The team time trial returns to the Tour de France to kick off the 113th edition, in a brand-new format where tactics will be crucial. At stake: the first Maillot Jaune, to be won on the slopes of Montjuïc, and “psychologically significant seconds in the general classification”.
The excitement is palpable in Barcelona, a city hosting its first Tour de France Grand Départ after having previously hosted the start of La Vuelta (most recently in 2023) and La Vuelta Femenina (2025). The action will get underway at 5:05 pm with Caja Rural-Seguros RGA, a team living “a dream come true” as they return to the race.
Among the 184 riders spread across 23 teams, Belgium is the most represented nation, ahead of France. There are 11 riders from Australia, 7 from Great Britain, 6 from the USA, 2 from New Zealand, 1 from Canada and 1 from Ireland..
A NEW FORMAT TO REVIVE THE TTT
The long history of team time trial in the Tour de France finds its roots in the 1920s, when race founder Henri Desgrange introduced the notion of “Départs séparés” (“staggered starts”), grouping riders by teams but still taking into account the individual time of each rider at the finish. That formula saw Francis Pélissier take the first Maillot Jaune in 1927, after 180 kilometres from Paris to Dieppe, before Nicolas Frantz did so in 1928 (Paris - Caen, 207 km). The concept evolved into the team time trial and became a staple of the race in the 1960s. The Grand Départ in Barcelona marks the 99th Tour de France stage raced with “staggered starts” or as a TTT. It will be the second time the first Maillot Jaune is awarded in a TTT, after Eddy Merckx’s Molteni powered to victory in Mulhouse (11 km) in 1971. The last TTT held in the Tour was in 2019 - Jumbo-Visma dominated stage 2 in Brussels (27.6 km).
Now, the Tour organisers introduce a new formula for the discipline, using a format tried and tested on the roads of Paris-Nice since 2023, as well as in the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes 2026. The idea was to revamp a traditional exercise, mixing collective performance and individual brilliance for a more tactical battle. The stage standings are established with the time of each team’s best rider. For the general classification, riders will be credited with their individual time.
“The course has two distinctive parts, starting with 16 flat kilometres, riding along Barcelona’s beaches, before entering the city, passing by the Sagrada Familia and heading to Montjuic for a much hillier second part with two successive climbs in the final kilometres,” describes race director Thierry Gouvenou. “Teams will likely push hard on the flat, then launch their leader on the final climb to gain a few psychologically important seconds.”
POWERHOUSES GEAR UP TO “HIT HARD EARLY”
Teams had two opportunities in 2026 to rehearse for Barcelona’s Grand Départ, first in Paris-Nice and then in the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. In March, Netcompany Ineos were the strongest, taking victory in Coeur de Loire (23.5km) on day 3 of the Race to the Sun. “To win the opening TTT is a very important goal for us”, insists Egan Bernal, winner of the Tour 2019 after his team came second in Brussels. The Grenadiers’ ambitions are bolstered by specialists such as Filippo Ganna and Josh Tarling, who already worked against the clock to make it to Barcelona three weeks after a collarbone fracture in the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. “We’ve put in a lot of days and effort for this TT”, the British powerhouse explains. “We’ve spent a lot of time doing that sort of effort, and improved on the equipment. We’re a lot more aggressive compared to a couple of years ago, racing quite conservatively and looking at each other. Now, we just hit hard early and are not afraid to lose people.”
Last month’s TTT in the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (stage 4, Perreux - Perreux, 28.4 km) illustrated his point… with Visma-Lease a Bike coming out on top. “We lost Wout [van Aert] after eight or nine minutes, and Ben Tulett punctured immediately after, but we still managed to win despite having only five riders”, French expert Bruno Armirail recounts. “It shows we have a strong team, but the terrain and tactics are different here. Wout is not here, and he would have been a big asset for us on the flat, but we’ll give it our best, with a strategy that may differ from other teams’.”
At Decathlon CMA CGM, the plan laid out by Daan Hoole to support Paul Seixas is straightforward: “Everyone will start really fast and use the heavier guys on the flat and then do suicide pulls all the way until the first climb, to then try to go over it with the two or three best climbers in the team who can ride a really hard pace uphill. Then, on the last climb, the remaining riders will launch the team’s leader so he can go solo to the finish line.” And it’s not only GC teams who have worked hard for this rendezvous. “We have been training a bit more than usual on the time trial, and hopefully this will translate into a good result on Saturday”, says Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech), who also sees the opportunity to take the Maillot Jaune on Sunday.
AYUSO, PIDCOCK, JOHANNESSEN… DARK HORSES DREAM OF THE PODIUM
In this Tour de France, there is a handful of obvious favourites set to watch the sunset from the podium on the Champs-Élysées once again, such as Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Remco Evenepoel and Florian Lipowitz. There is also a small group of dazzling young riders, such as Paul Seixas and Isaac del Toro, who are hoping to step onto the podium for the first time. Then comes a list of contenders aiming to surpass themselves and prove equally crucial to the course and outcome of the race. Juan Ayuso, for example, is currently enjoying a Grand Départ in Barcelona, the city where he was born, although he only lived there during the first few months of his life. “I’m here excited to enjoy my first Tour de France with the freedom to go for a result,” says the Lidl-Trek leader. “Obviously I’m dreaming of the podium, but I’m going to take it day by day and try to enjoy the Tour experience.” After impressing at the Tour Auvergne–Rhône-Alpes (3rd), a warm-up for the Grande Boucle, his preparations were derailed by flu. “However, I’ve managed to get back to feeling good and overcome adversity once again.”
Another dark horse whose run-up to the Tour has not been “ideal” – hampered by an illness that forced him to withdraw from the Tour de Suisse – is Tom Pidcock. “I don’t have any specific expectations,” says the British star, who finished on the podium in last year’s Vuelta (3rd). “It’s no secret that the last years I came to the Tour weren’t the most fun. It’s a completely different feeling this time. It’s the first time with this team here. Whatever we achieve is a success.” Another rider to watch out for is the Norwegian Tobias Halland Johannessen, whose Uno-X team has opted to surround him with climbers following his strong start to the season (4th in Tirreno-Adriatico, 3rd in the Tour of the Basque Country, 5th in the Tour Auvergne – Rhône-Alpes) and his excellent performance in the 2025 Tour (6th). Will he take it a step further this July? “I always dream of doing better and that’s also what I envision for this summer.”
ALL SMILES FOR CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA
Hanging from Abel Balderstone’s left earlobe is an earring featuring a smiley face, which perfectly captures the mood of Caja Rural-Seguros RGA ahead of this Tour de France. “It’s a dream to be here,” explains last year’s Spanish time trial champion. “I’m really nervous, but I’m very happy to be making my Tour debut surrounded by my family and friends.” A native of the province of Barcelona, Balderstone is one of three Catalans enjoying this Grand Départ in the colours of the Navarran team. The others are Joel Nicolau, from Llofriu (on the Costa Brava in Girona), and Alex Molenaar, a Dutch national whose mother is from Barcelona but who has lived in Olot (Girona) since the age of 10. “It’s incredible to start my first Tour here; it feels as though the stars have aligned,” smiles Molenaar, too.
Caja Rural-Seguros RGA’s presence is not a debut in the strictest sense of the word, as the Navarran team first took part in the Grande Boucle a whopping 39 years ago, with three consecutive appearances between 1987 and 1989, crowned by a sprint stage victory secured by Mathieu Hermans. Fernando Gaviria (who won two stages and wore the yellow jersey in the 2018 edition) will be looking to emulate him. “Winning at the Tour is a privilege few have, and we dream of securing a victory,” asserts the Colombian sprinter. “The Tour is quite a big challenge for any team. The demands of this race are a new challenge for the current Caja Rural team, but the squad has taken a big step forward and I feel we are ready for anything.” Molenaar, for his part, sets out another objective: “We intend to fight for the King of the Mountains jersey this Sunday.” Any of the team’s three Catalan riders would be a strong candidate to achieve this, whilst climbers José Félix Parra and Sebastian Berwick could battle to break into the top 20 of the final general classification.
184 RIDERS: KEY STATISTICS
- 27 countries are represented at the 113th edition of the Tour de France, one more than last year. For the first time since 1980, Belgium tops the nations’ ranking with 31 riders. This is the first time since 2007 that France, the second-largest contingent with 30 riders, doesn’t top the rankings. The Netherlands completes the podium with 17 riders.
- The average age of the peloton is 29 years and 16 days, slightly higher than in 2025 (28 years and 343 days), which was the youngest peloton since 1999.
- The youngest rider is Paul Seixas, who will be 19 years and 283 days old this Saturday. He is the youngest rider to compete since Adrien Cento in 1937 (19 years and 118 days).
- Seixas is one of 50 newcomers to the Tour de France, bringing the total number of participants to 5,509. He is also one of 12 debutants in a Grand Tour, and one of 41 contenders for the white jersey as best young rider, reserved for riders born in or after 2001.
- The oldest rider in the peloton is Damiano Caruso, competing for the eighth time at the age of 38 years and 265 days. However, he is not the most experienced; that honour goes to Ion Izagirre (Cofidis), Warren Barguil (Picnic PostNL) and Luke Durbridge (Jayco AlUla), who are all lining up for the 12th time. The record is held by Sylvain Chavanel with 18 appearances.
- Three winners of the Yellow Jersey – who are also the winners of the last seven editions – are on the start line: Tadej Pogacar (2020, 21, 24, 25), Jonas Vingegaard (2022, 23) and Egan Bernal (2019).
- Three Green Jersey winners are on the start line: Michael Matthews (2017), Jasper Philipsen (2023) and Biniam Girmay (2024). There are also five winners of the polka-dot jersey: Warren Barguil (2017), Julian Alaphilippe (2018), Tadej Pogacar (2020, 21, 25), Jonas Vingegaard (2022) and Richard Carapaz (2024). Similarly, there are five winners of the white jersey: Adam Yates (2016), Egan Bernal (2019), Tadej Pogacar (2020, 21, 22, 23), Remco Evenepoel (2024) and Florian Lipowitz (2025), who are no longer eligible to compete for it.
- Mark Cavendish holds the record for the most stage wins with 35 victories. The most successful riders in the 2026 peloton are Tadej Pogacar (21 wins / 6th best performer in history), Jasper Philipsen (10) and Julian Alaphilippe (6).
- There are 11 national road race titles and 11 national time trial titles represented at the start, won by 20 different riders. Two of them hold both titles: Isaac del Toro (Mexico) and Mathias Vacek (Czech Republic).
- Mexico is making a comeback to the peloton 29 years after Miguel Arroyo’s last appearance. His compatriot Isaac Del Toro becomes the third Mexican to take part, following Raul Alcala (9 times from 1986 to 1994) and Arroyo (3 times in 1994, 1995 and 1997).
23 TEAMS: KEY STATISTICS
- 23 teams are taking part in 2026, the same number as in 2025. The most experienced are Movistar (formerly known as Reynolds, Banesto, Illes Balears and Caisse d’Épargne) with 44 appearances; Visma-Lease a Bike (formerly Kwantum, Superconfex, Buckler, Wordperfect, Novell, Rabobank, Belkin, LottoNL and Jumbo) just behind with 43 appearances; and Lotto Intermarché with 40 appearances.
- The Caja Rural-Seguros RGA team is making a comeback 37 years after its last appearance. It previously competed in 1987 and 1988 under the name Caja Rural-Orbea, then in 1989 as Paternina.
- Tudor is the team whose riders have the most experience on the Tour: 31 appearances in total, compared with 27 for Jayco AlUla and 26 for Soudal Quick-Step. In contrast, the eight riders from Caja Rural-Seguros RGA have only 2 appearances between them.
- Lotto Intermarché has the youngest squad, with an average age of 25 years and 189 days. At the other end of the scale, Soudal Quick-Step is the team with the highest average age, at 31 years and 69 days.
- Five teams in the 2026 peloton have already won the Tour de France: Netcompany Ineos and Movistar have each won it seven times; UAE Emirates XRG four times (all with Tadej Pogacar); and Visma-Lease a Bike and XDS Astana twice each.
- UAE Emirates XRG is the team whose riders have the most stage wins in the Tour’s history, with 24 victories (21 of which were won by Tadej Pogacar). They are followed by Alpecin-Premier Tech with 12 victories (6 of which were won by Jasper Philipsen) and Tudor with 10 victories (6 of which were won by Julian Alaphilippe).
- Visma-Lease a Bike tops the ranking of the most successful teams with 72 stages won, ahead of Soudal-Quick Step with 56 and Lotto Intermarché with 41. Having joined the race last year, Tudor is the only team never to have won a stage.
- French teams make up the majority, with four teams based in the country (Cofidis, Decathlon CMA CGM, Groupama-FDJ United and TotalEnergies), compared with three each for Belgium (Alpecin-Premier Tech, Lotto Intermarché, Soudal Quick-Step) and Switzerland (NSN, Pinarello-Q36.5, Tudor).
- The teams with the greatest diversity of nationalities are Bahrain Victorious, EF Education-EasyPost, Netcompany Ineos, NSN and UAE Emirates XRG, each featuring riders from seven different countries. In contrast, TotalEnergies has a 100 per cent French line-up (8 out of 8). Groupama-FDJ United is almost as close (7 French and one Italian).
