Pogacar, Vingegaard, Evenepoel, Van Aert... - What we know about where the World Tour's best will start the 2026 season

The 2026 season is underway and at the Tour Down Under there are some big names taking to the start. But the main figures that will be fighting for victories at the Grand Tours are still keeping their powder dry and training ahead of the debut. We take a look at all of the big figures and where they will begin their respective season.

Besides INEOS Grenadiers and Alpecin - Premier Tech, all teams have in some way either shared the schedule of their main riders, or the riders themselves have revealed to the media their goals and races where they will start their seasons. Some names such as Mathieu van der Poel, Jasper Philipsen and Thymen Arensman are then missing, but it is possible to have a clear view of the grand majority of the field.

Everyone else is counting down to their season debut: Tadej Pogacar, Remco Evenepoel, Jonas Vingegaard, Juan Ayuso, Enric Mas, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Isaac del Toro, Mikel Landa and many more.

As a final tune-up for what promises to be a compelling season, this article lists when and where the peloton’s headline riders will open their 2026 campaigns.

Unsurprisingly, the Tour de France remains the season’s pinnacle. The 2026 Grande Boucle will host the sixth chapter of the rivalry between Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard. Pogacar owns four titles (the first against Primoz Roglic, not the Dane), and Vingegaard two.

Although the Tour de France is the prime target for both and their teams (UAE Team Emirates - XRG and Team Visma | Lease a Bike), their build-ups will diverge sharply. Pogacar will again target the Monuments, while Vingegaard will debut at a Giro d’Italia where he hopes to make history.

The riders’ schedules are as follows:

Pogacar’s calendar leaves one thing beyond doubt: the two-time world champion still dreams of completing his palmarès. To do that he needs Milano–Sanremo and Paris-Roubaix, the only two Monuments missing from his collection. In 2025 he was 3rd at La Classicissima and 2nd in the Hell of the North, all the more notable given it was his debut on the brutal French cobbles.

And, as outlined, Jonas Vingegaard will chase a historic win at the Giro d’Italia before turning to the Tour de France. If the Visma leader claims the Corsa Rosa, he would become the eighth rider in history to have won all three Grand Tours at least once.