Tour de France 2026 kicks off in Barcelona with first team time trial opener since 1971 as Pogačar chases fifth title
The 113th Tour de France departs Barcelona on Saturday with a rare team time trial, launching Tadej Pogačar’s bid for a record-tying fifth victory against Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel.
Grand Départ in Barcelona
The 113th Tour de France begins on Saturday 4 July in Barcelona with a 19‑kilometre team time trial, the first opening team test since 1971. Twenty‑three squads will race past the Sagrada Familia and La Rambla, but a rule change takes each rider’s individual time at the uphill finish on Montjuïc. Teams will shed non‑climbers early, leaving leaders to sprint for the line alone.
The presentation of the 184 riders took place on Thursday in front of the Sagrada Familia.
The 2026 route
The parcours covers between 3,321 and 3,333 kilometres with 54,450 metres of vertical gain, visiting seven French regions and 29 departments. After three Catalan stages, the race crosses the Pyrenees, then tackles the Massif Central, Vosges, Jura and Alps. Summit finishes feature at Gavarnie‑Gèdre, Plateau de Solaison, Orcières‑Merlette and Alpe d’Huez (twice). The Col du Galibier (2,642 m) is the highest point. A 26‑kilometre individual time trial around Évian‑les‑Bains on stage 16 adds variety, and the final stage in Paris climbs Montmartre before the finish on the Champs‑Élysées.
The favourites
Defending champion Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) aims to join Eddy Merckx and Miguel Indurain with a fifth Tour title. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike) arrives fresh from a Giro d’Italia win. Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull‑Bora‑Hansgrohe), Florian Lipowitz and French hope Paul Seixas also target the podium, though Seixas carries an injury from the Tour Auvergne‑Rhône‑Alpes.
Key stages that could decide the race
The first mountain test on stage 6 includes the Col du Tourmalet before a shallow summit finish at Gavarnie‑Gèdre. Stage 10 on Bastille Day traverses the Cantal with the Pas de Peyrol and the steep Col du Pertus. The 15th stage to Plateau de Solaison is brutally hard – 11 kilometres averaging 9 %, preceded by the Salève (4.6 km at 11.2 %). The penultimate Alpe d’Huez stage, the queen stage, packs three first‑category climbs.
It will be fierce.
New rules for the green jersey
To prevent a repeat of Pogačar’s 2025 points‑classification win, flat‑stage winners now earn 70 points (up from 50) and intermediate sprints 25 (up from 20). Sprinters wait until stage 5 for a flat finish, the longest such wait since 1992.
