Tour de France 2026 Top 5 Favourites: Tadej Pogacar vs Jonas Vingegaard Again?

The Tour de France is the oldest and most prestigious Grand Tour in cycling, first held in 1903, over more than a century ago. It has grown into a three-week battle across mountains, time trials and brutal long-distance stages and has produced some of the most legendary and iconic moments in the sport. Throughout its history, the Tour has always followed a familiar rhythm, periods where one rider dominates and long stretches where rivals gather to try and dismantle that control, mountain stages in the Alps and the Pyrenees, long time trials and unpredictable weather have all played a part in the story journey, shaping champions and breaking challenges in this unique race's history. But in today's video, we're going to look at five of the names that could challenge for the yellow jersey in 2026. And if you haven't already, make sure to hit the like button, subscribe to the channel, check out the cycling game podcast, it's available on Spotify and why not see the preview show as well with the legend Jens Vogt himself. First on the list is the British hope for another Tour de France winner and that is Tom Pidcock, who arrives with confidence with his Pinarello Q36.5 team that will make their debut and also after his recent dominant performance in the Andorra Morabang Classic, which is available here on the channel as well. This year, Pidcock looked very good in the early part of the year after him and his team had a training camp in Chile. He then went back to Europe and began the season in Murcia, where he was up there towards the front, but the race was shortened due to weather conditions. However, did continue in Spain with success on the gravel at Classica Hayen, where he was up there towards the front and was able to finish second on the podium behind the winner of Tim Wellens. The Spanish journey then continued at the Vuelta a Ambalosillo, where despite some frustrating moments that took the GC victory out of contention for him, he was able to attack hard on the final stage to win the stage and climb on to the third place in the GC, securing another stage race podium. He also went to Omludhen Nusbai, where a misjudgment of the weather meant no result there, but in Italy he managed to fight hard to 7th place in Strabianchi before going to Milan Torino, where he looked very dominant, attacking hard towards the end and winning the race for the first time in his career. And then he went to Milan San Remo, where he was able to roll with attacks from Tarragacet and to finish in second place before going to the Vuelta a Catalunya, where he looked very strong, but unfortunately he did crash very hard and that put his season into some jeopardy. He next lined up for the Tour of the Alps, didn't look too good in the mountain stages, but he was up there in some sprints and managed to win on stage three. And after that he went to the Eshbun Frankfurt, where he came very close to the victory and finishing second in the sprint and most recently he looked very strong with his team in the Andorra Morabang Classic, where he really pounced towards the end to take the victory. Tom Pickock has always had big pressure when it comes to Grand Tour success after winning the Giro d'Italia on the 23 edition. However, his Tour de France record is not completely at the same level, but it is still good, especially his 2022 race, where he did win the Alpe d'Huez stage. But there is a note here as well that when he was riding the Tour in Ineos, there was always other riders fighting for the GC, so he didn't quite have his own opportunities fully. Nevertheless, last year's performance at the Vuelta a España, where he fought very hard to a third-place finish, was a serious result and so if his shape is anywhere near that, he could potentially be up there and challenging for a top 10 or even a top 5 or maybe higher. Next on the list is not a rider per se, it is Red Bull Bora Hansgrohe, who will be bringing the last two third-place finishers, who incidentally also won the white jersey, and that is Remco Winnepoel and Florian Liepavitz. Both have been having a good season so far and teamed up early on to win the team time trial test in Mallorca. And from there, Remco Winnepoel continued that momentum, dominating in the early part of the year with wins in Mallorca and the Tour Valenciana, before a bit of trouble in the UEA Tour after he had just won the time trial stage. But the Belgian bounced back at the Vuelta a Catalunya, finished fifth and did climb well, and then made his Tour of Flanders debut, surprisingly, where he showed real pedigree to finish on the podium. And after that impressive performance, he went to the Amstel Gold, where he was up there towards the front with Matthias Gelmoss Jens and won the classic. After that, he continued the form in Liège-Bastogne-Liège, where he fought hard for a third place as well. And this was also his final race before his Tour de France, and comments made that his power is good and he is even lighter, so potentially he can fight for the top steps. On the same line, Florian Liepavitz has shown great form this year with an impressive record in the World Tour stage races, finishing on the podium in the Vuelta a Catalunya, second in the Tour of the Basque Country, and even second in the Tour de Romania before going to the Tour of Slovenia, where he dominated the final two stages, winning both, and really showed some impressive climbing. And of course we covered that whole race here on the channel, so do check that out as well. The interesting part will be the link up between these two, and at some point they'll have to work out who's the better candidate for the top steps. It could be Remco Venepul, however, leading them over the line on the first stage in Barcelona, but I think we are going to see Florian Liepavitz take over when the mountains come. But if they are both at their peak, this could be a very powerful duo to challenge the riders left on this list. Next on the list, we have Paul Sixas, who arrived at the Tour de France as the youngest rider to start the race in 2026, and one of the most anticipated debuts in recent history. This year, he had a good season that has already redefined expectations of what a 19-year-old can do. He first announced himself at the Volta a Algarve, where he went head-to-head with some tough competition. On the Alto de Foya, he was one of the only riders able to follow the decisive attacks from Juan Ayuso, even driving the pace himself before beating Ayuso in a reduced summit sprint for a statement win. He then carried that form into the time trial, finishing fourth on the stage and holding second overall, before once again mixing it with the best on the final climb, but ultimately not winning, but finishing second overall. That performance was followed by a sensational spring campaign at the Stradivari, when he made his debut and when Tadicaccia launched his trademark attack on the Monte Santa Maria. Sixas was the only rider able to briefly respond, later going on to drop Isaac del Toro on the final climb into Siena to secure a second place on his debut. His rise continued with the breakthrough at Liege-Bastogliege, where he was the only rider able to follow Bogacar briefly on towards the end, but before that he had also won Fleche Wallonne in a dominant fashion, becoming the youngest rider to do that. After the Ardennes, he had a huge training block and then went to the Dauphiné, where he looked sharp in the mountains, but crashed on stage six. Nevertheless, he managed to get back to the favorites group, but after the stage he was visibly in pain and the next day he abandoned the race. Since then, Sixas has been training at altitude, refining his form for the Tour de France with some impressive times on big climbs and with proven ability in stage races, one day classics, time traveling and high mountain finales, he arrives not just as a future contender, but already as a rider capable of shaping races at the very highest level. The pressure will be enormous, he is seen as the rider who will end the Bernard Hinault drought of 41 years. Will it be this year? Probably not, but he could definitely be in the fight for the white jersey and maybe even get on to the podium. Before we go into the top two, just some other riders to note. Lidl Trek are looking very interesting with both Juan Ayuso and Matthias Kilmoss Jensen lining up for the team. They will also have Mess Piltersen, so that could be a bit of a bogey for them. Kean Outterbrooks is finally getting his own opportunities at the Tour de France as well for Movistar. Net company Ineos are bringing in Kemal Moklan and Carlos Rodriguez, who could be up towards the front and equally Richard Carapaz, who looked very strong at the Tour de Swiss, could be in the mix as well. Now coming to the second rider on the list and that is the Giro d'Italia champion, Jonas Bingo, who is arriving at the race chasing history after adding himself to the elite list of riders who have won all the Grand Tours. Behind Pogacar, Bingo is the best there is and particularly at Grand Tour level, his Tour de France record is incredible. Since his debut in 2021, he has not finished lower than second and winning in 2022 and 2023 and obviously on top of that, he's also won the Vuelta a España last year and the Giro this year and if he did win the Tour, he would the first rider since Froome to hold all the Grand Tours at one time. Of course, it's a bit different than the last year's Tour route. It's a bit more mountains towards the end. So, of course, last year was already a big fight from the start and of course also this year will be with the start in Barcelona with the team time trial with the first stage. So, there's a lot of important stages but also the biggest stages are towards the end. In the early part of the season, Joonas Bingo looked imperious, winning Paris Nice and Vuelta a Catalunya. They were true statements of his current form and his altitude training in Tignes will only strengthen him. His team is well-rounded with experience from Sepp Kuss and a few other of his Giro d'Italia teammates but there is a gaping hole and that is Edoardo Affini and Wout Van Aert who are out due to injuries and that could definitely be a bit of an effect to the team. Bingo has the form, he's absolutely decimated all the opposition he's faced this year and once again he's looking to make history to become the first Danish rider to win the Giro Tour double and hold all the Grand Tours at the same time. But will he do it? Now, we come to the first rider on the list and that is the double world champion Tadwo Gacho who has been supreme in 2026 and arrives with one goal in mind of winning a record equaling fifth Tour de France. In 2026, his race calendar has been surprisingly light but when he has shown up to race, he has been nothing short of dominant. He began by tearing apart the Stradivari with a stunning 79 kilometer solo attack to take the victory. At Milan San Remo, he was up there once again being the aggressor lighting up the race despite a late crash, attacking on the Trepressa before out sprinting Tom Pico to the victory and also added his fourth out of the five monuments to his Palmares. Then at Tour of Flanders after a day of relentless pressure, he delivered the decisive move on the final ascent of the Vuelta a Quarramonte securing his third victory in the race and equaling the record. And in Paris-Roubaix, he had bad luck in a key moment with a punk chest switch to the neutral Shimano bike but ultimately got in the winning move with Wout van Aert and unfortunately in the velodrome he was just pipped to the line but again finishing second really demonstrating his incredible versatility. At Liege-Bastogne-Liege, he continued his supreme dominance at the race dispatching everyone. Lastly Paul Sixas to take yet another title and not long after he was at the start line of Tour de Romandie where he ran riot with the race, never looked in trouble. In total, he won four races out of the available six and winning the GC plus the points jersey to add this stage race to his record. And after some trading in France with Isaac del Toro, next it was the Tour de Suisse on the agenda and here he was on a full destruction mode from the beginning winning the first stage with a 70km attack and in the time trial stage it was a very dramatic finish as Pogacar managed to etch out one of his career rivals, Omidshu Vanderpool by less than a second to seal the stage win and Pogacar even went one further by winning the final stage, clawing back the late escapee of Martinez and sealing his third win of the week and thereby winning the GC and the points classification as well. As for the Tour de France, Pogacar has been super dominant since his debut in 2020 where he managed to defeat Roglic on the La Plange de Belphie time trial and his lowest finish was in 2022 and 2023 when he finished second but he also won in 2021 and bounced back after those two defeats in 2024 and 2025 with some impressive riding and in 2025 he became the first rider to win as world champion since Greg LeMond. He also has 21 victories to his name, absolutely supreme dominance and Pogacar has been dominating every single terrain, every single climb he's been part of in 2026 and it seems undeniable that he will be unrivaled on the climbs like he was in 2024 and 2025 so it's a hard bet by anyone to bet against this rider. This year Pogacar is chasing Palmares glory and it seems he has his sights on that impressive fifth Tour de France title and it doesn't seem like anyone can stand in his way, especially when you consider Isaac Del Toro, his teammate is also here and he could even be on the podium if the cards play in the right way. But with that, that's basically it for this video, make sure to hit the like button, subscribe to the channel if you haven't already and do let me know down below who you think is going to be in the top five of this year's Tour de France and are we going to see Taddey win yet another one. But for now, thank you for watching and I will see you in the next one.