EF Education-EasyPost got the 2026 Tour de France rolling with a solid TTT around Barcelona. Alex Baudin led the squad to the summit of Montjuïc in 11th place, after they blasted around the urban circuit at close to 52 kph. Massive crowds cheered the boys in pink around the entire parcours, as Barcelona came out to celebrate the Grand Départ. They started fast and rolled hard all the way to the two finishing climbs. Georg Steinhauser, Sean Quinn, Richard Carapaz, and Alex crossed the Côte de l'Estadi Olímpic together and then ripped the descent, before Alex took off up to Montjuïc. Now the squad is excited for the first road stage, a hard, hilly jaunt from Tarragona to Barcelona that will suit our breakaway specialists. Watch for pink jerseys flying off the front tomorrow. The 2026 Tour de France is on.

"I think we did the best we could. I had to finish the job in the end, and I just went all out for the boys after all the good work they did today. I think we worked well as a team. Even if we do not have a really good result, it is a good way to start the Tour." - Alex Baudin

"The atmosphere in Barcelona was amazing. It was really, really nice. This is the second home of the team with our service course not far from here in Girona. There were a lot of people cheering for us. It was fantastic." - Kasper Asgreen

"My first Tour de France stage felt pretty good! It was mental with the crowds. It was pretty hard as well from the start, but it was nice. Really nice. It was like 10 times bigger than any other race. The whole time I was dropped off the back after I had finished my turns, it was really loud the whole way. That made it a lot easier to get to the finish. And I saw my mum and brother out there in the first kilometer." - Max Walker

"It was hard. It was a tricky course. In the end, I don't know if we can be so happy with 11th. We gave it our all, but this is racing. It's only Stage 1. There is still a lot to come." - Georg Steinhauser

"We did the best ride we could. We worked well as a team. We were smooth and executed the plan. Maybe we just do not have the TT specialists that some of the teams have, but we did the best we could today. I think as a team we are just going to get better and better. We will be there to fight for another day." - Ben Healy

We would have liked a bit better, but we were always aware it was not a course that necessarily favored the strengths of our riders. The way we rode Dauphiné and Paris-Nice on the more dynamic courses suited these guys, the way they can ride together, and how their teamwork can really pay off. This was still a course where, ultimately, when push comes to shove, being a big TT specialist makes a difference. The teams that have put a bit more into that do have an advantage, and we got found out a little bit on that. At the same time, I think the guys did everything they could have done. It was executed really well, and I think they can all still be happy with their performances. - Jacob Tipper, Performance Coach & Technical Innovation Strategist

Kasper Asgreen pulled through hard for his teammates during this evening's Barcelona TTT. The Danish classics specialist rolled huge turns at the front of the pink train. Every time he hit the front, he'd hold 600 to 650 watts for 10 to 20 seconds to keep the squad's speed high. Those over-threshold efforts came one after another with little time to recover. As soon as Kasper pulled off, he'd already be looking to sprint back onto his teammate's wheel.

Patatas Bravas are a Catalan classic. Golden, crispy chunks of potato fried in extra-virgin olive oil, they are softer and more substantial than American fries — all the better to absorb the spicy aioli that Catalans love. Some of our favorite bravas in Barcelona are served at a little cafe that overlooks the diving pools that were built for the 1992 Olympics. Before the finish of the TTT, our media team snuck into the bleachers and enjoyed some bravas, while the locals frolicked in the water and the sun. We decided that was our side quest, instead of jumping off the 10-meter tower.

The morning before the TTT, Owen made the team a Catalan specialty. He toasted their favorite sourdough bread, rubbed it with garlic, and then smushed fresh tomato over it before drizzling it with his best olive oil and topping it with salt. Pa amb tomaquet is a staple in every Catalan kitchen. It's super healthy and easy to make. The secret is to use Tomàquet de Penjar, small, intensely flavorful vine tomatoes that you can find in any good grocery store in Barcelona.

Catalan and French are both Romance languages that share many similarities. The French word for team is équipe, while the Catalan equivalent is equip for instance. In French, a team-time-trial is a contre-la-montre par équipes, which literally means a race against the clock by teams. Catalan uses the same construction, calling a team-time-trial a contrarellotge per equips. A rellotje is the Catalan word for a clock or watch.