The timing format for the stage 1 team time trial at the 2026 Tour de France in Barcelona has raised questions from Visma-Lease a Bike’s CEO, with it following the new TTT format seen in Paris-Nice in recent seasons, where the time is taken from the first rider across the line for each team.
For the general classification, each rider will be given the respective time they finish the 19km route, a departure from the previous format seen in 2019 and Tours de France gone by, where GC times were taken on the fourth rider crossing the finish line.
After years of punchy stage 1 finishes and a sprint opener this past season in 2025, the Tour’s organisers are hoping for the GC favourites to once again come to the fore, but only after the TTT spectacle on the streets of Barcelona, finishing with key climbs to Montjuïc and the Olympic Stadium
“It doesn’t prevent the team from working, but it adds an individual touch. The winner will be the one who has been carried by his team and who manages to make the final effort to get the best time. And this will allow us to have a real ranking from the first day.”
The last time the first yellow jersey was determined by a team time trial was during the prologue TTT of the 1971 race, when Eddy Merckx’s Molteni team took victory and his teammate Rini Wagtmans wore yellow en route…
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