Pogačar starts quest for 5th Tour de France title but Vingegaard takes early edge in Barcelona

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Tadej Pogačar started his quest for a record-equaling fifth Tour de France title when cycling’s elite race kicked off in neighboring Spain on Saturday.

But it was his top rival, Jonas Vingegaard, who grabbed the early advantage after an impressive effort by the Dane and his Visma-Lease a Bike team.

Vingegaard helped clock the best time on the opening stage’s 19.6-kilometer (12.1-mile) team time trial in Barcelona, grabbing a 12-second advantage over Pogačar and his UAE Team Emirates-XRG.

“It is still a long Tour obviously, but is a perfect start,” Vingegaard said. “My team did an amazing job today. They were so strong. I didn’t have to do much, they just drove me all the way to the finish.”

The first of 21 stages took riders along the Mediterranean coast, past the city’s famous Sagrada Familia basilica and finished with a short climb up a hill overlooking the popular tourist destination.

Pogačar is the overall favorite thanks to his Tour victories in 2020, 2021, 2024 and 2025, as well as his strong form this year.

The Slovenian sensation is aiming to join the select crowd of Belgian Eddy Merckx, Spaniard Miguel Indurain and Frenchmen Jacques Anquetil and Bernard Hinault as the only riders to have won cycling’s most prestigious race on five occasions.

“Of course, you always aim for the victory, but I think we did a really good, super team time trial,” Pogačar said about the opening stage. “I am super happy that the day is over because it is really hard.”

Vingegaard is once again his biggest challenger. The Dane took home the yellow jersey in 2022 and 2023 and is aiming to complete the men’s Giro-Tour double.

Vingegaard charged up the short but steep ascent to the finish line after being well set up by his teammates. Pogačar’s team was last off the staggered start and the star had a chance to better Vingegaard’s mark, only to fall short.

“To wear the yellow jersey again, after a few years without it, it is nice to experience it again,” said Vingegaard, who embraced his teammates as they celebrated the stage win.

This was the first team time trial included at the Tour since 2019.

But it had an important tweak.

At previous team time trials, the team’s riders all received the time set by the fourth rider of the team to cross the finish line. That forced the team to stick together. This year, each rider was timed individually, meaning that the team could shed riders who had tired and finish with a leader on a solo run over the final stretch.

Filippo Ganna of Netcompany INEOS Grenadiers had the second-best time, eight seconds off the winning pace. Juan Ayuso was fourth at 0:16, with Remco Evenepoel at 0:19.

French hope Paul Seixas became one of the youngest riders to compete in the Tour at age 19. Seixas had the 10th best time at 0:39.

The three-week race will cross into the French Pyrenees on Stage 3. Stages 19 and 20 culminate at the famed Alpe d’Huez climb in the Alps, which comes just 24 hours before the 21st and final stage ending on the Champs-Élysées in Paris.

AP cycling: https://apnews.com/hub/cycling