The Biggest Quotes Before the 2026 Tour de France

BARCELONA (Velo) — Tadej Pogačar strolled into the podium in front of the Sagrada Familia to the roar of the packed crowd ahead of the Tour de France.

If Pogačar needed one more reason to be called the pre-race favorite, the fan reaction only confirmed it.

The 2026 Tour opens with its deepest and most interesting start list of the Pogačar era.

The rise of new talents like Paul Seixas and Isaac del Toro are elbowing in on Jonas Vingegaard, Remco Evenepoel and Florian Lipowitz as the podium favorites.

The eternal rivalry between Pogačar and Vingegaard will play out across this entire Tour, with a dogfight behind them.

It all starts Saturday, and the top favorites faced the media for one last form check before the start of the Big Loop.

Here’s what they said ahead of Saturday’s start:

Tadej Pogačar: Same as it ever was

On rivalry
I don’t think he’s the only one. There are quite a few guys who can aim for the victory and the guy next to me [Del Toro]. The competition between me and Jonas has been spectacular and it will continue for a few years more. We push each other to new heights every year and we will see how far we will go.

Only 16 days of racing in 2026
I enjoy racing all my life, and maybe I even more every year, because I am here with everyone on the team. The racing is always there, but I feel better to come back to have a good time with my teammates and staff. That’s what I enjoy most.

His wish for the Tour
That he [points to Del Toro] wins the Tour de France.

Jonas Vingegaard: More confident than ever

Preparation after Giro
After about a week I started training again. I’ve been in Tignes in France at altitude, and I think I am ready for this race and I really looking forward to it. It’s been an amazing year for me so far, and hopefully I can continue.

Coming out of the Giro
Without taking anything away from the Giro, I didn’t have to completely kill myself. I didn’t come out of the Giro completely on my knees. That helps to recover faster and get back to training quicker. If you’re on your knees after the Giro, you need two weeks or more to recover. I came out of the Giro in a good way and I could start building toward the Tour.

Dropping Pogačar
Tadej is the strongest rider in the world and I am proud that I am one of the few riders who’ve been able to drop him. It motivates me even more to do it again.

On new approach to Tour
I feel better, stronger, and even happier in a mental state. I’ve had a very good year and I’ve enjoyed racing more than last year. We realized after last year it wasn’t so enjoyable to do what we did every year for the past five years, so we tried to mix it up. So in a mental state, I am in a very good place.

Remco Evenepoel: Betting that fresher is better

Sharing leadership
We know it already for a long time that we are working here together, so we are prepared for it. We did already at Catalunya. There is nothing special to it anymore from my side.

Not racing since Liège
For me it was the best decision to not race anymore since Liège. I’ve had a lot of time to prepare in a good way. I needed to change my coach after Liège, and that’s a big reason I didn’t take any more racing so I could work well with my new coach. I did the best I could and now we’ll see if it was the best approach or not. We will see after the Tour how it went.

Goals for the Tour
Win a stage, win the TTT and take yellow on day one, and after that, of course we both want to be on the podium. If we do it in a good way without this negative energy it’s good for the team. We both want to do what we’ve done in the past and that’s to be on the podium.

Paul Seixas: France’s great hope

Racing for GC
It depends on how the race goes, We want to get to the mountain stages, we want to work together as a team. It would be a dream to win a stage.

Racing to win
You go to every race with the idea to win, but this is the Tour and it’s a new experience for me. Of course there are ways to win a competition like this, but first I need to see how it goes, how I perform and what level I have. After that, we’ll see when we can call it a success.

Racing first grand tour
What I am most curious about is how my body will react and recover after 10, 12 or 15 days of racing. Those are logical questions I ask myself, but not fears. If mistakes are made or when I experience difficult moments, I see that mainly as an important learning process for the future.

Jasper Philipsen: Chasing green

Worth suffering through Alps
You’re always motivated to ride to Paris, even with Montmartre, there is still a chance for the win. Maybe there are five or six chances, but you never know how the peloton rides, if riders go into the break and make it harder for the sprinters.

Not enough chances for sprinters
You can never say if a Tour route is fair or not for sprinters, but if there’s only three or four, that’s fewer chances for us. We will try to have as many possible chances for the sprints. But it looks like stage 17 might be the last one.

Mathieu van der Poel: Outsider for yellow

Racing against Pogačar
It’s very nice to be part of this generation of cyclists. It’s doesn’t add any pressure. I’ve had some good Tours and some bad ones, so I hope this is a good one.

Team time trial strategy
For the TTT, I don’t think there’s anything special in the strategy, just go as fast as possible and then it’s up to me launch up these final two climbs. The other teams will be doing the same thing. The level is so high, so the GC guys are also the favorites for a stage like this.