The men’s and women’s Tour de Suisse this month will be the first pro races to introduce live GPS tracking in their prestigious Tour de France tune-up tests.
Organizers confirmed bikes will be fitted with trackers and monitored from a central safety center for both the women’s tour, starting June 12, and the men’s race, starting June 15.
The measure comes in response to two recent tragedies involving Swiss athletes on home soil.
Gino Mäder died in a descending crash at the 2023 Tour de Suisse, and teenager Muriel Furrer lost her life last year when she crashed off course and was left undiscovered at the Zürich road worlds.
“We cannot completely prevent crashes with these measures. But we are doing everything we can to ensure that all information is available to the teams and that the consequences are as minimal as possible,” Suisse race director Olivier Senn said this week.
It’s a widely welcomed measure, but one some may say is long overdue for a sport laden with gadgets and governed by data.
“We can fly to the moon, but we don’t know where a cyclist is in a race,” Senn said after the Swiss tragedies sparked a safety debate through the sport.
The UCI confirmed Tuesday it’s on board with the initiative, and that it’s looking into similar measures for the Kigali road world championships this autumn.
GPS trackers and a command center
Race chief Senn explained how a tracking system will give race HQ real-time updates on all riders and provide timely warning of any incidents.
“Each bike will be fitted with a small tracker that will sound an alarm in the event of certain anomalies, such as if the bike does not move for 30 seconds, leaves the route or abruptly changes speed,” Senn said. “In such cases, we are notified immediately and can react.
“We will also use trackers in the convoy, as each radio is equipped with a tracker,” Senn continued. “The information is gathered in the safety command center where we can monitor the entire situation.”
Teams will also be provided extra course information for what’s a popular and prestigious primer for the Tour de France and Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift.
Demi Vollering, João Almeida, Kasia Niewiadoma, and Geraint Thomas are just a few of the names who will be hoping to safely navigate the Swiss race before they reboot for Le Tour.
“All potential hazard areas were recorded in the VeloViewer system in advance, which is also available to the teams before and during the races,” race chief Senn said.
Senn also confirmed teams are able to opt out of the feature after some expressed fears of data security.
According to Swiss outlet Tages-Anzeiger, the GPS system cost the organization 50,000CHF ($61,000USD).
Tour de Suisse Women (June 12-15): Who can break Vollering’s unbeaten streak?
Demi Vollering – who else? – is top favorite for the four-day Tour de Suisse Women.
But it won’t be easy for FDJ-Suez’s dominant Dutchwoman.
Marlen Reusser (Movistar) and Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM) will both be there to swing at Vollering in this final primer for the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift.
Some of the biggest stars in women’s cycling lining up for the 2025 #tourdesuissewomen Read more in the latest news article on our website➡️ https://t.co/KHcuKgfRBl pic.twitter.com/lKEroqyEdl
— Tour de Suisse (@tds) June 9, 2025
Vollering is four-from-four in 2025 stage races and has looked impeccable all season.
The Tour de Suisse Women is surprisingly short of any major mountain tests, so Vollering’s rivals will need to get the jump on the classics-style second and fourth stages.
Also watch out for EF Education-Oatly’s rising Swiss star Noemi Rüegg, and SD Worx powerhouse Mischa Bredewold. Both could be GC surprises in as short and flat a course as this.
Tour de Suisse men (June 15-22): Alaphilippe, Powless, and a puncheurs delight
The Critérium du Dauphiné’s gain this week is at Suisse’s loss.
These rival Tour de France tune-up competitions regularly contend for the grand tour “bigs,” and this year, the French race won.
João Almeida (UAE Emirates), Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek), Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers), Ben O’Connor (Jayco-AlUla), Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) will chase GC next week in the absence of Tadej Pogačar, Remco Evenepoel, and Jonas Vingegaard.
All eyes will be on Almeida to continue UAE Emirates-XRG’s rampage through 2025 after the Portuguese finished second in a Suisse team 1-2 with Adam Yates last year.
The mountainous back half of the race will be decisive for Almeida and this pack of – sorry to say it guys – second-tier Tour de France hopefuls.
Tour of Switzerland – line-up
Joao Almeida
Marc Hirschi
Michael Matthews
Matej Mohoric
Stefan Küng
Ben O’Connor
Arnaud De Lie
Mathias Skjelmose
Neilson Powless
Julian Alaphilippe
Alexander Vlasov
Jordi Meeus#cycling pic.twitter.com/M7zeTSxGFG— CyclingBottle (@Cyclingbottle) June 9, 2025
But don’t get down on the roster.
The start of this eight-day tour will look like the most prestigious Ardennes classic.
Julian Alaphilippe, Marc Hirschi (both Tudor Pro Cycling), Michael Matthews (Jayco-AlUla), and U.S. star Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) will have designs on the puncheur profile stages that arrive early into the race.