The biggest race in cycling is back, and Canadian fans can expect another blockbuster showdown as Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard renew their rivalry at the 2026 Tour de France.
The 2026 Tour de France
The score stands 4-2 in Pogačar’s favour after six editions, but Vingegaard arrives fresh off his Giro d’Italia victory, completing the set of Grand Tour titles. Pogačar, meanwhile, dominated the Tour de Suisse, winning three stages, including the time trial, and enters July as the favourite to claim a fifth yellow jersey, joining Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain.
The other contenders
They’re far from alone. Remco Evenepoel enjoyed a sensational spring before taking a break from racing, while Red Bull teammate Florian Lipowitz continued his breakthrough with podiums at Volta a Catalunya, Itzulia Basque Country and Tour de Romandie before winning the Tour of Slovenia.
French fans are pinning their hopes on 19-year-old Paul Seixas, who makes his Tour debut after a remarkable spring campaign, while Mexican sensation Isaac del Toro has already captured three WorldTour stage race titles this season. Juan Ayuso also lines up after an impressive first campaign with Lidl-Trek.
The Canadian in France
And the good news for us Canadians (and Ayuso, tbh) is that the newly crowned national TT champion, Derek Gee-West, will be there to serve as a lieutenant for the Spaniard. He was just in Saint-Georges, Que., where he took his third time trial crown—although he didn’t quite defend his road race title. Under-23 Jérôme Gauthier, however, took a huge win, claiming both the espoir and elite titles. But we will get to see the maple leaf kit in action—right off the bat, in fact, since the Tour begins on in Barcelona with a TTT.
The final stage will be in Paris on July 26, and yes, once again it will skip the traditional parade stage onto the Champs-Élysées. Once again the peloton will tackle the Olympic circuit with the tough little kicker on Montmartre. It was a pretty exciting stage last year, won by Visma – Lease a Bike’s Wout van Aert, who unfortunately won’t be there due to the infection after his crash in training.
Every stage will be broadcast on FloBikes.com, and Canadian Cycling Magazine will have reports and photos after each day of racing. And once the Tour de France Fellas race is over, so begins the Tour de France Femmes. Start lists are still being finalized for the women’s race, but there will undoubtedly be more than one Canadian toeing the line at the Grand Départ in Lausanne. So far only world champ Magdeleine Vallières Mill is on the list, but quelques petits oiseaux told the gang at CCM there will be a few more…
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