Tour de France: a team time trial in Barcelona to open the 2026 edition

For the first time in its history, the Tour de France will begin in 2026 with a team time trial in the heart of Barcelona, ​​where the organizers expect an "absolutely phenomenal popular success" . Common currency in the past, the team time trial has not appeared on the Grande Boucle since 2019 in Brussels. It will make its grand return to open the 113th edition, which will start on Saturday, July 4, 2026 from the Catalan capital for the 26th start from abroad, the fourth in five years.

"There were many individual time trials on the first day but never a team time trial," enthused Tour boss Christian Prudhomme as he checked out the course in the rain on Tuesday with a few journalists, including AFP, before the official presentation of the first two stages in the evening in Perpignan.

The 19.7 km route is set out in Barcelona, ​​which has already hosted the Tour three times in 1957, 1965 and 2009 but never a "grand start" . It will include a return trip along the seaside, a passage at the foot of the Sagrada Familia and a lively finale with the Montjuic hill (1.1 km at 5.1%) and that of the Olympic Stadium (800 m at 7%) where the finish will be judged and the first yellow jersey awarded. "The final part is intended to break up the trains and highlight the team leaders. We can expect that the riders will arrive almost one by one on the line" , anticipates Thierry Gouvenou, the technical director of the Tour.

Because, to spice up the debates, the time trial ranking will be established, as has been the case in Paris-Nice for the past two years, on the time trial of the first rider in each team. But the times will be recorded individually for the general classification, encouraging the leaders to discover each other in the final. "If the time had not stopped on the first rider, we would never have done a team time trial. It revolutionizes the exercise. The first yellow jersey will undoubtedly be a candidate for the final victory," insists Christian Prudhomme, "conquered by the first experience in 2023 in Paris-Nice" where the same formula will be used again this year and also in 2026.

The second stage, also unveiled on Tuesday, will start in Tarragona and finish in Barcelona after 178 km, with a triple ascent of the Montjuic castle climb (1.6 km including 600 m at 13%), before finishing, as for the time trial, in front of the Olympic stadium. "We like to get into the thick of things quickly, and we are going to offer a really invigorating first weekend," emphasizes Thierry Gouvenou. For the third stage, the peloton will set off from Granollers, on the outskirts of Barcelona, ​​to head towards France and a finish city that will not be revealed until October with the rest of the route.

This will be the 26th departure from abroad, the fourth in five years after Copenhagen in 2022, Bilbao in 2023 and Florence in 2024, while the 2025 edition will start from Lille.

Christian Prudhomme, claims these international starts which contribute to the "influence" of the event, knowing that they also bring a significant financial windfall. Barcelona will be the third Spanish city to host a "grand start" after San Sebastian in 1992 and Bilbao in 2023. "There is everything to have absolutely phenomenal popular success. Catalonia has 8 million inhabitants. They have no difficulty in getting tourists. I think it's even the opposite. So, there will definitely be a lot, a lot of people" , estimates Christian Prudhomme.

The mayor of Barcelona, ​​Jaume Collboni (Party of Socialists of Catalonia), was pleased to be able to "write a new chapter with the biggest cycling race in the world" for his city, "the only one to have already hosted the Football World Cup in 1982, the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 1992 and the America's Cup in 2024." "We are going to be the capital of the world of cycling ," he added . "It is a dream that the city of Barcelona has been pursuing for more than ten years."