Visma-Lease a Bike wins opening team time trial, Vingegaard takes first yellow jersey

Visma-Lease a Bike posted the quickest time in the 19km team time trial that opened the 2026 Tour de France in Barcelona, securing the stage win and placing team leader Jonas Vingegaard in the yellow jersey for day two. Netcompany Ineos finished second, while UAE Team Emirates XRG, led by Tadej Pogačar, were third, 11 seconds behind Vingegaard.

The new team time-trial format produced a general-classification top ten that already includes several pre-race favourites: Vingegaard leads, Pogačar is third, Juan Ayuso fourth, Remco Evenepoel fifth, and Seixas tenth. French rider Kévin Vauquelin lost time after a mechanical issue, dropping him from the leading group.

Visma-Lease a Bike’s performance was strong despite the absence of Wout van Aert; Davide Piganzoli rode with Vingegaard in the final kilometre and is expected to support the yellow-jersey defence. Netcompany Ineos set the fastest intermediate time before being overtaken, while other teams such as Lidl-Trek, Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe and Groupama-FDJ posted competitive times but remained behind the leading pair.

The stage finish was marked by a steep uphill section that could influence the next day’s route, and organisers noted that the early time gaps set the tone for a contested battle among the main GC teams.