Geneva has been tied to the Tour de Romandie since the race's early decades, hosting starts and finishes across editions from 1950 through the 1990s — Édouard Fachleitner, Vittorio Adorni, Gösta Pettersson, and Claude Criquielion all passed through the city on their way to overall victory.
Beyond the city, riders have two classic options. To the west, the road climbs into the Jura toward the Col de la Faucille, a fixture of the Tour de France ten times since 1951, with views back over Lake Geneva and, on clear days, the Alps beyond.
On the opposite side of the valley rises Mont Salève, steeper and less forgiving than the Faucille — a favourite among Geneva-based riders precisely because it punishes rather than rewards a relaxed pace.
Between the two, Geneva offers a genuine choice of terrain within an hour of the city centre: gentle Jura passes to the north-west, or the Salève's harder pitches just across the French border to the south — a lakeside base with serious climbing on both sides.
