Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard and his Visma-Lease a Bike team won the 19.6 km opening team time trial of the 2026 Tour de France in Barcelona on July 4, clocking 21 minutes 47 seconds to claim the first yellow jersey of the race [1, 2, 3]. "It feels amazing to have the yellow jersey again," Vingegaard said. "It’s been three years and it’s one of the most beautiful jerseys in cycling. It’s the perfect start for our race." [2]

Italian rider Filippo Ganna of Netcompany Ineos finished second in the stage, eight seconds behind Vingegaard, while defending champion Tadej Pogacar, racing for UAE Team Emirates-XRG, placed third at 12 seconds back [1, 2, 3]. The 19-year-old French rider Paul Seixas also impressed by finishing 10th in the opening trial [1, 2, 4]. Belgian Remco Evenepoel finished fifth and remains a contender [1, 2, 4].

On July 6, Pogacar won stage three, a 196 km route from Granollers to Les Angles in the French Pyrenees, with a late acceleration under hot weather and wildfire restrictions [5, 6, 4]. Despite being tied on overall time with Vingegaard after the stage, Pogacar claimed the yellow jersey due to better stage finishes and bonus seconds [5, 4]. He said, "I got some extra power in the final because [teammate] Del Toro committed more than 100% in the final climb. All the team in the middle of the stage said it is possible to go for the stage win and I'm really happy we started the Tour with this incredible finish today. To take yellow is a dream for any cyclist of any age." [5]

Pogacar added, "We love to race and we’re here to race for the victory. When it’s hot, like today, we really start to put a lot of effort into bring water and ice up to the riders... Cooling is really important. It’s dangerous if you don’t keep your body temperature down." [6] He also reflected on the win, saying, "It’s still far away. Maybe today was my last victory ever. I prefer to stay in the moment and enjoy this victory." [6]

The Tour continues in the following stages with riders chasing time gains and positioning before the mountain challenges ahead.