Tour de Suisse 2011 kicks off in Lugano

The weather forecast for tomorrow looks promising, therefore slip into your sneakers and head down to the center of Lugano where, once again, Lugano will kick off the fourth most important bicycle race in the world after the Tour de France, Tour of Italy and the Vuelta de España.

The prologue of the Tour de Suisse 2011 race will be the individual time trial.

The route is not very different from those proposed in 2010, with the exception that the start is on Viale Cattaneo infront of the Congress Palace rather than in the Parco Ciani. After racing along Viale Castagnola the bikers will continue towards the Monte Bre until Ruvigliana, passing the Church of San Giorgio in Castagnola. Once they reach Ruvigliana they will descend towards Viganello before reaching the finish line in front of the Municipality of Lugano.

The festivites begin tonight with the presentation of the teams in Piazza Riforma dedicated to all the people of Ticino. Tomorrow, (Saturday, June 11) the action begins at 12:00 sharp. See programme here. The first racers start at 15:30. Right on the first day, the bikers will be able to get a taste of the challenging mountainous tracks that will lead them to the four corners of Switzerland. Lugano's racing lap of 7.3 km distance (see plan here) is little more than a warm up considering what they will have to face later on in the race. Click here for the map of Tour de Suisse.

You can also win a fantastic week-end in a 5 star hotel thanks to the contest that Lugano Turismo organizes in occasion of the 2011 Tour de Suisse.

Participating is really very simple! All you have to do is give the correct answer to the three questions below and fill in the participation form by clicking here. A winner will be drawn among all those who will have answered correctly.

Question 1

Which of the following open-air events will take place in Lugano from July 8th-10th 2011?

Estival Jazz

Swiss Harley Days

Blues to Bop

Question 2

What’s the name of the guided excursion that takes place, free of charge, every Thursday until November 17th 2011?

Lugano, yesterday and today

Lugano classic Tour

Monte Brè – Lugano

Question 3

In what year was the Monte Brè funicular inaugurated?

1898

1912

1931

Good luck and see you in Lugano!

Forza Svizzera! Hopp Schwiiz! Allez Suisse!