A compact Alpine stage race that tests climbers and time trialists across five consecutive days of hard racing in the Swiss mountains.
Tour de Suisse Women is a five-day WorldTour stage race held each June in Switzerland. First run in 2021, it delivers Alpine climbing and time trialing in a condensed format that rewards stage-racing depth and fast recovery between mountain efforts.
Marlen Reusser claimed the first edition in 2021, mastering both the climbs and the clock on home terrain.
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This race compresses serious climbing into a short window where every stage carries weight. The Swiss Alps deliver steep gradients and technical descents that separate pure climbers from all-rounders, while the time trial rewards riders who can sustain power after consecutive mountain days. Marlen Reusser won the inaugural edition on home roads, combining climbing resilience with time-trial strength. The race sits at a pivotal moment in the season, offering a final test of form before the Tour de France Femmes and a chance to see who can handle hard days back-to-back without cracking.
The race is decided by a combination of mountain stages and a time trial, with little room for recovery between efforts. Expect at least two summit finishes or high-altitude stages where climbers can gain time, plus one individual time trial that tests whether a rider can sustain power after consecutive days of climbing. The shorter overall distance means the GC battle ignites earlier and burns hotter than in longer stage races, with less opportunity to ride defensively or wait for a single decisive stage. Descending matters: Swiss roads are narrow and technical, and confident descenders can defend gaps or chase back after being distanced on a climb. The race rewards riders who can recover overnight and handle rapid changes in altitude and effort without losing sharpness across five straight days.
The race uses the Swiss Alps for mountain stages that test climbing and descending ability on steep, technical roads.
A short stage race of three to four days that compresses GC action into a format where every stage matters and there is no room for recovery.
Held in June alongside the men Tour de Suisse, the race sits in the calendar as a key pre-Tour form test for climbers and GC riders.
Most recent winner: Marlen Reusser
Marlen Reusser won the first WorldTour edition of the race, using her time trial power and climbing consistency to claim the overall on Swiss roads she knows intimately.
Demi Vollering won three of four stages and the overall, turning the Tour de Suisse Women into a display of the kind of stage-race control that defines the best Grand Tour riders.
Two victories (2023, 2025) on home roads. Reusser combines time trial power with climbing ability in a format perfectly suited to her strengths.
Won in 2024 with a dominant display that proved the Tour de Suisse Women could attract and challenge the very best stage racers in the world.
Won the inaugural 2021 edition, giving the race credibility from the start with a champion already proven at the highest level.
The Tour de Suisse Women uses the Swiss Alps as its testing ground, compressing serious mountain racing into a short but demanding format.
The race visits Alpine climbs that test pure climbing ability on steep, technical terrain typical of central Switzerland.
The short stage-race format means every stage directly shapes the GC. There are no throwaway days in a three or four day race.
