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.
After Barcelona embraced the light of the Tourde 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.
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.
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’’.
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.
