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The 2026 Tour de France starts at 17:05 CET on Saturday.
That’s when Caja Rural-Seguros RGA has the honor of being the first team down the ramp for the Tour de France stage 1 team time trial.
Set your alarms accordingly.
Tadej Pogačar begins his title defense and the quest for a fifth yellow jersey nearly two hours later at 18:55.
Pogi and his henchmen at UAE Emirates-XRG will be last off the line Saturday for what should be a spectacular dusky romp around central Barcelona.
The teams of Pogačar’s key rivals Jonas Vingegaard, Paul Seixas, Remco Evenepoel, and Florian Lipowitz roll out in a tight block between 18:30 CET and 18:50 CET.
Super teams Visma-Lease a Bike, Decathlon CMA-CGM, and Red Bull Bora-Hansgrohe are wedged into the final third of a high-stakes opening stage that will award the first yellow jersey.
Also take note of the time 18:15 CET – that’s when pre-stage favorites Netcompany-Ineos lets loose its pack of powerhouse rouleurs.
New format TTT will throw favorites into action on day 1
Saturday will mark the first Tour de France team time trial since 2019.
It will be a must-watch.
The use of a “new” method for awarding stage times is expected to tempt the GC favorites into action within the first hour of the 3,330km race.
You can find out more about the course and how the new timing system works here.
Here are all the start times for stage 1 of the 2026 Tour de France. Don’t miss it.
Tour de France stage 1 team time trial: Start times
| TIME (CET) | TEAM | |
| 1 | 17:05:00 | CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA |
| 2 | 17:10:00 | TEAM PICNIC POSTNL |
| 3 | 17:15:00 | TOTALENERGIES |
| 4 | 17:20:00 | TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM |
| 5 | 17:25:00 | GROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED |
| 6 | 17:30:00 | PINARELLO-Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM |
| 7 | 17:35:00 | COFIDIS |
| 8 | 17:40:00 | LOTTO INTERMARCHE |
| 9 | 17:45:00 | MOVISTAR TEAM |
| 10 | 17:50:00 | NSN CYCLING TEAM |
| 11 | 17:55:00 | UNO-X MOBILITY |
| 12 | 18:00:00 | TEAM JAYCO ALULA |
| 13 | 18:05:00 | ALPECIN-PREMIER TECH |
| 14 | 18:10:00 | SOUDAL QUICK-STEP |
| 15 | 18:15:00 | NETCOMPANY INEOS CYCLING TEAM |
| 16 | 18:20:00 | BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS |
| 17 | 18:25:00 | XDS ASTANA TEAM |
| 18 | 18:30:00 | DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM |
| 19 | 18:35:00 | EF EDUCATION – EASYPOST |
| 20 | 18:40:00 | LIDL-TREK |
| 21 | 18:45:00 | RED BULL – BORA – HANSGROHE |
| 22 | 18:50:00 | TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE |
| 23 | 18:55:00 | UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG |
[analyse_source url=”https://velo.outsideonline.com/road/road-racing/tour-de-france/tour-de-france-stage-1-team-time-trial-start-times/”]