![\"Slovenia's](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/fe86c72fa2a8b482584b1b9eb5832628_Cycling_Tour_de_France_17_45.jpg.webp\")
<\/p>\nBARCELONA, Spain (AP) \u2014 Tadej Poga\u010dar will start his quest for a record-equaling fifth Tour de France title when the race kicks off in neighboring Spain on Saturday.<\/p>\n
The elite Grand Tour begins with a team time trial in Barcelona, an opening stage which will take riders past the city\u2019s famous Sagrada Familia basilica and finish with a short climb up a hill overlooking the popular tourist destination.<\/p>\n
Click to Gallery<\/p>\n
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Slovenia’s Tadej Pogacar poses on the podium during the team presentation two days ahead of the start of the Tour de France Cycling race in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, July 2, 2026. (AP Photo\/Thibault Camus)<\/p>\n
![\"Slovenia's](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/fe86c72fa2a8b482584b1b9eb5832628_Cycling_Tour_de_France_32647.jpg.webp\")
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Slovenia’s Tadej Pogacar leaves for a training ride two days before the start of the Tour de France, in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, July 2, 2026. (AP Photo\/Mosa’ab Elshamy)<\/p>\n
![\"UAE](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/fe86c72fa2a8b482584b1b9eb5832628_Cycling_Tour_de_France_2821_.jpg.webp\")
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UAE Team Emirates’s Tadej Pogacar waves to the crowd during a team presentation ahead of the Tour de France Cycling race, in front of the Basilica of the Sagrada Familia, in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, July 2, 2026. (AP Photo\/Mosa’ab Elshamy)<\/p>\n
![\"Tadej](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/fe86c72fa2a8b482584b1b9eb5832628_Cycling_Tour_de_France_6_71.jpg.webp\")
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Tadej Pogacar waves to the crowds as UAE Team Emirates is presented ahead of the Tour de France Cycling race, in front of the Basilica of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, July 2, 2026. (AP Photo\/Mosa’ab Elshamy)<\/p>\n
Poga\u010dar is the overall favorite thanks to his Tour victories in 2020, 2021, 2024 and 2025, as well as his strong form this year.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Jonas 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\u2019s Giro-Tour double.<\/p>\n
Poga\u010dar\u2019s UAE Team Emirates-XRG will start Saturday’s 19.6-kilometer (12.1-mile) team time trial last, just ahead of Vingegaard\u2019s Visma-Lease a Bike.<\/p>\n
The three-week race will cross into the French Pyrenees on Stage 3. Stages 19 and 20 culminate at the famed Alpe d\u2019Huez climb in the Alps, which comes just 24 hours before the 21st and final stage ending on the Champs-\u00c9lys\u00e9es in Paris.<\/p>\n
AP cycling: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/cycling<\/p>\n
Slovenia’s Tadej Pogacar poses on the podium during the team presentation two days ahead of the start of the Tour de France Cycling race in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, July 2, 2026. (AP Photo\/Thibault Camus)<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Slovenia’s Tadej Pogacar leaves for a training ride two days before the start of the Tour de France, in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, July 2, 2026. (AP Photo\/Mosa’ab Elshamy)<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n UAE Team Emirates’s Tadej Pogacar waves to the crowd during a team presentation ahead of the Tour de France Cycling race, in front of the Basilica of the Sagrada Familia, in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, July 2, 2026. (AP Photo\/Mosa’ab Elshamy)<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Tadej Pogacar waves to the crowds as UAE Team Emirates is presented ahead of the Tour de France Cycling race, in front of the Basilica of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, July 2, 2026. (AP Photo\/Mosa’ab Elshamy)<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n SILVERSTONE, England (AP) \u2014 Kimi Antonelli returned to winning ways on Saturday by denying Lewis Hamilton a crowd-pleasing home victory in the sprint race ahead of the British Grand Prix.<\/p>\n Hamilton started on pole and held off Antonelli until lap eight of 17, when the Italian swept past with the help of electrical power.<\/p>\n “Let\u2019s go! Let\u2019s go!\u201d Antonelli told the team over the radio after taking the win.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a very fun first 10 laps with Lewis, we were both pushing very hard,” Antonelli added later. \u201cObviously the momentum is there and we are doing a great job together with the team.\u201d<\/p>\n The race was a prime example of F1 in 2026, with the strategy of charging and deploying electrical power central to the battles on track.<\/p>\n It allowed drivers like Lando Norris to swap places with rivals lap after lap but also meant drivers lifting off through Silverstone’s best-known fast corners to recharge power.<\/p>\n Hamilton was back fighting for a win again after a breakthrough victory last month at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, his first since moving to Ferrari last year.<\/p>\n \u201cI was pushing as hard as I could, I gave it absolutely everything,\u201d Hamilton said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got a bit of work to do to try and close that gap.\u201d<\/p>\n Lando Norris took third in McLaren\u2019s white-and-green throwback livery after briefly running second at the start and then winning a thrilling back-and-forth battle with George Russell and Max Verstappen for third.<\/p>\n Antonelli’s first win since last month’s Monaco Grand Prix stretched his Formula 1 standings lead to 43 points over teammate Russell, who was fourth after starting fifth.<\/p>\n Russell had been complaining of a \u201cstrange\u201d lack of pace in qualifying the day before, a setback after his win at the Austrian Grand Prix last week had boosted the British driver’s title chances.<\/p>\n Charles Leclerc was fifth for Ferrari, Verstappen sixth for Red Bull, with McLaren\u2019s Oscar Piastri seventh. Liam Lawson was eighth for Racing Bulls but was facing a post-race investigation into his battle for position with Verstappen\u2019s teammate Isack Hadjar.<\/p>\n Qualifying is later Saturday for Sunday’s British Grand Prix.<\/p>\n AP auto racing: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/auto-racing<\/p>\n Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli of Italy, left, speaks with second placed Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain after winning the sprint race ahead of the British F1 Grand Prix, in Silverstone, England, Saturday, July 4, 2026. (AP Photo\/Darko Bandic)<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli of Italy celebrates after winning the sprint race at the British F1 Grand Prix, in Silverstone, England, Saturday, July 4, 2026. (AP Photo\/Darko Bandic)<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Fans watch the sprint race at the British F1 Grand Prix, in Silverstone, England, Saturday, July 4, 2026. (Peter Powell\/Pool via AP)<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain celebrates his second position after the sprint race ahead of the British F1 Grand Prix, in Silverstone, England, Saturday, July 4, 2026. (AP Photo\/Darko Bandic)<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli of Italy crosses the finish line to win the sprint race at the British F1 Grand Prix, in Silverstone, England, Saturday, July 4, 2026. (Peter Powell\/Pool via AP)<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n
\n ![\"Slovenia's](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1783173073_934_fe86c72fa2a8b482584b1b9eb5832628_Cycling_Tour_de_France_17_45.jpg.webp\")
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