The Tour de Romandie begins with a 2.28km prologue in Payerne on Tuesday, the start of six days of racing in Switzerland as the countdown to the Giro d'Italia also begins.
The WorldTour stage race features two summit finishes at Les Marécottes and Leysin, as well as a midweek 15.5km time trial in Oron and welcomes a wealth of top stage racers for the first stage race following the conclusion of the spring Classics season.
2023 winner Adam Yates is back to defend his title along with another top favourite in UAE Team Emirates teammate Juan Ayuso. Former winner Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) is also on the startline, while other major names lining up to race include Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers), and Enric Mas (Movistar).
Leading the way for Jayco-AlUla are a trio of riders in Simon Yates, Luke Plapp, and Eddie Dunbar, making up one of the strongest squads of the 23 starting the race.
Cyclingnews will have daily stage reports and news from the Tour de Romandie.
Yates is looking to continue his comeback after an early season disrupted by illness, while Plapp is back in the saddle for the first time in over a month.
The Australian is preparing to take on the Giro d'Italia alongside Dunbar before preparing for the time trial and road race at the Paris Olympics. Dunbar's 2024 campaign was disrupted by a crash at the UAE Tour. He last raced at Itzulia Basque Country.
"I'm really looking forward to Romandie and to be able to race with both Simon and Eddie," Plapp said ahead of the race.
"All of us could be capable of a strong GC result so I think we can play off each other quite nicely. I've been in altitude since MiIan-San Remo building towards both Romandie and the Giro so I'm looking forward to seeing how my shape is heading into the Giro."
Plapp finished among the top 10 on his race debut here back in 2022 while Yates won a stage at Leysin on the way to finishing second overall back in 2017. Dunbar, meanwhile, finished ninth here last year.
"Romandie has always been a favourite race of mine," Plapp said.
"I had a great race in my first-year pro here and the region of Aigle where we race is one of my favourite places to ride a bike in the world. With Two TTs and the chance to wear the Aussie TT colours for the first time this year is also going to be great.
"I think with the team we have on paper we are hoping to be right up there in the GC ranks and have a few cards to play! I believe the tour will come down to the 15km stage four TT, so that will definitely be a focus for myself.
"With Simon as a leader and myself and Eddie there to play a big role of support and having some opportunities as well."
Plapp will be up there among the favourites to take the opening leader's jersey at the race during the short, flat prologue on Tuesday afternoon.
In addition to the Jayco-AlUla trio and those contenders listed above, other major GC names looking to start their race off well in Romandie include Groupama-FDJ pair David Gaudu and Lenny Martinez, Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost).
Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal Quick-Step) is back in action after riding the cobbled Classics with a micro fracture in his fibula head. Other big names to watch for include Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe), Tao Geoghegan Hart (Lidl-Trek), Damiano Caruso (Bahrain Victorious), and Carlos Rodríguez (Ineos Grenadiers).
