Start times for the 2026 Tour de France team time trial | Pogačar and Vingegaard to set off last on Stage 1

Caja Rural will kick off the 2026 Tour de France on Saturday. The Spanish team will make its debut in the Tour de France and will be the first to take the podium in the team time trial in Barcelona. Tadej Pogacar and UAE Emirates-XRG will be the last to start the 19.6-kilometer time trial.

The team time trial in Spain on Saturday marks the start of the Tour de France. A nearly 20-kilometer stage in which, as opposed to previous events, no minimum number of team members need to cross the finish line. Meaning a the general classification contenders can go all out on the finals climbs without having to worry about their teammates.

The final climb covers a total of one and a half kilometers. On the Côte de Montjuic, we’ll first climb 900 meters at a 5.5 percent gradient. This is followed by another 700 meters at a 7.9 percent gradient. Here we expect the team leaders and roulers to be going all out, because the time of the first rider counts.

Caja Rural will be the first to start at 5:05 p.m. (CET), and the other Pro Continental teams —TotalEnergies, Tudor, Pinarello-Q36.5, and Cofidis—will also be among the first to start. WorldTour team Picnic PostNL is also among them, as they are ranked among the lowest-tier teams in the UCI rankings.

At 5:30 p.m., Pinarello-Q36.5 will be the first team to roll off the starting platform with a true general classification contender on board: Tom Pidcock. Movistar will roll off the starting platform with Cian Uijtdebroeks at 5:45 p.m. Mathieu van der Poel will be up next with Alpecin-Premier Tech at 6:05 p.m.

That’s an hour earlier than the last group, which means Van der Poel and his teammates will have to set a pace. The same goes for fellow underdog Jayco AlUla, which will start 5 minutes before Van der Poel at 6:00 p.m. Netcompany INEOS, the first top favorite of the day takes the stage at 6:15 p.m.

With Filippo Ganna and Tobias Foss on the team, the British squad will likely set the benchmark time for the evening. Lidl-Trek (Juan Ayuso), Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe (Remco Evenepoel and Florian Lipowitz), and Visma | Lease a Bike (Jonas Vingegaard) are among the final four teams.

UAE Emirates-XRG is up last, with defending champion Tadej Pogacar. That’s an advantage, because the Slovenian will know exactly in the final stretch whether he’ll need to push just a little harder to secure a possible stage win and his first yellow jersey. Or will he fall short, leaving the yellow jersey for someone else?

5:05 p.m.: Caja Rural
5:10 p.m.: Picnic PostNL
5:15 p.m.: TotalEnergies
5:20 p.m.: Tudor

5:25 p.m.: Groupama-FDJ United
5:30 p.m.: Pinarello-Q36.5
5:35 p.m.: Cofidis
5:40 p.m.: Lotto Intermarché

5:45 p.m.: Movistar
5:50 p.m.: NSN
5:55 p.m.: Uno-X Mobility
6:00 p.m.: Jayco AlUla

6:05 p.m.: Alpecin-Premier Tech
6:10 p.m.: Soudal Quick-Step
6:15 p.m.: Netcompany INEOS
6:20 p.m.: Bahrain Victorious

6:45 p.m.: Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe
6:50 p.m.: Visma | Lease a Bike
6:55 p.m.: UAE Emirates-XRG