“A bit of a shame... but still opportunities to come” – Remco Evenepoel misses first Tour de France yellow but gains on Red Bull co-leader Florian Lipowitz
CyclingSaturday, 04 July 2026 at 20:19
Remco Evenepoel leaves the first day in Barcelona without the first yellow jersey of the 2026 Tour de France, but already ahead in the comparison Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe were always going to face.
After Stage 1, Jonas Vingegaard leads the race for Team Visma | Lease a Bike. Tadej Pogacar starts 12 seconds down, Juan Ayuso sits at 16 seconds, and Evenepoel begins the road stages 19 seconds off yellow. Florian Lipowitz, Red Bull’s other protected rider and the 2025 Tour de France podium finisher, is 35 seconds behind Vingegaard after losing contact late in the Barcelona team time trial.
That puts 16 seconds between Red Bull’s two leaders after just 21 minutes and 47 seconds of racing.
Red Bull refuse first hierarchy verdict
The clock created the first separation, even if Red Bull were in no mood to turn it into a leadership call. Lipowitz lost contact in the rising final kilometre, while Evenepoel remained in the front group as Red Bull finished fifth on the stage, 18.15 seconds behind Visma.
Team sports director Klaas Lodewyck insisted the gap between the two had not come as a shock. “It was calculated that Florian would have to let go with Remco,” Lodewyck said, in quotes carried by HLN. “The difference also remained limited. Whether this immediately clarifies the hierarchy between our leaders? I don’t think so, the final account will only be made in Paris.”
Evenepoel also stayed away from any number-one language after gaining time on his teammate. “Whether I am now leader number one? I’m not concerned with that,” he said. “I knew I had to carry the weight on the climbs and ride as fast as possible to the finish. I just did my thing.”
Evenepoel is fifth overall, Lipowitz eighth, and both remain inside the early top 10. One starts the road stages seven seconds behind Pogacar, the other 23 seconds behind the UAE Team Emirates – XRG leader.
Evenepoel close enough after missed yellow chance
Red Bull did not have the winning ride in Barcelona. Visma were clear winners, Netcompany INEOS put Filippo Ganna into second overall, UAE limited the damage for Pogacar, and Lidl-Trek placed Ayuso ahead of Evenepoel after the Montjuic finale.
Evenepoel still avoided the kind of opening loss that can quickly complicate a GC challenge. Wearing the rainbow jersey as world time trial champion, he took major turns in the early part of the ride and was still central in the final kilometres alongside Maxim Van Gils.
“This is more or less the result we expected,” Evenepoel told VTM NIEUWS. “It was quite okay. I don’t think we could have ridden any faster. It was a successful first day.”
Lodewyck’s assessment was similar. Yellow was missed, but Red Bull left Barcelona with both leaders placed and Evenepoel still within 20 seconds of the race lead. “We can absolutely be satisfied with our performance today,” Lodewyck said. “On a day like this, there is simply more to lose than to win. Remco did an enormous amount of work today and feels excellent.”
Evenepoel said two Red Bull riders had dropped earlier than planned, but did not treat it as a defining issue. “By that I mean that two guys had to let go sooner than expected, but that happens with every team,” he said. “It can just happen. Apart from that, we did super well.”
The missed maillot jaune still stung. Evenepoel admitted that “deep down, you dream of it” and called it “a bit of a shame”, but also pointed to “two nice opportunities to come”.
Stage 2 begins with Evenepoel fifth overall at 19 seconds, Lipowitz eighth at 35, and Red Bull still publicly holding both leaders in play.
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- Maybe Pogi is happy because he's close, but now his team doesn't need to control and chase so hard tomorrow. Because there's an unwritten rule about the yellow jersey team's additional responsibilities.Ride197404-07-2026
- From what has been said, he is working for Pogi at the TDF. However, he will lead the team at the Vuelta Espana. And unless Pogi rides the Giro D'italia next year, he very well may lead there. He is only currently not leading a team at the TDF. And he seems 100% happy with that.md197504-07-2026
- Hey, you funny guy! LOL!MajorPayne04-07-2026
- It's a handful of seconds on day one of three week stage race.gooseflight04-07-2026
- I really enjoyed this new format to the TTT. Jonas in yellow, Tadej in the KOM jersey for fastest up the climb. Good ride by Remco and Ayuso. Paul Seixas did a lot of work to drive Decathlon and still finished with a decent time. Looking forward to him mixing it up with the big names in the mountains. Will Visma let the jersey go tomorrow?Pedalmasher04-07-2026
- All the teams first riders were in red today, if not they have not done their job. 20 kilometers means nothing for tomorrow - stop making a fool of youself. Congrats to Visma team and Jonas.Jakob04-07-2026
- Tomorrow Pogi needs to attack early because Vingegaard always has problems if he went deep into the red the day before. I guarantee if there are good UAE tactics and good leadout, that Pogi will drop Jonas tomorrow and I hope for an offensive Seixas also.mus-musculuspeedypogigonzales04-07-2026
- Losing more than 1 minute after one stage. Not good, especially when he's not even the tier one climber. Movistar can salvage the Tour by targeting stage hunting instead sacrificing riders to protect the GC goal. It's gone, baby, gone.
KerisVroom04-07-2026 - First fact: Uijtdebroeks forced an early exit from Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe at the end of 2023. He was frustrated by a lack of guaranteed Grand Tour starts??? Second fact: Uijtdebroeks terminated his contract with Visma-Lease a Bike two years early to sign a four-year deal with the Movistar. The same BS, because Visma could not guarantee him the Grand Tour racing program he needed. Third fact: Today Uijtdebroeks blew up, but he will say it was Movistars fault. Fourth fact: Uijtdebroeks will be looking for a new team.mus-musculuspeedypogigonzales04-07-2026
- LOL!
Rafionain-Glas04-07-2026
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