2026 Tour de France to start with team time trial in Barcelona

The 2026 Tour de France will start with a team time trial for the first time in the race's history as the Grand Départ in Barcelona, Spain.

Riders will face a 19.7-kilometre course that will end in the shadow of the stadium built for the 1992 Olympic Games on Montjuïc hill.

The organisers also confirmed that the team time trial will use the timing rules first seen in the 2023 edition of Paris-Nice, with each rider being given his actual finishing time rather than all riders finishing together being given the time of the fourth rider, as has been the tradition.

In the first test of the format in Paris-Nice, Jonas Vingegaard led Jumbo-Visma to the victory on a 32.2km course, finishing together with teammates Jan Tratnik and Nathan van Hooydonck. Tadej Pogačar soloed in ahead of his UAE Team Emirates teammates, giving up 23.5 seconds on his rival.

The timing rules allow team leaders a choice of staying with their teammates or trying to power on alone to a better finishing time.

Barcelona last held a Grand Tour depart in 2023 when the Vuelta a España began with a 14.8km team time trial, although it was run under the normal UCI rules.

That stage was steeped in controversy as heavy rains made the course slick and led to numerous crashes. After the finish, riders complained of having to ride six kilometres through heavy traffic in the dark to return to their team buses.

The 2026 Tour de France will have three stages in Spain, with the second day starting in Tarragona - which will make it the southernmost point visited in the history of the Tour. The stage, 178km in length, will finish in Barcelona with a 12-kilometre final circuit including the Montjuïc Castle ascent - a 1.6-km wall-like climb with an average gradient of 9.3%.

"There are many roads in this district and as a result plenty of possibilities for drawing up a circuit. I think we have managed to find the most difficult combination possible,” said race director Thierry Gouvenou.

The third stage will depart from Granollers with the destination in France still to be announced.

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