"They have to launch him towards the climb": Is Van der Poel a dark horse to grab yellow on the Tour's opening day?

The 2026 Tour de France will begin with an unconventional team time trial in Barcelona. With each rider receiving their own finishing time, teams are expected to adopt aggressive strategies in order to maximize their chances to claim the stage win and the yellow jersey. Belgian national coach Serge Pauwels believes the format could create opportunities for unexpected contenders, pointing to Alpecin-Premier Tech and Mathieu van der Poel as a combination capable of challenging the traditional favourites.

The opening stage covers 19.4 kilometres and finishes with two climbs, including the ascent to Montjuïc and a steeper final ramp to the finish. Because riders are timed individually, teams can afford to use some riders as early engines before they drop away.

Speaking on the De Koffiestop podcast, Pauwels explained why this format changes everything. “It is a special team time trial with the first rider who crosses the finish line counting. That way you can really sacrifice riders.”

He contrasted the format with the traditional team time trials. “Previously, the time of the fourth rider across the line counted. If the stage was fifty kilometres long, you had to keep the whole team together. That is different now, especially because it is only 20 kilometres long in Barcelona.”

Pauwels believes Alpecin-Premier Tech could be one of the teams best suited to exploit the format, suggesting Mathieu van der Poel's impressive individual time trial at the Tour de Suisse [he was second behind Pogacar] was no coincidence. According to Pauwels, the team has the riders needed to launch the Dutchman into the decisive climbs.

“The reason Van der Poel went all out is because Alpecin-Premier Tech also think: this is something we can do. They have a rider like Rickaert, and several others like him, who can ride extremely hard for a few kilometres. After that, they can immediately drop back.”

In Pauwels' view, the Belgian squad could focus entirely on delivering Van der Poel to the decisive final section before leaving him to finish the stage alone. “Then they have to launch Van der Poel towards the climb. An explosive two-kilometre effort suits him well. And if not, it also gives him opportunities to take the yellow jersey in the following days.”