How it happened: Huge fight among the big GC teams for victory at Barcelona team time trial Grand Départ
The Tour de France kicks off with a 19km team time trial in Barcelona
That means Jonas Vingegaard will wear the yellow jersey, the first time he has adorned it since standing on the podium in Paris upon victory at the 2023 Tour de France.
VISMA-LEASE A BIKE WIN THE STAGE
UAE Team Emirates XRG come close…but not close enough! Pogačar distanced Del Toro in the final 500 metres to the line, but was left with just a little bit too much to do, falling 11 short of Vingegaard’s time. That means they finish third, behind both VismaLease a Bike in first, and Netcompany Ineos in second.
Only one more question left to answer - can UAE Team Emirates XRG better that time? They have a considerable margin of 13 seconds from the final time check to make up, but you can’t discount the might of Pogačar, and the amount of ground he could potentially make it in the final uphill stretch of the route.
NEW FASTEST TIME - VISMA-LEASE A BIKE
Visma-Lease a Bike have smashed Netcompany's time! Vingegaard at last shed teammates Jorgenson and Piganzoli, to reach the finish 7 seconds quicker than Ganna.
Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe post the third fastest time at the finish, ten seconds slower than Netcompany.
Remco Evenepoel went solo before the finish, dropping his teammate (and co-GC leader Florian Lipowitz). It was always likely he would do so, but that's still a striking statement as to his relative strength compared with his teammate.
Juan Ayuso finishes for Lidl-Trek...but he doesn't quite have enough! He comes 8 seconds short of Netcompany Ineos' time.
The win is far from sealed yet, however. Visma-Lease a Bike are going well, one second quicker than Netcompany at the second time check.
Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe are a little off the pace, 12 seconds slower than both Lidl-Trek and Netcompany Ineos at the second time check. What does Remco Evenepoel have left in the tank for the second half?
Meanwhile Lidl-Trek are nearing the finish, having posted exactly the same time as Netcompany Ineos at all three of the time checks. This is going to come right down to the wire.
Paul Seixas ultimately dropped the rest of his Decathlon teammates before the finish, and flew up the final climb to post the second fastest time.
Netcompany's lead remains in tact, however is coming under serious threat from Lidl-Trek, who were a fraction of a second quicker at the second check. We're poised for a very exciting finish.
We’re down to the final three teams! World time trial champion Remco Evenepoel’s (and Florian Lipowitz's) Red Bull-Bora Hansroge began their ride a few minutes, Jonas Vingegaard’s Visma-Lease a Bike are about to begin there’s - then finally Tadej Pogačar’s UAE Team Emirates XRG will be the last team off.
Ganna, after leading Netcompany Ineos to the fastest time of the day so far.
Paul Seixas and his Decathlon team are losing time already, arriving at the second time check with only the seventh fastest time, 20 seconds down on Netcompany. They will be hoping to make some of that up on the final uphill with Seixas.
NEW FASTEST TIME - NETCOMPANY INEOS
Netcompany Ineos finish…and it’s the fastest so far, by a whole 31 seconds! Their ride did look to be unravelling somewhat, as the man who was slated to finish the ride off, Kévin Vauquelin, was dropped after suffering a mechanical. But Filippo Ganna charged to the finish by himself, and is now the virtual yellow jersey.
A historic moment - Paul Seixas has just begun his Tour de France, becoming the race's youngest participant in almost a century. A nation holds its breath.
NEW FASTEST TIME - ALPECIN-PREMIER TECH
After Jayco-Alula came 9 seconds short of best Groupama-s benchmark, Alpecin-Premier Tech have done just that, Mathieu van der Poel arriving alone at the line to beat it by 2 seconds.
How long will their lead stand for though? Netcompany Ineos are on an absolute flyer, and were 14 seconds quicker than Alpecin at the second time check.
Ben O’Connor has been dropped from the Jayco-AlUla train, and they haven’t slowed down to wait for him, pressing on to set the second fastest time at the final time check. It appears therefore that he isn’t targeting the GC at this year’s race.
O’Connor himself has been linked with a move back to his old team - for more on that story, have a read here.
Ben O'Connor rumoured to be returning to Decathlon CMA CGM for 2027
One of the big favourites for the stage have just begun their ride - Netcompany Ineos. They're targetting stage wins over everything else at this Tour, and this team time trial is among their best hopes.
Cyclingnews has learned that their strategy will be for Kévin Vauquelin to take over for the final 600m, rather than Ganna, as he aims for both the stage win and the yellow jersey.
Having led at the previous checks, Movistar ultimately posted only the seventh best time at the finish. One of their riders crossed the line ahead of the rest, while GC leader Uijtdebroeks finished further behind with Cepeda and Castrillo, who were forced to sit up and slow down in order to try and help limit his losses.
Problems for Movistar! They were flying, but their GC man Cian Uijtdebroeks has been dropped, meaning those ahead of him have had to slow down. It appears they will not set the new fastest time after all, despite having set the benchmark at the second and third checks.
Tom Pidcock set off alone in the final part of the course for Pinarello Q36.5, to help set the second fastest time, but still fell a whole 15 seconds short of Groupama’s time. That time is however coming under threat from Movistar, who have set the fastest time at the second check by three seconds - but they’re now being compromised by a mechanical for their time trial specialist Javier Romo.
Romain Grégoire finishing for Groupama. It appears his teammates Guillaume Martin and Clément Berthet crashed at some point, as there were visible tears in their jersey.
NEW FASTEST TIME - GROUPAMA-FDJ
Groupama-FDJ have indeed set the new best time, a whole 20 seconds faster than TotalEnergies! Romain Grégoire went solo for them in the final, and absolutely flew up the final hill. The recently-crowned French national road champion looks in great shape.
Groupama-FDJ are poised for a good time. They're the fastest at the third and final intermediate check, one second up on TotalEnergies, and are now approaching the finish. It's going to be close...
NEW FASTEST TIME - TOTALENERGIES
TotalEnergies have just finished, besting Caja Rural-Seguros RGA by ten seconds. They're the new leaders at the clubhouse.
Another French team, Cofidis, are the latest to start. Their leader Ion Izagirre is riding his final Tour de France, and hopes to add to his two career stage wins here.
Third place at last year's Vuelta proved Pidcock's credentials as a Grand Tour contender, and although his season has been disrupted by injury, did win upon his return at the Andorra MoraBanc Clàssica.
Tom Pidcock's Tour de France has begun! He has just started the course with his Pinarello Q36.5 team, and is the first genuine GC contender to start this Tour.
Alex Molenaar reaches the line to set Caja Rural-Seguros RG's time: 22:59.
Of the four teams to go through the first time check, Picnic are the fastest so far, 2 seconds up on TotalEnergies, 7 seconds on Caja Rural and 15 seconds on Tudor.
One of the Tour de France stalwarts, Groupama-FDJ, are about to begin. The days where Thibaut Pinot made them yellow jersey contenders are over, but they do have French star Romain Grégoire, who is a strong candidate for stage wins in punchy terrain.
Caja Rural-Seguros RGA are down to just two riders, as they approach the final 3km of the course.
A picture postcard shot of the Barcelona Grand Départ - Caja Rural-Seguros RGA riding past the city's iconic landmark, Gaudi's Sagrada Familia.
Tudor Pro Cycling begin their ride, and among them is one of the biggest home stars - Julian Alaphilippe. The Frenchman is taking part in his eigth Tour de France, and though he is passed his peak years, could still be good enough to add to his 6 career stage victories.
TotalEnergies are the third team to set off. Their leader, Jordan Jegat, was tenth on GC last year, and will want a solid ride today to limit his time losses.
Warren Barguil has already been dropped by the rest of his Picnic riders. It's unclear it that's a leg issue or a mechanical issue.
The Tour is of course a showcase of the very best tech at the cutting edge of the sport. Have a browse of our gallery of what’s going to be on display at this year’s race.
The teams will be setting off at five minute intervals, with UAE Team Emirates-XRG last off at 18:55 local time.
Team Picnic PostNL are the second team to start. They've endured a rough year, with only one win to their name, and have a roster featuring veterans Warren Barguil and John Degenkolb, plus sprinter Pavel Bittner, to try to change their fortunes.
Caja Rural-Seguros RGA are one of the wildcard teams who have been invited to the Tour. Their main man for the race will be former stage winner Fernando Gaviria, who is still capable of competing in a bunch sprint.
OFFICIAL START
Caja Rural-Seguros RGA roll off the start ramp, and so three weeks of the world's biggest bike race have begun!
Blue skies and hot weather have greeted the Tour in sunny Barcelona. The Caja Rural riders and ready and waiting at the top of the start ramp.
It’s nearly time! Caja Rural-Seguros RGA will be the first team off the start ramp, at 17:05 local time.
Who will secure the first yellow jersey of the Tour de France? Stage 1 team time trial start times
Tadej Pogačar's UAE Team Emirates XRG doing a recon of the course. They will have been planning for this day for months.
While all these stars will no doubt be part of some epic individual battles in the weeks to come, today, it’s all about how they perform as a collective in their respective teams, for what is the first occasion since 1971 that the Tour will begin with a team time trial.
This year, that familiar duopoly could at last be threatened by a third star, Paul Seixas, the teenager who looks like he has a rare talent that can compare with Pogačar and Vingegaard.
Rarely if ever has a Tour de France debut been more anticipated, and the atmosphere in France has reached fever pitch as they hope to anoint their new star. There’s no telling where his ceiling is, and how competitive he can be at the tender age of just 19, but it will be one of the stories of the Tour following how he gets on.
Thankfully for the sake of the race, Pogačar isn’t the only generational talent lining up at the start. As ever, he’ll come up against his eternal rival Jonas Vingegaard, the man he has shared the top two spots at the top of the GC in each of the last five Tours de France. Vingegaard has enjoyed a perfect season so far, achieving his main goal of winning the Giro d’Italia, to compete a flawless record having also won GC at Paris-Nice and Volta a Catalunya, and looks to be in the kind of form that saw him beat Pogačar at both the 2022 and 2023 Tours.
This will be the first time he and Pogačar have raced together this year, and the prospect is mouth-watering.
There are countless narratives and stories on the eve of the Tour de France, but let’s start with the main man - Tadej Pogačar, pictures here training before the race’s start.
The latest record the unstoppable Slovenian is seeking to earn at this Tour de France is to match the all-time highest number of yellow jersey wins, with what would be a fifth. And by the unprecedented standards he’s set these past few years, it’s difficult to see how he can be stopped.
This is the one we’ve all been waiting for. After weeks of build-up, speculation, analysis and gossip, the biggest bike race in the world is about to begin.
Bonjour and welcome to the Grand Départ of the 2026 Tour de France!
