Vingegaard takes early Tour de France lead as Visma win opening stage in Barcelona

Jonas Vingegaard secured the early lead in the 113th Tour de France as his Visma-Lease a Bike squad won the opening stage, a team time trial in Barcelona on Saturday. The Danish rider will wear the yellow jersey on Sunday for the first time since his 2023 victory. Visma completed the 19.6 km course eight seconds faster than Netcompany Ineos with Filippo Ganna, while defending champion Tadej Pogacar of UAE Team Emirates finished third, 12 seconds back.

The route hugged the Mediterranean coast, passed the iconic Sagrada Familia basilica, and ended with a short uphill climb overlooking the popular tourist destination. Visma was neck-and-neck with Netcompany and Lidl-Trek of Spaniard Juan Ayuso for much of the stage, but accelerated in the second half. Vingegaard made the decisive difference on the final 800-meter uphill drag to the finish.

Pogacar remains the overall favorite, having won the Tour in 2020, 2021, 2024, and 2025. The Slovenian sensation aims to join the elite club of five-time winners: Eddy Merckx, Miguel Indurain, Jacques Anquetil, and Bernard Hinault. Vingegaard, the 2022 and 2023 champion, is his main challenger and seeks to complete the Giro-Tour double.

The three-week race crosses into the French Pyrenees on Stage 3. Stages 19 and 20 culminate at the famed Alpe d'Huez climb in the Alps, just 24 hours before the final stage on the Champs-Élysées in Paris.