BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Tadej Pogačar will start his quest for a record-equaling fifth Tour de France title when the race kicks off in neighboring Spain on Saturday.
The elite Grand Tour begins with a team time trial in Barcelona, an opening stage which will take riders past the city’s famous Sagrada Familia basilica and finish with a short climb up a hill overlooking the popular tourist destination.
Click to Gallery
Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar poses on the podium during the team presentation two days ahead of the start of the Tour de France Cycling race in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, July 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar leaves for a training ride two days before the start of the Tour de France, in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, July 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
UAE Team Emirates's Tadej Pogacar waves to the crowd during a team presentation ahead of the Tour de France Cycling race, in front of the Basilica of the Sagrada Familia, in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, July 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
Tadej Pogacar waves to the crowds as UAE Team Emirates is presented ahead of the Tour de France Cycling race, in front of the Basilica of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, July 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
Pogačar is the overall favorite thanks to his Tour victories in 2020, 2021, 2024 and 2025, as well as his strong form this year.
The Slovenian sensation is aiming to join the select crowd of Belgian Eddy Merckx, Spaniard Miguel Indurain and Frenchmen Jacques Anquetil and Bernard Hinault as the only riders to have won cycling's most prestigious race on five occasions.
Jonas Vingegaard is once again his biggest challenger. The Dane took home the yellow jersey in 2022 and 2023 and is aiming to complete the men’s Giro-Tour double.
Pogačar’s UAE Team Emirates-XRG will start Saturday's 19.6-kilometer (12.1-mile) team time trial last, just ahead of Vingegaard’s Visma-Lease a Bike.
The three-week race will cross into the French Pyrenees on Stage 3. Stages 19 and 20 culminate at the famed Alpe d’Huez climb in the Alps, which comes just 24 hours before the 21st and final stage ending on the Champs-Élysées in Paris.
AP cycling: https://apnews.com/hub/cycling
Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar poses on the podium during the team presentation two days ahead of the start of the Tour de France Cycling race in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, July 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar leaves for a training ride two days before the start of the Tour de France, in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, July 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
UAE Team Emirates's Tadej Pogacar waves to the crowd during a team presentation ahead of the Tour de France Cycling race, in front of the Basilica of the Sagrada Familia, in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, July 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
Tadej Pogacar waves to the crowds as UAE Team Emirates is presented ahead of the Tour de France Cycling race, in front of the Basilica of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, July 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
SILVERSTONE, England (AP) — Kimi Antonelli returned to winning ways on Saturday by denying Lewis Hamilton a crowd-pleasing home victory in the sprint race ahead of the British Grand Prix.
Hamilton started on pole and held off Antonelli until lap eight of 17, when the Italian swept past with the help of electrical power.
"Let’s go! Let’s go!” Antonelli told the team over the radio after taking the win.
“It was a very fun first 10 laps with Lewis, we were both pushing very hard," Antonelli added later. “Obviously the momentum is there and we are doing a great job together with the team.”
The race was a prime example of F1 in 2026, with the strategy of charging and deploying electrical power central to the battles on track.
It allowed drivers like Lando Norris to swap places with rivals lap after lap but also meant drivers lifting off through Silverstone's best-known fast corners to recharge power.
Hamilton was back fighting for a win again after a breakthrough victory last month at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, his first since moving to Ferrari last year.
“I was pushing as hard as I could, I gave it absolutely everything,” Hamilton said. “We’ve got a bit of work to do to try and close that gap.”
Lando Norris took third in McLaren’s white-and-green throwback livery after briefly running second at the start and then winning a thrilling back-and-forth battle with George Russell and Max Verstappen for third.
Antonelli's first win since last month's Monaco Grand Prix stretched his Formula 1 standings lead to 43 points over teammate Russell, who was fourth after starting fifth.
Russell had been complaining of a “strange” lack of pace in qualifying the day before, a setback after his win at the Austrian Grand Prix last week had boosted the British driver's title chances.
Charles Leclerc was fifth for Ferrari, Verstappen sixth for Red Bull, with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri seventh. Liam Lawson was eighth for Racing Bulls but was facing a post-race investigation into his battle for position with Verstappen’s teammate Isack Hadjar.
Qualifying is later Saturday for Sunday's British Grand Prix.
AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli of Italy, left, speaks with second placed Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain after winning the sprint race ahead of the British F1 Grand Prix, in Silverstone, England, Saturday, July 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli of Italy celebrates after winning the sprint race at the British F1 Grand Prix, in Silverstone, England, Saturday, July 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
Fans watch the sprint race at the British F1 Grand Prix, in Silverstone, England, Saturday, July 4, 2026. (Peter Powell/Pool via AP)
Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain celebrates his second position after the sprint race ahead of the British F1 Grand Prix, in Silverstone, England, Saturday, July 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli of Italy crosses the finish line to win the sprint race at the British F1 Grand Prix, in Silverstone, England, Saturday, July 4, 2026. (Peter Powell/Pool via AP)
Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain steers his car followed by Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli of Italy and McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain during the sprint race at the British F1 Grand Prix, in Silverstone, England, Saturday, July 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli of Italy steers his car during the sprint race at the British F1 Grand Prix, in Silverstone, England, Saturday, July 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
