Pello Bilbao
Route, profile and schedule of the 1st stage of the Tour de France 2026: Barcelona-Barcelona (19.6 km)
The Grand Depart of the race will be a 19.6-kilometer team time counter in the Catalan capital. The initial tour will benefit the team strength, but the final stage will be decided by two climbs to the Montjuïc Olympic Stadium.
Profiles and trajectories of all stages of the Tour de France 2026
The 113th Tour de France, which will take place between 4 and 26 July, will begin in Barcelona and end in Paris and will be broadcast on sports eitb.eus and ETB.
Pello Bilbao was fourth and Ion Izagirre sixth in the Eschborn-Frankfurt won by Zimmermann
Basque cyclists, protagonists at home
The tour has left an undisputed victory for Paul Seixas, and many other figures and protagonists worthyofnote, such as the performance of theBasque cyclists . Alex Aranburu, Igor Arrieta, Ion Izagirreand Pello Bilbaowill not forget this year's edition.
Pello Bilbao: "I wanted to announce it at home, in front of the fans."
The 36-year-old cyclist has announced his retirement at the end of the season in the run-up to the final stage of the 2026 Tour.
Pello Bilbao leaves professional cycling at the end of the season
Pello Bilbao: "My mentality in the Return has been to wait for the end, to manage the forces in the best possible way."
The Bahrain-Victorious Vizcaino cyclist is ranked 11th in the overall ranking and has surrendered to a good level in the Galdakao stage on the day of Alex Aranburu's victory.
Paul Seixas wins the first stage clock; Del Toro loses 51 seconds and Ayuso 1:16
The young cyclist of the Decathlon team thus becomes the first leader of the 2026 Return to the Basque Country. Pello Bilbao and Mikel Landa have been the best Basque cyclists, losing 53 and 55 seconds respectively.
Roglic, Ayuso, Del Toro, Aranburu, Landa, Pello Bilbao and Izagirre will be at the 2026 Return to the Basque Country
The race, which will be held from 6 to 11 April, has been officially presented on Thursday and will consist of six stages, with a total of 29 qualifying ports to be promoted by cyclists.
16 WorldTour teams and Euskaltel-Euskadi, Caja Rural-Seguros RGA and Kern Pharma, at the 2026 Return to the Basque Country
The organization has announced which teams will perform in the 65th edition of the race, so this year's Tour has featured all UCI WorldTeam teams except Jayco-AlUla and NSN Cycling Team.
Mikel Landa and Pello Bilbao will be at the Paraíso Interior Classic on February 16
The two Basque cyclists will take part in a race that combines asphalt and rural areas over 169 kilometres.
