Pogačar Widens the Frame in Barcelona: "There Are Quite a Few Guys" — and He Points to Del Toro on the Eve of the Tour
Twenty-four hours before the 2026 Tour de France launches with a team time trial through the streets of Barcelona, the sport's biggest names faced the media inside the Grand Départ press centre — and the defending champion used his platform to reject the narrative that has dominated the build-up. Asked whether Jonas Vingegaard was the only rider capable of getting close to him this July, Tadej Pogačar immediately widened the frame, insisting there are "quite a few guys" who can aim for the podium and gesturing pointedly toward the man sitting next to him: his own UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammate, Isaac del Toro.
It was a telling moment. Pogačar, chasing a record-equalling fifth yellow jersey, was happy to describe his rivalry with Vingegaard as "spectacular," but he refused to let it become the whole story. The gesture toward Del Toro — the 22-year-old Mexican who has won the UAE Tour, Tirreno-Adriatico and the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes this season — was both a compliment to a devastating domestique and a warning to the rest of the field that UAE arrive in Catalonia with more than one card to play.
Vingegaard, for his part, was gracious about the man who has beaten him at the last two editions but who he himself defeated at the 2025 Tour. "I still think that Tadej is probably the best rider who has ever been in a bunch," the Visma-Lease a Bike leader said. "It's something that I'm extremely proud of, and it also gives me motivation to try to do it again this year." The Dane arrives as the reigning Giro d'Italia champion, chasing a rare Giro-Tour double that only a handful of riders have ever completed.
If Pogačar and Vingegaard traded compliments, Remco Evenepoel was the most direct about his objectives. The Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe leader laid out a clear three-part plan: "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." Saturday's opening team time trial, which finishes on the Montjuïc climb, offers exactly the kind of terrain where Evenepoel's raw power against the clock could hand him the first maillot jaune of the race.
The Belgian also addressed the unusual shape of his season, having not raced since Liège-Bastogne-Liège in late April. "For me it was the best decision to not race anymore since Liège," he explained. "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." It is a gamble on freshness over race rhythm — one that will be tested immediately in the intensity of a Grand Tour opening weekend.
Beyond the headline trio, the press conference underlined the depth of this year's field. French prodigy Paul Seixas, the youngest rider in the race, drew warm words from several veterans, while Classics superstar Mathieu van der Poel loomed as a threat for the opening days on the Montjuïc circuits. With Wout van Aert, Oscar Onley and Pello Bilbao all lost to late withdrawals, the survivors know the margins are thin and the racing will be ferocious from the gun.
For all the talk of rivalries and coaching changes, the abiding image from Barcelona was Pogačar's small, deliberate nod toward Del Toro. In previous years the Slovenian has occasionally let his rivals shoulder the pressure of favouritism; here, on the eve of his fifth Tour tilt, he seemed keen to spread it around — and to remind everyone that the biggest danger to his crown might be wearing the same jersey he is.