After giving up 12 seconds in the Tour de France opening stage, Tadej Pogačar already hinted that he might try to wrest the maillot jaune off the shoulders of his long-time rival Jonas Vingegaard on stage 2.
The team time trial went to Visma-Lease a Bike, with Vingegaard sitting on until the final climb of the Côte de Montjuïc before jumping away to the stage win for his team and the first leader's jersey.
But Pogačar, whose UAE Team Emirates XRG squad were trailing in the flat first 13 kilometres, put in the fastest time on the last climb to earn the polka dot jersey for stage 2.
All eyes will be on the world champion to see if he holds true to his promise, or if he prefers to save his team's energies for later in the race.
Stage 2: Tarragona - Barcelona
Date: July 5, 2026
Distance: 168.5km
Start time: 13:45 CET
Finish time: 17:36 CET
Points at finish: 30-25-22-19-17-15-13-11-9-7-6-5-4-3-2
Stage 2 is 168.5 kilometres long, starting from Tarragona and traveling to Barcelona, culminating atop Côte de Montjuïc, the traditional finale of the Volta a Catalunya. The last three winners over this climb were Primož Roglič (2025), Tadej Pogačar (2024), and Remco Evenepoel (2023).
After starting at the furthest south the Tour de France peloton has ever ventured, the riders will face 71 kilometres of flat roads along the Costa Daurada before turning inland for the intermediate sprint followed by hilly and rugged terrain.
The first test is Côte de Begues, a climb new to the Tour before racing towards Barcelona for the finishing circuit. That circuit is dominated by the climb to Montjuïc Castle, tackled three times, with the same finish as used in the team time trial the day before.
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Mountains
Côte de Begues (cat. 2, 6.1km at 6.5%), km. 94.2
5-3-2-1 pts
Côte du Château de Montjuic (cat. 3, 1.6km at 9.3%), km. 141.6
2-1 pts
Côte du Château de Montjuic (cat. 3, 1.6km at 9.3%), km. 166
Lyne has been involved in professional cycling for more than 15 years in both news reporting and sports marketing. She founded Podium Insight in 2008, quickly becoming a trusted source for news of the North American professional cycling world. She was the first to successfully use social media to consistently provide timely and live race updates for all fans. She is proud to have covered men's and women's news equally during her tenure at the helm of the site. Her writing has appeared on Cyclingnews and other news sites.
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