The dreamlike buildings of the Sant Pau Modernist Complex, a former hospital designed in the 19th century by the architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner, hosted the top riders’ press conference ahead of the stunning presentation of the Tour de France 2026, witnessed by a large and enthusiastic crowd gathered next to Antoni Gaudí’s majestic Sagrada Familia.
The Grand Départ in Barcelona continues to gain momentum with its unrivalled setting and the star power of the peloton. Tadej Pogacar outlined his ambition to secure a fifth victory in the Grande Boucle. To reach this landmark, he will have to beat his arch-rival Jonas Vingegaard, France’s wonderkid Paul Seixas, and Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe’s double threat, Florian Lipowitz and Remco Evenepoel.
The polka-dot jersey and the green jersey also have a wide range of contenders. The mountains classification sees Richard Carapaz, Lenny Martinez and Valentin Paret-Peintre aiming to outdo the general classification contenders. In the points classification, fast men such as Jasper Philipsen, Tim Merlier, Biniam Girmay and Mads Pedersen are set to call the shots.
TADEJ POGACAR GOES FOR THE FIFTH
At 27 years old, Tadej Pogacar has already made cycling history on countless occasions, yet the Tour de France 2026 is a very special rendezvous for the UAE Emirates-XRG leader as he looks to further establish a unique legacy. Three weeks from now, will he stand on the top step of the podium on the Champs-Élysées for a record-equaling fifth overall triumph? A new showdown is on the cards with Jonas Vingegaard, who finished second in 2024 and 2025, but the Slovenian star warned on Thursday: “I don’t think he’s the only one to watch out for; there are other rivals capable of challenging for victory. The rivalry between Jonas and me has been spectacular in recent years, and I hope it continues. We push each other to reach new heights; we’ll see how far we can go. I’ve only had 16 days of competition this season, but they’ve been very good. The kilometres of training count too, and I’ve clocked up plenty of those.”
If he were to win the 2026 edition, after previous victories in 2020, 2021, 2024, and 2025, Pogacar would claim his fifth Tour at a significantly younger age than his predecessors Jacques Anquetil (30 years old in 1964), Eddy Merckx (29, 1974), Bernard Hinault (30, 1985), and Miguel Indurain (31, 1995). Pogacar’s historic bid will be supported by seasoned riders such as Adam Yates (10th participation, 3rd in 2023) and the young Isaac Del Toro (22), lining up for the first time three weeks after winning the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. “I want to learn and enjoy this dream I’m living: being at the start of the Tour with the best team in the world, and alongside Tadej,” said the Mexican, who is also one of the main contenders for the white jersey as best young rider. “It’s a long and very tough race, because every day is tactically important. I feel happy, privileged, and I simply want to give it my all.”
VINGEGAARD FACES HISTORY: “I’M HERE TO WIN”
Tadej Pogacar’s greatness also draws on the quality of his main rival, Jonas Vingegaard. The pair have occupied the top two places on the podium in each of the last five editions of the Tour de France – an unprecedented feat in the history of the race, with three victories for the Slovenian and two for the Dane. If Pogacar is celebrated for his versatility, Vingegaard ois an absolute expert of Grand Tours Grand Tours: he has finished first or second in the last eight he has contested, winning the two most recent – La Vuelta 2025 and the Giro d’Italia 2026. Visma-Lease a Bike’s Danish leader has thus become the eighth rider to win all three Grand Tours, a feat which Pogacar has not yet achieved. An even more exclusive club awaits him if he takes the Maillot Jaune to Paris: he will be the fourth cyclist in history to hold all three Grand Tour titles simultaneously, following in the footsteps of Eddy Merckx (1972–73), Bernard Hinault (1982–83) and Chris Froome (2017–18).
“The Tour de France is the most important race of the season, the one we want to win, and that’s why I’m here. I’ve recovered well from the Giro d’Italia and my preparation with the team has gone well. I’ve had an incredible year so far, so I hope to keep up this momentum,” he says, setting out his objective. Vingegaard will count on the crucial support of team-mates as reliable as Matteo Jorgenson (8th in 2024) and Sepp Kuss, the only rider to have accompanied him during his four Grand Tour victories. “Sepp is very important, both for the race and for the team spirit. UAE Team Emirates has some excellent riders, but we also have a very strong team, particularly for the mountain stages and the time trials. We’ve put together a well-balanced team, and I have full confidence in them.”
SEIXAS READY AND AMBITIOUS AHEAD OF “A CHILDHOOD DREAM”
At 19, Paul Seixas is a supremely young and exciting newcomer in the Tour de France, whose records in the making attract loads of attention ahead of his first pedal strokes in an event that hasn’t crowned a French rider since Bernard Hinault in 1985. The Decathlon CMA CGM rising star is the youngest entrant since 1937 but high ambitions for his debut in the Tour are bolstered by his already impressive record, in particular his victories in Itzulia Basque Country and La Flèche Wallonne, followed by his battle against Tadej Pogacar on the climbs of Liège–Bastogne–Liège.
Seixas assures he is “in top form” after recovering from his crash at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. He wants to face this first Grand Tour as calmly as possible in the face of the pressure surrounding him. “I’ll approach it just like any other race, with the aim of achieving the best possible overall classification. I’m ready for that little bit extra that comes with it being the Tour de France. It’s a childhood dream. It’s special, a whole new dimension, and a new experience is beginning for me.”
Ambitious and daring by nature, Seixas is aiming high but isn’t venturing a prediction. “Of course, when you’re racing, you want to win, but this is my first time on the Tour, so we’ll see how it goes and what level I’m at. There are different ways to win a cycling race.” For example, by sacrificing the general classification in order to aim for stage wins? “No. I can’t say yet what position I’ll be in but I won’t take any risks for anything other than the general classification.” France’s last overall podium was achieved by Romain Bardet in 2019.
REMCO - LIPO: A TWO-PRONGED ASSAULT ON THE PODIUM
With 21 stages, some 80 hours of racing and countless hurdles to clear, the Tour de France is an ordeal Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe tackle with two major leaders to avoid being knocked out of the running due to a setback suffered by their main rider. In the last 15 editions, no fewer than six teams have seen two of their riders reach the podium in Paris. In three cases, this resulted in victory in the overall classification (Team Sky / Ineos Grenadiers, in 2012, 2017 and 2019); in another three, it saw them finish second and third (Leopard Trek, in 2011; Movistar Team, in 2015; and UAE Team Emirates, in 2023). This time, Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe have brought together the two most recent third-place finishers: Remco Evenepoel (2024) and Florian Lipowitz (2025), who were also the best young riders in those editions. How will the German team play its cards to try and beat Pogacar and Vingegaard?
“We’ve prepared for this; we rode the Volta a Catalunya together and finished 3rd and 5th,” says Evenepoel, a three-time consecutive world time trial champion who will be donning a race number for the first time in two months this Saturday following a long training camp in the Sierra Nevada. “We worked very well together and we’re going to support one another. Of course, we’d like to make it onto the podium, as we’ve both done before. Personally, I’d like to win a stage, win the team time trial and take the yellow jersey. That’s our ambition.”
“I’m very happy with how the last few weeks have gone, but the Tour is a special race, so it’s difficult to predict how it will go. [Pogacar, Vingegaard and Seixas] have shown they’re very strong, but we’ve also prepared well as a team, so we hope to have strong legs,” says Lipowitz, who demonstrated superb form in the recent Tour of Slovenia. They will be backed by a powerful support squad that includes Jai Hindley, who put in a very solid performance this May at the Giro d’Italia (3rd).
“MAYBE FIVE FAVOURITES” FOR THE GREEN JERSEY
Three former Green Jersey winners line up in Barcelona: Michael Matthews (2017), Jasper Philipsen (2023), and Biniam Girmay (2024). With 10 stage wins this season, and having worn the green jersey before being forced to abandon the race following a crash in 2025, Philipsen (Alpecin-Premier Tech) is a major contender to step again on the podium in Paris. “But there are plenty of favourites – maybe five. It’ll be a great battle,” warns the Belgian. “These days, it’s virtually impossible to take the green jersey without winning a stage, so the most important thing will be to win some.” His compatriot Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) is among those favourites. In fine form (6 wins in 18 days of racing since returning from injury), he could benefit from the new points system, which awards 70 points (rather than 50) to the winners of “obstacle-free” stages. “This should make it easier for sprinters to take the green jersey, but to do that we have to win stages”, insists Merlier. “It would be great to wear the jersey, and then we’ll see as fatigue sets in whether we can keep fighting.”
Girmay (NSN) is out for revenge after a disappointing 2025 Tour. “Winning stages and taking the green jersey has been our main objective since the start of the season,” explains the Eritrean, who says he has “stronger team-mates and a better lead-out train than last year”. Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) is targeting the only Grand Tour points classification missing from his record. Less of a sprinter but more versatile than his rivals, the Dane doesn’t see himself as the favourite “but nothing is impossible. Others, who weren’t expected to do so, have already succeeded, so we’re rising to the challenge.” A newcomer here, Olav Kooij (Decathlon CMA CGM) has claimed victory in both races he’s competed in so far in 2026. Arnaud de Lie (Lotto Intermarché) is also aiming for his first win after nine top-10 stage finishes. The 2025 French champion, Dorian Godon (Netcompany Ineos), is one of the country’s best hopes, having secured 11 victories whilst wearing the tricolour jersey, which he has just handed back.
ATTACKERS EYE THE POLKA DOTS
The battle for the King of the Mountains standings will begin on Sunday, en route to Montjuic, and conclude on the very last day, on the slopes of Montmartre. From Barcelona to Paris, the peloton are set to pass 69 categorised climbs (6 HC, 13 cat 1, 11 cat 2, 21 cat 3, 18 cat 4), representing a theoretical 365 points in the - virtually impossible - case of a single rider leading the way at every summit.
As per tradition, the battle for the polka-dot jersey will involve the top GC contenders - Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard won both the KOM and the overall standings in recent editions - and long-range attackers such as Richard Carapaz, who succeeded in that fashion in 2024. “Stage wins and the mountains jersey are what I desire most for this Tour,” says the Ecuadorian climber, whose teammate Ben Healy has expressed similar ambitions.
The polka-dot jersey also inspires French climbers such as Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious), Jordan Jegat (Total Energies), and Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step), all aiming to claim their nation’s first distinctive jersey since Romain Bardet ruled the KOM standings in 2019. “The polka-dot jersey will be a top goal of mine in this Tour de France,” says Paret-Peintre, winner on Mont Ventoux in 2025. “I’m targeting the two stages finishing at Alpe d’Huez and I hope the polka-dot jersey will give me beautiful emotions, like last year on Mont Ventoux. I’m not about trying to hang on to finish between 7th and 10th overall, which would already be huge for me. As long as I can’t crack the top 5 or the podium, I prefer to focus on stages and breakaways. That’s how I like to race, and it suits me for now.”
