Tour de France opening stage statistic shows Pogacar could have last laugh over Vingegaard - Bernal's green jersey explained
Cycling
Jonas Vingegaard rode himself into the yellow jersey as his Team Visma | Lease a Bike won the opening stage of the 2026 Tour de France. In doing so, the Dane took the yellow jersey right from the off as he boasts a 12-second advantage over Tadej Pogacar.
However, the individual times from the final 3.7 kilometers - the section of the parcours containing the penultimate climb and the 800 meter climb to the line - serves as a warning to the yellow jersey that Tadej Pogacar is right over his shoulder in La Grand Boucle.
With the polka dot jersey for the race's best climber measured in a unique way during a time trial, its rankings saw the fastest rider through the final hills section of the 19.6 kilometer course awarded the KOM jersey.
It turns out that Tadej Pogacar was the fastest of the whole field through the final section of the course, serving as a warning that the Slovenian is by no means out of form and could be looking to have the last laugh over Vingegaard.
In fact, Vingegaard completed the finale two seconds slower than Pogacar with Remco Evenepoel also on par with the Dane. Filippo Ganna, second with Netcompany INEOS on the day - was just three seconds off the pace.
Of the other GC contenders, Paul Seixas, Tom Pidcock and Juan Ayuso were all eleven seconds off the pace. The most impressive performances in the finale could well go down to Romain Gregoire and Ilan van Wilder. Despite not being considered GC contenders, they rode just six and nine seconds slower than Pogacar.
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Tour de France Stage 1 - final 3.7 kilometers individual times
| Placing | Rider | Time |
| 1 | Tadej Pogacar | 4:48"25 |
| 2 | Jonas Vingegaard | +0:02 |
| 3 | Remco Evenepoel | +0:02 |
| 4 | Filippo Ganna | +0:03 |
| 5 | Romain Gregoire | +0:06 |
| 6 | Ilan van Wilder | +0:09 |
| 7 | Tom Pidcock | +0:11 |
| 8 | Paul Seixas | +0:11 |
| 9 | Juan Ayuso | +0:11 |
| 10 | Mathieu van der Poel | +0:13 |
Egan Bernal's green jersey explained
Many were surprised to see Egan Bernal take the green jersey at the end of stage 1, but when the rules for the points classification measurement on the opening stage were considered, all makes sense.
The first time check of the stage, 5.1 kilometers into the course, served as the finish for the green jersey. In effect, this meant the fastest rider of the whole field to cross this point would win the green jersey. INEOS were the fastest team across that point, with Bernal at the front at that point and by default awarded green.
Howeveron stage 2, Bernal could well lose the jersey as intermediate sprint and finish points come into play.
Team PicNic PostNL attempted to take the green jersey as they went all-in for the first time check, only to finish with Julius van den Berg highest at 33rd overall. As a consequence, Robbe Dhondt was their best finisher at 1:55 for the stage.
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Tour de France stage 1 - Intermediate time check 1 individual times
| Placing | Rider | Time |
| 1 | Egan Bernal | 5:25"75 |
| 2 | Kevin Vauquelin | +0:00 |
| 3 | Michal Kwiatkowski | +0:01 |
| 4 | Dorian Godon | +0:01 |
| 5 | Thymen Arensman | +0:01 |
Gavin QuinnCycling Journalist
Gavin Quinn is a cycling journalist and ultra-distance cyclist with a BA in Journalism from Dublin City University. Formerly the Press & Communications Officer for Cycling Ireland, Gavin has worked inside the national team at the World Championships and has reported for the Irish Mirror, Mirror UK, and The42.
His expertise is backed by elite-level access, having interviewed stars like Sam Bennett and Ben Healy, as well as immense personal endurance. In 2025, he completed a 12,000km solo cycle from Ireland to Vietnam, following a 4,600km tour across Europe. From the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix to the gradients of the Tourmalet, Gavin’s writing focuses on the "romance and brutality" of the sport. Having visited 50+ countries, he brings a global, cultural perspective to his coverage of the pro peloton for CyclingUpToDate.
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- On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
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- he is doing 460 watts for 35 min to achieve 7 w/kg with VO2 at 96 , just unreal numbers.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- Just do it, and put up with the consequencesJumpyjohn08-11-2026
- "was a headliner at the Tour de France" Nobody cared about Piddie. Only rivals that were there for Pogi, Jonas, Remco, Sexias, Lipo, Del Toro and they were all expected to lose. Piddie was not even in any conversation.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- exactly, he had an amazing season, but with these overstatements they don‘t do him good.Ketterechts08-11-2026
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