The wait is over – the Tour de France is here, with the opening stage taking place in Barcelona, Spain, today.
The 113th edition of cycling's greatest race kicks off with a team time trial – the first at the Tour since 2019. All 23 teams, starting with eight riders each, will contest the 19.6km route on the streets of the Spanish city, finishing at Barcelona's Olympic Stadium.
The team time trial is a tantalising prospect, not least because of a rule change introduced for the 2026 edition.
This year, the team’s time for the stage is taken from the first rider in the team to cross the line. The remaining riders each receive their own finishing time for the general classification.
That gives teams a tactical conundrum as to how they should pace the stage, particularly with two short climbs in the closing kilometres.
Tadej Pogačar starts the Tour de France as overwhelming favourite, with the Slovenian sensation targeting a record-equalling fifth overall victory.
As the defending champion, Pogačar and his UAE Team Emirates-XRG support squad will be the last of the Tour de France teams down the start ramp.
Caja Rural-Seguros RGA will be the first team to start, at 17:05 local time (CET). Five-minute intervals separate each team, with Pogačar and co setting off at 18:55.
In between, keep an eye out for Tom Pidcock's Pinarello Q36.5 squad at 17:30, the first pedal strokes of Paul Seixas' Tour de France debut at 18:30, world and Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel's Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe squad at 18:45 and two-time Tour champion Jonas Vingegaard at 18:50.
Meanwhile, Netcompany-Ineos may not have GC ambitions for the 2026 Tour but will have a keen eye on stage one. They go at 18:15.
Here are the key teams and riders to look out for, followed by the full list of stage one start times. All times are CET.
Key teams and riders to watch
- 17:30 – Pinarello Q36.5 (Tom Pidcock)
- 18:05 – Alpecin-Premier Tech (Mathieu van der Poel, Jasper Philipsen)
- 18:15 – Netcompany-Ineos (Josh Tarling, Filippo Ganna, Thymen Arensman)
- 18:30 – Decathlon CMA CGM (Paul Seixas)
- 18:40 – Lidl-Trek (Juan Ayuso, Mads Pedersen)
- 18:45 – Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe (Remco Evenepoel, Florian Lipowitz)
- 18:50 – Visma-Lease a Bike (Jonas Vingegaard)
- 18:55 – UAE Team Emirates-XRG (Tadej Pogačar)
Tour de France 2026 stage one start times – all teams
| Start time (CET) | Team |
| 17:05 | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA |
| 17:10 | Picnic PostNL |
| 17:15 | TotalEnergies |
| 17:20 | Tudor Pro Cycling |
| 17:25 | Groupama-FDJ United |
| 17:30 | Pinarello Q36.5 |
| 17:35 | Cofidis |
| 17:40 | Lotto Intermarché |
| 17:45 | Movistar |
| 17:50 | NSN Cycling |
| 17:55 | Uno-X Mobility |
| 18:00 | Jayco AlUla |
| 18:05 | Alpecin-Premier Tech |
| 18:10 | Soudal Quick-Step |
| 18:15 | Netcompany-Ineos |
| 18:20 | Bahrain Victorious |
| 18:25 | XDS Astana |
| 18:30 | Decathlon CMA CGM |
| 18:35 | EF Education-EasyPost |
| 18:40 | Lidl-Trek |
| 18:45 | Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe |
| 18:50 | Visma-Lease a Bike |
| 18:55 | UAE Team Emirates-XRG |
