The countdown has well and truly begun for the Tour de France 2026, and the start of the world's biggest race is now just hours away.
Stage 1’s team time trial start in Barcelona throws up a technical challenge straight away. The 19.6km stage uses a new format that has also been trialled at more than one race this year, including the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.
Riders will receive individual finishing times, meaning the GC race is on from the start, and teams will build their race strategies accordingly to help their leaders.
Jonas Vingegaard's tilt for a third overall title begins on Saturday, and like any potential overall contender, a successful team time trial performance will be highly important for his GC hopes.
His Visma-Lease a Bike team claimed victory at the TTT stage at the recent Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes by nine seconds a few weeks back, and it seemed the team had a strong plan in place. Entering the Tour having won the last competitive TTT must be good for morale.
Cyclingnews spoke with the team's head of performance equipment, Jenco Drost, at an event at the team's high-performance centre in the Netherlands in the lead up to the race, where he spoke about the team's Stage 1 TTT planning and bike prep.
"We spent a lot of energy getting everything right for the Dauphiné," Drost began. "I think if we win, it's a good test, and based on that, I think we are set."
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Teams can optimise equipment for specific courses, and many squads have been practising their TTT drills at motor racing circuits near Barcelona this week.
It would be unwise to think Visma don't have their TTT strategy planned to a T, but it sounds like the last TTT win gave a lot of confidence, and provided something of a blueprint, or at least confirmation of a successful strategy and the ability to adapt in the heat of the moment.
"If we copy that in terms of equipment, we copy that to the Tour de France, so in that sense we're now quite fixed," Drost continued.
The team didn't have a completely incident-free ride, with Van Aert being dropped early and a puncture for Ben Tullet, but the team regrouped, and Matteo Jorgensen explained how he could enjoy a free ride to the finish.
"We adapted well, and we could rearrange things and readjust, and honestly, I think the last ten kilometres we couldn't have gone any faster. I was given a free ride to the last climb."
A free ride is something Vingegaard may well need tomorrow for the stage's final punchy climb in the centre of Barcelona. The Danish star will likely pull the pin on that last climb and really go for it, and the team's ability to readjust and adapt to potential issues will be crucial in the first half of the race.
Jonas Vingegaard's Cervelo P5 time trial bike will be the machine that kicks his Tour off. (Image credit: Tom Wieckowski)
You sometimes hear of teams beginning the Tour with all new equipment, and it’s true some riders receive custom-painted bikes or even new machines.
Lidl-Trek, for instance, have new, freshly painted 50th anniversary Project One Trek Madones, but it seems Visma-Lease a Bike are taking a more standard approach.
They are using existing Cervélo race bikes that have already seen action this year. Drost explained that each bike receives a full service ahead of the Tour.
"All the preparations now start to get all the bikes ready again, just final maintenance or setting up some new bikes. They get a full service; unfortunately, some riders did some gravel on training camp, so the bikes need some maintenance.
"All the components are almost getting changed every month or so, so the frame is more or less the same, and the rest will be changed. It's not specific new bikes. We have the same colours this year, so no extra work getting bikes ready."
Drost spoke about components being constantly freshened up, and also explained cassettes have a long life now that chain waxing is so effective; the regularly rewaxed chains the team uses lengthen drivetrain life and minimise wear. He also explained that star riders will likely have a new, freshly waxed chain fitted for every stage.
The riders will use Cervélo P5 time trial bikes for the opening stage; Jonas Vingegaard has a special raw lightweight version. For road stages, the team will mostly be riding the superfast Cervélo S5.
Tom joined the Cyclingnews team in late 2022 as a tech writer. Despite having a degree in English Literature he has spent his entire working life in the cycling industry in one form or another. He has over 10 years of experience as a qualified mechanic, with the last five years before joining Cyclingnews being spent running an independent workshop. This means he is just as happy tinkering away in the garage as he is out on the road bike, and he isn’t afraid to pull a bike apart or get hands-on with it when testing to really see what it’s made of.
He has ridden and raced bikes from an early age up to a national level on the road and track, and has ridden and competed in most disciplines. He has a keen eye for pro-team tech and enjoys spotting new or interesting components in the wild. During his time at Cyclingnews, Tom has already interviewed some of the sport's biggest names including Mathieu van der Poel, Tadej Pogačar and Alberto Contador. He's also covered various launches from brands such as Pinarello, Ridley, Specialized and more, tackled the Roubaix Challenge sportive aboard his own rim-brake Cannondale SuperSix Evo, tested over 20 aero helmets in the wind tunnel, and has created helpful in-depth buying advice relating to countless categories from torque wrenches to winter clothing.
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