“After a few hard years without it” – Jonas Vingegaard savours emotional return to Tour de France yellow after Visma masterclass
CyclingSaturday, 04 July 2026 at 20:04
Jonas Vingegaard is back in the Tour de France yellow jersey after Team Visma | Lease a Bike delivered the first major blow of the 2026 race in Barcelona.
Visma won the Stage 1 team time trial by 7.33 seconds over Netcompany INEOS and 11.28 seconds over UAE Team Emirates – XRG. It put Vingegaard into yellow immediately, gave him early time on Tadej Pogacar, Juan Ayuso and Remco Evenepoel, and returned him to the jersey he had gone without during two difficult Tours.
Speaking in his flash interview after the finish, Vingegaard admitted the day had landed emotionally as well as tactically.
“It’s the perfect start,” he said. “Still a long Tour, obviously, but it’s the perfect start. My team-mates did an amazing job today. They were so strong. I didn’t have to do much, to be honest, they drove me all the way to the finish.”
Back in yellow after difficult years
Visma’s opening ride protected Vingegaard until the final section, then released him on the Montjuic finale after several other teams had started to lose shape. They trailed INEOS at the first checkpoint, moved ahead by Sagrada Familia and stretched the gap before the run to the Olympic Stadium.
Matteo Jorgenson and Davide Piganzoli were among the final riders still with Vingegaard before the Dane completed the ride. Behind him, the early Tour hierarchy had already started to form: Pogacar at 12 seconds, Ayuso at 16 and Evenepoel at 19.
“To take the stage win for us, and the yellow jersey also, for me personally, after a few hard years without it, it’s nice for me to experience it again,” Vingegaard said. “It’s the biggest race in the world. It’s an amazing victory for us, especially when it’s a team time trial.”
Vingegaard arrived at this Tour after a dominant first half of 2026, but his recent relationship with July had been more complicated. In Barcelona, he ended the opening day in the jersey every GC contender had started the race chasing.
Visma’s collective win puts Vingegaard first
The yellow jersey was worn by Vingegaard at the end of the day, but Visma’s reaction was built around the full team effort. Per Strand Hagenes had been central early on, Jorgenson and Piganzoli helped carry the speed deep into the final kilometres, and the whole unit avoided the late collapse that cost others time on Montjuic.
“We’re eight guys, which means I have seven team-mates who sacrifice themselves for me today,” Vingegaard said. “I’m the one wearing the yellow jersey after today, but they also won the stage and I have to thank them.”
INEOS had Filippo Ganna to finish off a powerful ride, but Kevin Vauquelin’s puncture changed their yellow jersey plan. UAE had Pogacar for the final metres, but not enough team speed to match Visma. Red Bull had Evenepoel driving late, while Florian Lipowitz lost contact in the finale. “Everything went as planned,” Vingegaard added. “We had this tactic and it paid off.”
Vingegaard’s own caution was still there. He stressed that he had come to the Tour “to do the best possible GC” and that “it’s only Stage 1”, with three weeks still to race.
Stage 2 begins with Vingegaard in yellow, Pogacar already 12 seconds down, and Visma carrying the first major result of the 2026 Tour de France.
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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- 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 - Cian Uijdtebroeks "they dropped me, they bullied me"Rafionain-Glas04-07-2026
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