaard (Tudor Pro Cycling) for anything remotely sprinty.
Re-Group-ama FDJ
Yes I have a bit more French team excitement to bring you before we conclude. It’s a race in Switzerland, and there are two time trials – need I say more than the following two words: Stefan Küng. He’s enjoyed a period of rest and training following a solid cobbled classics campaign and will be keen to impose himself in his favoured discipline on home soil.
And beyond that, the mercurial David Gaudu returns to action, probably in stage hunting mode rather than for GC given his lack of time trialling chops, and also as he’s just returning from a short lay-off following a hand injury. He may be brilliant, or invisible, or both depending on what day it is, but I’m a glutton for punishment when it comes to hoping to see him perform.
He’ll be ably assisted by arguably the team’s most underrated new signing, Clément Braz Afonso, who has been working like a dog in support of Guillaume Martin at the Coupe de France, with the result that the peloton philosopher won two of the three races last weekend – Braz Afonso being very visible throughout. He is clearly in some form, and this may be rewarded with opportunities at Romandie. In short, they could be an exciting team to keep an eye on, if they can let go of any notions of GC performance.
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