The Spaniard went on to win the Tour that year and complete the rare Giro-Tour double, a feat Vingegaard is trying to replicate. Four-time Tour winner Tadej Pogačar – who accomplished the Giro-Tour double in 2024 – and his UAE Team Emirates–XRG will be disappointed after finishing third, 12 seconds behind the winners and 4 seconds behind second-place Netcompany INEOS, who were carried to the podium by the ultra-rapid Filippo Ganna.
As opposed to traditional team time trials, no minimum number of team members needed to cross the finish line and the first team member to cross the line gave the team it’s time. In addition, times were taken for all the finishers and made part of their GC ranking, which meant that the general classification contenders were able to go all out on the final climbs without having to worry about their teammates.
Welcoming an old friend, the yellow jersey
Wearing the yellow jersey again was “a dream come true,” Vingegaard said, and added: “Being back in the yellow jersey is for me the most important. I’m just extremely happy, it’s something I dreamt of for the last three years.”
Recalling the horror crash in the 2024 Itzulia Basque Country that derailed his career for nearly two years, he said, “I’ve struggled at times in the last few years, [but] now I feel like I can close this chapter in the book. Of course, it will always be a part of my book, laying there on the ground, believing that I’m going to die. And then coming from that to this point is also for me a bit emotional.”
Another disappointed rider was triple time trial world champion Remco Evenepoel, whose Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe team was not quite up to the level of the podium teams and finished fifth, 19 seconds adrift, with Juan Ayuso and his Lidl-Trek squad coming fourth, at 16 seconds. Still, four of the main five GC contenders ended the stage within 19 seconds of each other, with Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM) trailing Vingegaard by 39 seconds in sixth place. But the teenager rode a strong solo over the final 2.5km to keep himself in the running.
The 19.3km Barcelona course with its two punchy climbs – 900m @ 5.5% and 700m @ 7.3% – in the last 3km called for specific strategies of how and when to use its riders. Visma and UAE had similar plans, with both teams sparing their leaders from exertions on the flat portion of the course. In the end, both Vingegaard and Pogačar were dropped off on the final climb by their fastest mountain domestique, Davide Piganzoli and Isaac del Toro, respectively. By contrast, Evenepoel and Ganna did most of the heavy lifting for their teams on the flats and on the climbss.
Vingegaard and Piganzoli started that final ascent with a 15-second lead over Pogačar and del Toro, and the Dane managed to keep most of that gap with a strong finishing ride. But Pogačar could take comfort from the fact that he climbed the 860m ascent three seconds quicker than Vingegaard, so that he led the mountains classification and wore the polka dot jersey on stage two.
“Good news: I have climbing legs!” he said, with a laugh. “But it was quite short, the climb. The legs are good, the sensations are really good, so the shape should be here. I hope I can continue like this. We can be happy with today and be really motivated for the next few days.”
Pogi’s revenge shifts the momentum
Sunday’s stage 2 was a surprisingly tough climbing day so early in the Tour. The Category 2 Côte de Begue climb (6.1km @ 6.5%) midway on the 168.5km course from Tarragon to Barcelona was not long or steep enough to worry any riders but the sprinters. But the three climbs of the Côte du Château de Montjuïc (1.6km @ 9.3km) were a different story, especially with the final 400m averaging nearly 14%. That steep ramp came about 2.5km from the finish line and seemed the perfect spot for someone like Pogačar to attack.
But nobody did. The GC favorites were all together as what remained of the peloton crested the summit. When the attack came, it came in an unexpected place, on the descent, and from an unexpected rider, Lidl-Trek’s Mattias Skjelmose, riding for Ayuso. He was brought back by del Toro, with Pogačar, Vingegaard and Evenepoel close behind.
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The two UAE riders then headed for the finish line, and as Vingegaard broke off the follow Pogačar, del Toro dashed for the finish line. He was soon caught by his team leader as Vingegaard faltered and Evenepoel made a last, futile sprint. The 22-year-old Mexican was then invited by Pogačar to cross the line first and take his first Tour de France stage in his first appearance in the race. Pogačar finished second, with Evenepoel third and a tired Vingegaard coming fourth, all four given the same time.
As a result, the Dane’s lead over Pogačar was cut in half, to 6 seconds, with Evenepoel now in third, 15 seconds adrift and del Toro up to fourth place, at 16 seconds. Ayuso slipped to fifth, 19 seconds behind, while Seixas – who suffered a mechanical late in the stage – is now up to sixth, but 42 seconds behind.
If the UAE post-stage celebrations looked familiar, that was because they were aping those of Visma–Lease a Bike after their stage 1 win. The battle lines have now been clearly drawn – and we still have three weeks left. But the day belonged to the super-talented del Toro, who had to overcome a mechanical issue that set him back about 2 minutes because there was some confusion in the UAE team cars about his replacement bike. That he was able to win the stage after expending all that recovery energy on a day temperatures soared to 38° Celsius speaks volumes about the young man’s strength and resilience. His victory was only the second Tour stage win by a Mexican at the Tour.
His first Tour stage win “means really everything,” del Toro said afterwards. “As I’ve already said, I’m a very fortunate guy. You wouldn’t believe how hard we’ve worked to be here. The whole team had faith – this is everyone’s achievement, including my family and friends. I can’t believe it; it’s insane.”
Asked to describe how the win came about, he said, “I tried to catch up to Skjelmose. We made a plan with Tadej, and I carried it out. But in the end, the gap was even bigger, so I was just able to win.” And of course he thanked Pogačar for giving him the victory. “You don’t know what this means to me. . . . To have the best rider in the world supporting me like that at the end is something I will never forget. Tadej is amazing.”
As good as the Visma team was on stage 1, UAE was at least as good on stage 2, with Brandon McNulty taking charge of the three loops of the 12.1km circuit that ended the stage. His pace up the three climbs of the Côte du Château de Montjuïc sapped everyone’s legs, apparently including Vingegaard’s. Visma now has to find a way to get its Tour de France mojo back, after having it for only one day.
2026 Tour de France Stage 2 Results: Tarragona to Barcelona, 168.5km
1. Isaac del Toro, UAE Team Emirates–XRG 3:40:01
2. Tadej Pogačar, UAE Team Emirates–XRG ”
3. Remco Evenepoel, Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe ”
4. Jonas Vingegaard, Visma–Lease a Bike ”
5. Mattias Skjelmose, Lidl-Trek +0:03
6. Tobias Halland Johannessen, Uno-X Mobility ”
7. Romain Grégoire, Groupama–FDJ United ”
8. Lenny Martinez, Bahrain Victorious ”
9. Paul Seixas, Decathlon CMA CGM ”
10. Tom Pidcock, Pinarello Q36.5 ”
2026 Tour de France General Classification after Stage 2
1. Jonas Vingegaard, Visma–Lease a Bike 4:01:48
2. Tadej Pogačar, UAE Team Emirates–XRG +0:06
3. Remco Evenepoel, Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe +0:15
4. Isaac del Toro, UAE Team Emirates–XRG +0:16
5. Juan Ayuso, Lidl-Trek +0:19
6. Paul Seixas, Decathlon CMA CGM +0:42
7. Romain Grégoire, Groupama–FDJ United +0:44
8. Florian Lipowitz, Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe +0:45
9. Lenny Martinez, Bahrain Victorious +0:53
10. Tom Pidcock, Pinarello Q36.5 +1’00”
