Results Tour de France 2026 Stage 2 - Isaac del Toro takes dramatic Barcelona win after Tadej Pogacar lets UAE teammate cross first

Isaac del Toro won stage 2 of the 2026 Tour de France in Barcelona after Tadej Pogacar appeared to allow his UAE Team Emirates – XRG teammate to cross the line first at the Olympic Stadium.

Pogacar launched the final sprint after UAE had controlled much of the Montjuic finale, but Del Toro accelerated through in the closing metres to take the stage victory.

Pogacar finished second on the same time, completing a dominant one-two for UAE, with Remco Evenepoel third and Jonas Vingegaard fourth, both also on the same time.

The result crowned a chaotic first road stage of the Tour, with Del Toro recovering from a long mechanical chase earlier in the day before returning to the front and ending it with the biggest win of his career.

The decisive phase began on the repeated climbs of Montjuic, where UAE took control through Brandon McNulty before the final lap. His long effort reduced the front group and kept Pogacar near the head of the race, while Vingegaard remained protected in the yellow jersey and Evenepoel stayed close to the main favourites.

The final passage of the Cote du Chateau de Montjuic started with Mathias Vacek leading the group onto the climb before Tiesj Benoot took over. His acceleration stretched the front group and put Mathieu van der Poel into difficulty, ending the Dutchman’s hopes of fighting for a stage win in Barcelona.

Adam Yates then moved up for UAE near the top of the climb, with Pogacar still alert behind. Tobias Halland Johannessen tried to accelerate, Richard Carapaz followed, and Pogacar responded before the descent towards the final rise.

Carapaz then attempted to use the descending section to slip clear, but Pogacar closed it down. Mattias Skjelmose was the next to attack inside the final two kilometres, only for UAE to keep control once again.

Del Toro accelerated inside the final kilometre before Pogacar launched the sprint. Rather than driving all the way to the line for his own victory, Pogacar allowed the Mexican to come through, giving UAE a statement stage win and a one-two on the first road stage of the Tour.

Del Toro’s victory came after a far from straightforward road into Barcelona. Around 60 kilometres from the finish, the Mexican was forced into a long chase after a mechanical, losing significant ground before finally receiving a bike change.

The incident was messy for UAE, with Del Toro initially stranded and forced to work back through the convoy before Nils Politt dropped back to help bring him into the peloton. By the time the race hit Montjuic, his exact position was not always clear, but he was back where he needed to be when the final selection formed.

Paul Seixas also endured his own pre-finale drama after a bike problem closer to Barcelona. The Decathlon CMA CGM Team rider first took a teammate’s bike, then switched onto a spare, before narrowly avoiding a collision with an official car during his chase back. He later returned to the front group, even moving onto Pogacar’s wheel on the second Montjuic ascent, but did not feature in the final fight for the stage.

Valentin Pacher was another rider hit by bad luck in the finale after a Colombian flag became tangled in his rear disc brake, forcing him to stop after he had been well placed near the front.

Before UAE took over, Alex Molenaar had made the early break count for Caja Rural-RGA. He joined Felix Engelhardt and Frank van den Broek after a fast start from Tarragona, while Baptiste Veistroffer’s attempt to bridge across faded before he could make contact.

Molenaar won the intermediate sprint in Viladecans ahead of Engelhardt and Van den Broek, with Biniam Girmay beating Mads Pedersen, Jasper Philipsen and Tim Merlier for the remaining points from the bunch. The Dutchman then took full points on the Cote de Begues, the first categorised climb of this year’s Tour.

Van den Broek sat up after the climb, leaving Molenaar and Engelhardt ahead until the approach to Barcelona. Their move ended before the local circuit, but Molenaar had already collected the day’s main early sprint and mountains rewards.

The stage had also been marked by an early crash near the front of the peloton, with Girmay, Maxim Van Gils and Robbe Dhondt among those caught. Girmay remounted and still contested the intermediate sprint, but later lost contact when the pace rose on the Cote de Begues.

Arnaud De Lie was also dropped on the first climb, while Clement Berthet had already become the first abandon of the race before the start, with Groupama-FDJ United beginning stage 2 one rider down after his injuries from the opening team time trial.

UAE’s control left few riders able to challenge once the race reached the final kilometre. Van der Poel had survived deep into the finale but lost contact on the last ascent of the castle climb, while several earlier contenders, including Mads Pedersen, Julian Alaphilippe, Antonio Tiberi, Marc Hirschi, Matthew Riccitello and Ben Healy, had already been distanced.

Evenepoel held his position through the final selection and sprinted to third behind the UAE pair, with Vingegaard fourth on the same time. The Dane avoided trouble on a stage where Visma had ridden more defensively after taking yellow in the opening team time trial.

For UAE, the day could hardly have ended better. Pogacar had been expected to attack on the first punchy road stage of the Tour, but instead the finish became a show of collective strength: McNulty tore down the bunch, Yates helped position the leaders, Pogacar controlled the final moves, and Del Toro crossed the line first in Barcelona.