
Saturday, July 4: Stage 1, Barcelona 19.6-kilometer team time trial
Stage 1 map & profile | Stage 1 photos

Team Visma | Lease a Bike on its way to winning the stage and putting Jonas Vingegaard in yellow. ASO/Charly Lopez photo
Bill & Carol McGann's book The Story of the Tour de France, Vol 1: 1903 - 1975 is available in print, Kindle eBook & audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.
Weather at the race city of Barcelona at 5:10 PM, local time: 31C (87F), sunny, with the wind from the south-southwest at 26 km/hr (16 mph). No rain is forecast.
Rated ascent:
The stage: The 2026 Tour de France begins with an innovation. The last team time trial was held in Brussels during the 2019 edition, but on this occasion the teams will be competing under a very different format. The idea of individual times being taken in a team time trial has been successfully tested at Paris-Nice since 2023. What’s absolutely certain is that the favourites won’t be able to hide: the Montjuïc finale will highlight the strongest riders. - Tour boss Christian Prudhomme

Team Uno-X doing a pre-race course recon. ASO photo
The race: First team off was Caja Rural-Seguros RGA at 5:05 PM, local time. 23rd and final team was UAE Team Emirates-XRG at 6:55 PM.
Here's the race organizer's stage one report:
The opening team time trial of the Tour de France 2026 delivered the thrills anticipated with a revisited format that saw Visma-Lease a Bike propel Jonas Vingegaard to his first Maillot Jaune since 2023, when he stood on the final podium to claim his second overall victory.
Three years later, the Danish climber powered to victory on the final uphill of the day, leading to glory at Barcelona’s Olympic Stadium, after his teammates emptied their tanks on the first flat sections. Vingegaard took victory ahead of Netcompany Ineos’ Filippo Ganna (+8’’) after the British team’s plans were affected by Kévin Vauquelin’s puncture. Tadej Pogacar’s UAE Emirates-XRG completes the podium (+12’’) after a strong performance by the Slovenian in the finale. He was the fastest over the hilly final 3.7 kilometres and was thus awarded the polka-dot jersey.
The race:
After Barcelona embraced the light of the Tourd e France with spectacular celebrations for the Grand Départ, the 113th edition of the race for the Maillot Jaune kicks off with a 19.6 km team time trial. The stage uses a new format, unprecedented in the Grande Boucle but tried and tested in Paris-Nice (since 2023) and then the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (2026). The stage standings are established with the time of each team’s best rider. For the general classification, riders are credited with their individual time.
Local heroes kick off, French punchers show off
Making their return to the race 37 years after the team’s last participation, Caja Rural-Seguros RGA are the first to start from the seaside, head into the city and battle it out over the final climbs leading to the Olympic stadium in Montjuïc. Propelled by José Felix Parra, Alex Molenaar takes off on the last uphill and sets a first benchmark for the day: 22’59’’.
French teams rapidly oust the Spaniards from the first position. First, it’s Jordan Jegat powering to a time of 22’49’’ for Total Energies. Then, the French road race champion Romain Grégoire punches over the final climbs of the day to be 21 seconds faster and set the best time for Groupama-FDJ United.

This should be Romain Grégoire on his way to helping his team set a good time. ASO photo
Netcompany Ineos fly, Vauquelin punctures
Movistar are the first proper threat for the French team, but the Spanish team fade in the finale as their Belgian leader Cian Uijtdebroeks struggles. Following a different trend, Alpecin-Premier Tech improve along the course and Mathieu Van der Poel eventually sets a new benchmark: 22’26’’.
In the meantime, Netcompany Ineos fly on the course. But their plans are derailed when Kévin Vauquelin needs to swap bikes due to a puncture just ahead of the third checkpoint. It’s down to Filippo Ganna to power his way to the finish: 21’55’’ (53.65km/h), or a lead of 31 seconds to Alpecin-Premier Tech.

Filippo Ganna and Tobias Foss blitzing the course. ASO photo
Vingegaard caps off Visma-Lease a Bike’s work
Lidl-Trek impress and enter the last 3.7 kilometres with a narrow margin - 0.04 second - on Netcompany Ineos, but Juan Ayuso eventually crosses the line with a time of 22’03’’. Not long after, Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) sets the third best time for Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe (+11’’).
Their performances are strong… but not enough to resist Jonas Vingegaard. Visma-Lease a Bike display their collective strength, and the Danish climber flew away on the final climb: 21’47’’.

Jonas Vingegaard will start stage two in yellow. Sirotti photo
UAE Emirates-XRG are the last on course. With the support of Isaac del Toro, Tadej Pogacar is the fastest over the last 3.7 kilometres. He finishes third on the day, twelve seconds behind his Danish rival.
Results:
19.6 kilometers raced at an average speed of 53.950 km/hr
| 1 | TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE | 21min 47.87sec |
| 2 | NETCOMPANY INEOS CYCLING TEAM | @ 8sec |
| 3 | UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG | 00' 12'' |
| 4 | LIDL-TREK | 00' 16'' |
| 5 | RED BULL - BORA – HANSGROHE | 00' 19'' |
| 6 | DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM | 00' 39'' |
| 7 | ALPECIN-PREMIER TECH | 00' 39'' |
| 8 | GROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED | 00' 41'' |
| 9 | BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS | 00' 47'' |
| 10 | TEAM JAYCO ALULA | 00' 51'' |
| 11 | EF EDUCATION – EASYPOST | 00' 57'' |
| 12 | PINARELLO-Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM | 00' 57'' |
| 13 | SOUDAL QUICK-STEP | 00' 58'' |
| 14 | UNO-X MOBILITY | 01' 00'' |
| 15 | TOTALENERGIES | 01' 02'' |
| 16 | CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA | 01' 12'' |
| 17 | TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM | 01' 14'' |
| 18 | NSN CYCLING TEAM | 01' 16'' |
| 19 | COFIDIS | 01' 17'' |
| 20 | MOVISTAR TEAM | 01' 18'' |
| 21 | LOTTO INTERMARCHE | 01' 36'' |
| 22 | TEAM PICNIC POSTNL | 01' 55'' |
| 23 | XDS ASTANA TEAM | 02' 18'' |
GC after stage 1:
| 1 | Jonas Vingegaard | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | 21min 47sec |
| 2 | Filippo Ganna | Netcompany INEOS | @ 8sec |
| 3 | Tadej Pogacar | UAE Team Emirates-XRG | 0:12 |
| 4 | Juan Ayuso | Lidl-Trek | 0:16 |
| 5 | Remco Evenepoel | Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe | 0:19 |
| 6 | Isaac del Toro | UAE Team Emirates-XRG | 0:26 |
| 7 | Davide Piganzoli | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | 0:28 |
| 8 | Florian Lipowitz | Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe | 0:35 |
| 9 | Tobias Foss | Netcompany INEOS | 0:38 |
| 10 | Paul Seixas | Decathlon CMA CGM Team | 0:39 |
| 11 | Mathieu van der Poel | Alpecin-Premier Tech | s.t. |
| 12 | Romain Grégoire | Groupama-FDJ United | 0:41 |
| 13 | Antonio Tiberi | Bahrain Victorious | 0:47 |
| 14 | Matthew Riccitello | Decathlon CMA CGM Team | 0:50 |
| 15 | Lenny Martinez | Bahrain Victorious | s.t. |
| 16 | Michael Matthews | Team Jayco-AlUla | 0:51 |
| 17 | Alex Baudin | EF Education-EasyPost | 0:57 |
| 18 | Tom Pidcock | Pinarello-Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 19 | Ilan Van Wilder | Soudal Quick-Step | 0:58 |
| 20 | Tobias Halland Johannessen | Uno-X Mobility | 1:00 |
| 21 | Thymen Arensman | Netcompany INEOS | 1:01 |
| 22 | Jordan Jegat | Team TotalEnergies | 1:02 |
| 23 | Mathias Vacek | Lidl-Trek | 1:12 |
| 24 | Alex Molenaar | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | s.t. |
| 25 | Yannis Voisard | Tudor Pro Cycling Team | 1:14 |
| 26 | Kévin Vauquelin | Netcompany INEOS | s.t. |
| 27 | George Bennett | NSN Cycling Team | 1:16 |
| 28 | Ion Izagirre | Cofidis | 1:17 |
| 29 | Raúl García | Movistar Team | 1:18 |
| 30 | Julian Alaphilippe | Tudor Pro Cycling Team | 1:25 |
| 31 | Torstein Træen | Uno-X Mobility | 1:29 |
| 32 | Georg Steinhauser | EF Education-EasyPost | 1:30 |
| 33 | Mattias Skjelmose | Lidl-Trek | 1:33 |
| 34 | Lennert Van Eetvelt | Lotto-Intermarché | 1:36 |
| 35 | Richard Carapaz | EF Education-EasyPost | s.t. |
| 36 | Félix Parra José | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | 1:38 |
| 37 | Pablo Castrillo | Movistar Team | 1:51 |
| 38 | Jefferson Cepeda | Movistar Team | s.t. |
| 39 | Abel Balderstone | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | 1:52 |
| 40 | Cian Uijtdebroeks | Movistar Team | 1:53 |
| 41 | Robbe Dhondt | Team Picnic PostNL | 1:55 |
| 42 | Luke Plapp | Team Jayco-AlUla | 1:57 |
| 43 | Sepp Kuss | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | 1:58 |
| 44 | Aurélien Paret-Peintre | Decathlon CMA CGM Team | 2:02 |
| 45 | Derek Gee-West | Lidl-Trek | 2:03 |
| 46 | Maxim Van Gils | Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe | 2:04 |
| 47 | Dylan van Baarle | Soudal Quick-Step | 2:06 |
| 48 | Mathis Le Berre | Team TotalEnergies | s.t. |
| 49 | Sean Quinn | EF Education-EasyPost | 2:08 |
| 50 | Dorian Godon | Netcompany INEOS | 2:10 |
| 51 | Jenno Berckmoes | Lotto-Intermarché | s.t. |
| 52 | Emiel Verstrynge | Alpecin-Premier Tech | 2:11 |
| 53 | Joshua Tarling | Netcompany INEOS | 2:14 |
| 54 | Sergio Higuita | XDS Astana Team | 2:18 |
| 55 | Jai Hindley | Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe | 2:24 |
| 56 | Marc Hirschi | Tudor Pro Cycling Team | 2:25 |
| 57 | Brandon McNulty | UAE Team Emirates-XRG | 2:26 |
| 58 | Clément Braz Afonso | Groupama-FDJ United | 2:30 |
| 59 | Matteo Jorgenson | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | s.t. |
| 60 | Frank van den Broek | Team Picnic PostNL | 2:33 |
| 61 | Michel Heßmann | Movistar Team | 2:36 |
| 62 | Nelson Oliveira | Movistar Team | s.t. |
| 63 | Mattéo Vercher | Team TotalEnergies | 2:37 |
| 64 | Nicolas Breuillard | Team TotalEnergies | s.t. |
| 65 | Alex Kirsch | Cofidis | 2:38 |
| 66 | Ramses Debruyne | Alpecin-Premier Tech | 2:40 |
| 67 | Quinten Hermans | Pinarello-Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team | 2:43 |
| 68 | Harold Tejada | XDS Astana Team | 2:46 |
| 69 | Jasper Stuyven | Soudal Quick-Step | s.t. |
| 70 | Valentin Paret-Peintre | Soudal Quick-Step | s.t. |
| 71 | Javier Romo | Movistar Team | s.t. |
| 72 | Felix Grossschartner | UAE Team Emirates-XRG | 2:54 |
| 73 | Michal Kwiatkowski | Netcompany INEOS | 3:00 |
| 74 | Tim Wellens | UAE Team Emirates-XRG | 3:02 |
| 75 | Frits Biesterbos | Team Picnic PostNL | 3:05 |
| 76 | Pavel Bittner | Team Picnic PostNL | s.t. |
| 77 | Warren Barguil | Team Picnic PostNL | s.t. |
| 78 | John Degenkolb | Team Picnic PostNL | s.t. |
| 79 | Julius van den Berg | Team Picnic PostNL | s.t. |
| 80 | Egan Bernal | Netcompany INEOS | 3:06 |
| 81 | Biniam Girmay | NSN Cycling Team | 3:10 |
| 82 | Tim Marsman | Alpecin-Premier Tech | s.t. |
| 83 | Max Kanter | XDS Astana Team | s.t. |
| 84 | Ben Healy | EF Education-EasyPost | 3:11 |
| 85 | Kasper Asgreen | EF Education-EasyPost | s.t. |
| 86 | Damiano Caruso | Bahrain Victorious | 3:12 |
| 87 | Anthon Charmig | Uno-X Mobility | s.t. |
| 88 | Vlad Van Mechelen | Bahrain Victorious | 3:13 |
| 89 | Marco Frigo | NSN Cycling Team | 3:14 |
| 90 | Krists Neilands | NSN Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 91 | Tom Van Asbroeck | NSN Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 92 | Lewis Askey | NSN Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 93 | Benjamin Thomas | Cofidis | 3:15 |
| 94 | Clément Russo | Groupama-FDJ United | s.t. |
| 95 | Lorenzo Germani | Groupama-FDJ United | s.t. |
| 96 | Ewen Costiou | Groupama-FDJ United | s.t. |
| 97 | Niklas Märkl | Team Picnic PostNL | 3:16 |
| 98 | Quentin Pacher | Groupama-FDJ United | 3:18 |
| 99 | Tiesj Benoot | Decathlon CMA CGM Team | 3:19 |
| 100 | Damien Howson | Pinarello-Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team | 3:21 |
| 101 | Fred Wright | Pinarello-Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team | 3:22 |
| 102 | Einer Rubio | Movistar Team | 3:25 |
| 103 | Michael Storer | Tudor Pro Cycling Team | 3:27 |
| 104 | Louis Vervaeke | Soudal Quick-Step | 3:28 |
| 105 | Florian Vermeersch | UAE Team Emirates-XRG | s.t. |
| 106 | Bruno Armirail | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | s.t. |
| 107 | Victor Campenaerts | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | s.t. |
| 108 | Huub Artz | Lotto-Intermarché | 3:29 |
| 109 | Xandro Meurisse | Pinarello-Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team | 3:30 |
| 110 | Xabier Azparren | Pinarello-Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 111 | Clément Berthet | Groupama-FDJ United | 3:34 |
| 112 | Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet | Groupama-FDJ United | s.t. |
| 113 | Jake Stewart | NSN Cycling Team | 3:36 |
| 114 | Stefano Oldani | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | 3:38 |
| 115 | Sebastian Berwick | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | s.t. |
| 116 | Alexandre Delettre | Team TotalEnergies | 3:41 |
| 117 | Max Walker | EF Education-EasyPost | 3:43 |
| 118 | Rick Pluimers | Tudor Pro Cycling Team | 3:45 |
| 119 | Arvid de Kleijn | Tudor Pro Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 120 | Anders Halland Johannessen | Uno-X Mobility | 3:50 |
| 121 | Alex Aranburu | Cofidis | 3:54 |
| 122 | Jonas Abrahamsen | Uno-X Mobility | 3:55 |
| 123 | Magnus Cort | Uno-X Mobility | s.t. |
| 124 | Matis Louvel | NSN Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 125 | Matej Mohoric | Bahrain Victorious | 3:56 |
| 126 | Edward Planckaert | Alpecin-Premier Tech | 3:58 |
| 127 | Anders Skaarseth | Uno-X Mobility | 3:59 |
| 128 | Nicolas Prodhomme | Decathlon CMA CGM Team | 4:01 |
| 129 | Anthony Turgis | Team TotalEnergies | 4:03 |
| 130 | Fernando Gaviria | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | 4:05 |
| 131 | Mattia Cattaneo | Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe | 4:06 |
| 132 | Jan Tratnik | Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe | s.t. |
| 133 | Georg Zimmermann | Lotto-Intermarché | s.t. |
| 134 | Lars Craps | Lotto-Intermarché | 4:08 |
| 135 | Liam Slock | Lotto-Intermarché | s.t. |
| 136 | Baptiste Veistroffer | Lotto-Intermarché | s.t. |
| 137 | Arnaud De Lie | Lotto-Intermarché | 4:09 |
| 138 | Jenthe Biermans | Cofidis | 4:10 |
| 139 | Hugo Page | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 140 | Olav Kooij | Decathlon CMA CGM Team | 4:12 |
| 141 | Daan Hoole | Decathlon CMA CGM Team | s.t. |
| 142 | Jakub Otruba | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | s.t. |
| 143 | Robert Stannard | Bahrain Victorious | 4:15 |
| 144 | Søren Wærenskjold | Uno-X Mobility | s.t. |
| 145 | Toms Skujins | Lidl-Trek | 4:16 |
| 146 | Chris Harper | Pinarello-Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team | 4:21 |
| 147 | Carlos Verona | Lidl-Trek | 4:22 |
| 148 | Mads Pedersen | Lidl-Trek | s.t. |
| 149 | Per Strand Hagenes | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | 4:23 |
| 150 | Edoardo Affini | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | s.t. |
| 151 | Quinn Simmons | Lidl-Trek | s.t. |
| 152 | Pascal Eenkhoorn | Soudal Quick-Step | 4:26 |
| 153 | Nils Politt | UAE Team Emirates-XRG | 4:27 |
| 154 | Adam Yates | UAE Team Emirates-XRG | s.t. |
| 155 | Brent Van Moer | Pinarello-Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 156 | Joel Nicolau | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | 4:28 |
| 157 | Cees Bol | Decathlon CMA CGM Team | 4:31 |
| 158 | Milan Fretin | Cofidis | 4:32 |
| 159 | Ben O'Connor | Team Jayco-AlUla | 4:33 |
| 160 | Kelland O'Brien | Team Jayco-AlUla | s.t. |
| 161 | Felix Engelhardt | Team Jayco-AlUla | s.t. |
| 162 | Joris Delbove | Team TotalEnergies | 4:34 |
| 163 | Mauro Schmid | Team Jayco-AlUla | 4:35 |
| 164 | Kamil Gradek | Bahrain Victorious | 4:37 |
| 165 | Phil Bauhaus | Bahrain Victorious | s.t. |
| 166 | Aaron Gate | XDS Astana Team | s.t. |
| 167 | Mike Teunissen | XDS Astana Team | 4:46 |
| 168 | Davide Ballerini | XDS Astana Team | s.t. |
| 169 | Bert Van Lerberghe | Soudal Quick-Step | 4:49 |
| 170 | Tim Merlier | Soudal Quick-Step | s.t. |
| 171 | Pascal Ackermann | Team Jayco-AlUla | 4:51 |
| 172 | Luke Durbridge | Team Jayco-AlUla | s.t. |
| 173 | Thibault Guernalec | Team TotalEnergies | 4:52 |
| 174 | Nicolas Vinokurov | XDS Astana Team | 4:54 |
| 175 | Matteo Trentin | Tudor Pro Cycling Team | 5:06 |
| 176 | Marco Haller | Tudor Pro Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 177 | Jasper Philipsen | Alpecin-Premier Tech | 5:07 |
| 178 | Silvan Dillier | Alpecin-Premier Tech | s.t. |
| 179 | Jonas Rickaert | Alpecin-Premier Tech | 5:08 |
| 180 | Michael Valgren | EF Education-EasyPost | s.t. |
| 181 | Nico Denz | Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe | 5:13 |
| 182 | Tim van Dijke | Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe | 5:17 |
| 183 | Piet Allegaert | Cofidis | 5:33 |
| 184 | Simone Velasco | XDS Astana Team | 5:58 |
Stage 1 map & profile:

Stage 1 map

Stage 1 profile
Stage one photos by Fotoreporter Sirotti:

Thanks to his powerful team, Jonas Vingegaard is the 2026 Tour de France's first GC leader.

Filippo Ganna is second in the GC, 8 seconds behind leader Vingegaard.

Tadej Pogacar is third in the GC, @ 12sec

World Time Trial Champion Remco Evenepoel is fifth in the GC after stage one.

Jayco-AlUla finished tenth.

The NSN Cycling Team was 18th.

21st place Lotto-Intermarché

Stage winner Team Visma | Lease a Bike

Juan Ayuso is the Best Young Rider

Tadej Pogacar is King of the Mountains.

GC leader Jonas Vingegaard already has his yellow-framed sunglasses.