Biel - Delémont   

On a clear day the alps often look stunning from the Jura, rising out of the relative flat land of plains of northern Switzerland. The proximity of the alps can often lead to the misinterpretation that the Jura are merely hills. For this reason, the cycling authorities combined with the local canton to organise a mountain stage that could rival most alpine races in gradient and length. This race was to be held between Biel/Bie...

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On a clear day the alps often look stunning from the Jura, rising out of the relative flat land of plains of northern Switzerland. The proximity of the alps can often lead to the misinterpretation that the Jura are merely hills. For this reason, the cycling authorities combined with the local canton to organise a mountain stage that could rival most alpine races in gradient and length. This race was to be held between Biel/Bienne and Delemont, and despite the rural setting, the organisers were on to a winner with fanatical support shown for the visiting teams and a tightly fought race from the very first edition.

The race starts from the major Swiss city of Biel/Bienne and the climbing starts immediately. The flag will drop on the outskirts of the city, where the gradient begins to ramp up. A breakaway will surely form almost immediately unless one of the better riders also escapes. The first 13.5km are spent tackling the longest and arguably toughest climb of the day up to the pass above Orvin at an average gradient of 6.5%. However, that does include a small descent and includes long stretches of gradients of 10%. Having summited this the riders will descend into the village of Corgemont. As they cross the main road of the village they will start climbing again, up to the pass above the village. It is a demanding climb at an average of 11% but it is only 3.5km so, despite being tired from the first climb, very few should be left behind and most should get back on to the main group if dropped.

Once over the top, the riders face a short descent into Tramelan before they face a flat section before a long and winding section down into the gulley of the river Doubs, which they will cross and in doing so cross into France for a short time. This heralds the climb up to Courtefontaine (8km long with a 7% average gradient) a tricky descent to Vaufrey before crossing back into Switzerland and a longer descent to Porrentury.

Following this they will tackle the Col des Rangiers, the main road from Porrentury to Delemont. It is not very steep at an average gradient of 4% but the sprinters and domestiques will begin to fall away on the steeper sections, leaving the favourites to set their own tempo. At the head of the race, the leaders will also begin to attack one another in order to form a smaller, stronger group. Once into Delemont, they are less than 7km from the finish, on the wooded hills above Delemont, but it will take them a long time. The average gradient is 7% but for the first three kilometers it is consistently above 10%. The climb continues all the way to the line where the final attacks will surely commence by the favourites as the gradient once again climbs up and over 10% in the Ordons Forest overlooking Delemont.

On most occasions, the breakaway will crack and caught by the favourites, but occasionally the winner will be the strongest member of the breakaway. Along the edge of the final, narrow climb, fanatical supporters will ring cows bells as the race reaches its climax. And as part of the tradition of the race, the winner will himself be given a golden bell.