Tour De Suisse 2016: Dates, Route Map, Stage Previews and TV Coverage Info

The 80th edition of the Tour de Suisse will begin on Saturday, June 11 with an individual time trial in Baar—the first of nine stages on the tour that will culminate in Davos the following Sunday, June 19.

Along the way, riders will visit the likes of Rheinfelden, Champagne and Arbon as they cycle around Switzerland.

Here is the complete schedule for the tour, and read on for a preview of some of the key stages:

Stage	Dates	Course	Distance
Stage 1	June 11, 2016	Baar - Baar (ITT)	6.4 km
Stage 2	June 12, 2016	Baar - Baar	187.6 km
Stage 3	June 13, 2016	Grosswangen - Rheinfelden	192.6 km
Stage 4	June 14, 2016	Rheinfelden - Champagne	193 km
Stage 5	June 15, 2016	Brig-Glis - Cari	126.4 km
Stage 6	June 16, 2016	Weesen - Amden	162.8 km
Stage 7	June 17, 2016	Arbon - Solden	224.3 km
Stage 8	June 18, 2016	Davos - Davos (ITT)	16.8 km
Stage 9	June 19, 2016	Davos - Davos	117.7 km

Route maps and profiles for every stage can be found at CyclingNews.com. Eurosport UK will broadcast television coverage of the race in the United Kingdom, while NBC Universal will be showing it in the United States.

The route is arguably more difficult this year than in previous editions, with the amount of climbing done by the riders increasing as the race goes on.

After the prologue in Baar, Stages 2, 3 and 4 will all suit the sprinters, though they're hardly flat—they each contain category two and three climbs at various points, the terrain of the second stage standing out in particular as a tough challenge.

Peter Sagan, who has won 11 stages of the race since 2011, will be eyeing yet more victories in those stages. He will be leading Tinkoff's team once again:

The 26-year-old will be fresh from the Tour of California, where he won two stages to add to the 13 he'd already accumulated over the years.

According to Cycling News, Tinkoff sporting director Patxi Vila said: "Past experience has shown that Peter goes better in Switzerland than in California, so we hope that this build of form will continue here. It will be his last race before the Tour de France so it will be a good one for him to test his legs again."

Cycling News also provided a summary of the later stages:

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Stage 5 takes riders over the Furkapass and Gotthardpass, both over 2000m in elevation, with an uphill finish to Cari. Stage 6 heads over the Klausenpass and has another summit finish in Amden, but it's stage 7 that will be the true test - a 13km climb that averages over 10%.

Stage 8 is a 16.8km individual time trial in Davos. Even the final stage will be difficult for the sprinters - at just 117.7km, the stage heads over the Albulapass and the Fluelapass over 2300m before descending to the finish in Davos.

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The finishes in Stages 6 and 7 will go a long way to determining who reigns supreme in the general classification. BMC's Tejay van Garderen, reigning champion Simon Spilak and three-time winner Rui Costa are all likely to be in contention.

Christophe Ena/Associated Press

Per Laura Weislo of Cycling News, the American highlighted those stages as the key to the race: "There are four mountain stages, three summit finishes, and I looked at the profiles—none of them look easy. The climb to Solden looks the most demanding. If you're going to win the race it's going to be either on that climb or on the time trial."

The Tour de Suisse is an excellent warm-up for the summer ahead and strong performances here will put riders in contention for the two remaining Grand Tours. Don't be surprised if Van Garderen achieves success in France or Spain if he does so here in Switzerland.