The Tour de France is July and July is the Tour. Cycling’s most romantic and historic race arrives in Barcelona this week to launch one of its most anticipated editions in years.Tadej Pogačar stands at the threshold of history, one victory away from earning his fifth yellow jersey, the joint-most of all-time.In his way are his eternal rival Jonas Vingegaard, teenage French phenomenon Paul Seixas, 3,333km of tarmac, and over 54,000m of climbing. Twenty-one stages of racing begins with a team time-trial on July 4 before finishing on the Champs-Élysées on July 26.Welcome to The Athletic’s ultimate Tour de France guide. We’ll be with you every step of the way.Who are the favorites for overall victory?It starts with one man. Pogačar is only improving as a rider, a scary proposition for man with his extraordinary palmares. Last year, the Team UAE Emirates XRG rider had pretty much sewn up overall victory by the time the race left the Pyrenees, just over halfway through the race. Though he admitted to exhaustion by Paris, sunken cheeked and glass-eyed, it was the most dominant of his four Tour wins.Refreshed over the winter, the 27-year-old finally won Milan-San Remo in March, a race he had always yearned to taste victory in, before coming within just a few bike lengths of Wout van Aert at Paris-Roubaix one month later.Now back in climbing shape, Pogačar looked superb in his return to racing as he dominated the Tour de Suisse in June. The Slovenian is a rider in his prime, whose sole previous weaknesses — the heat and a touch of youthful tactical exuberance — have been virtually eradicated from his performances. He is a strong favorite.However, listen to Team Visma-Lease a Bike, and they will tell you that their man, two-time Tour winner Vingegaard, is in career-best form. They argue that it took over 18 months for the 29-year-old to recover from major injuries sustained at the 2024 Tour of the Basque Country — and that having won cycling’s two most recent Grand Tours, the 2025 Vuelta a Espana and 2026 Giro d’Italia, he is primed to complete the slam.Pogačar was not competing in either race, making it difficult to truly judge Vingegaard’s level. It is clear that the Dane has developed another level of acceleration from his most recent Tour win in 2023, though a slight underperformance in recent Grand Tour time trials may be a concern. He cannot afford to give away a free minute to Pogačar outside the mountains.Can anyone stop Pogacar winning his fifth Tour de France title? (Etienne Garnier / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)The great mystery is Lyon native Seixas, arguably the finest prospect that professional cycling has seen at the age of 19.Having narrowly lost to Pogačar at Strade Bianche and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, where the pair finished well clear of the field — a remarkable achievement in itself — his real coming out party came at the Tour of the Basque Country. He won two stages and became the youngest winner and first Frenchman to win a week-long stage race in 19 years.The talent is off the charts, backed up by numbers and bike-handling. Suddenly, the nation is ready to break another drought — they are waiting to taste their first yellow jersey in over 40 years.While Seixas has never raced a three-week Grand Tour, he justifiably starts as third-favorite, despite a difficult week at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes last month (the renamed Criterium du Dauphine) — although it is a distant third.His Decathlon CMA CGM team were initially unsure whether to let him compete but due to the speed of his development — and his uncertain contract situation past the 2027 season — they decided there was no need to wait.There are other realistic podium contenders worth mentioning. Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe’s Remco Evenepoel’s is the most high-profile, but his German teammate Florian Lipowitz, third at last year’s race, could well repeat the feat.Lidl-Trek’s Juan Ayuso has Grand Tour winning potential but struggled to put it together at UAE Team Emirates, while Pogačar’s superdomestique Isaac del Toro is capable of a top three finish. More on him later.Great Britain’s Tom Pidcock is targeting the general classification having finished third at last year’s Vuelta, but an injury-affected spring and stronger field may mean the Q36.5 rider targets stages in his Swiss team’s Tour debut.What about the sprinters?It’s a bumper crop of fast men. There could be up to seven true sprint stages — and several teams have built their squads around them.Chief among these are Alpecin-Premier Tech, who undoubtedly have the strongest leadout train at the race, before Jasper Philipsen’s raw speed takes over — he is probably the fastest man at this race. The Belgian took the first yellow jersey of last year’s race before crashing out heavily on stage three — while his teammate Mathieu van der Poel also wore the leader’s jersey as part of a brilliant first week.Jasper Philipsen won stage one at last year’s race but will hope for a longer participation in 2026. (Anne-Christine Poujoulat / AFP via Getty Images)Philipsen’s biggest rival for the green jersey will be fellow Belgian Tim Merlier — outstanding at reading the chaos of the sprint, surfing wheels, and timing his effort, probably the best at that skill since Mark Cavendish’s heyday.Olav Kooij would also hope to be up there in a pure drag race, but the Dutchman has had a difficult season with injuries. His Decathlon side have named Cees Bol as a leadout man for him which may slightly weaken Seixas’ GC bid.Other notable riders to mention are Mads Pedersen, who will battle it out with Van der Poel on uphill sprints or from reduced bunches, while NSN Cycling Team’s best chance of a stage comes through Biniam Girmay. Pedersen’s Lidl-Trek teammate Jonathan Milan, winner of last year’s green jersey and the new Italian national champion, is not racing after completing the Giro.Michael Matthews, Dorian Godon, Arnaud De Lie, and Soren Waerenskjold are all also outside shots at Tour stages.Who are the young stars in contention for the white jersey?This could be a very fun battle. With last year’s winner Lipowitz no longer eligible (riders must be 25 or younger on January 1 to qualify), this classification will boast a new winner.We’ve already outlined Seixas’ credentials, but 22-year-old Del Toro may justifiably be asking why he has not been included amongst the favorites. The main reason for that is that the Mexican’s key job is to be Pogačar’s final helper in the mountains, but this Tour debut has been a long time coming.Probably the most stylish climber in the professional peloton, flowing and coiled, Del Toro stunned in last year’s Giro. His first three-week stage race, he wore the maglia rosa until the final day in the mountains — and arguably would have won pink if he had followed Simon Yates’ attack, which he appeared to have the legs to do, rather than marking second-place Richard Carapaz.Paul Seixas and Isaac del Toro are the two favorites for the white jersey in 2026. (Anne-Christine Poujoulat / AFP via Getty Images)Regardless, unlike Seixas, Del Toro has shown he can remain competitive in a Grand Tour until the final days — that’s not to say the Frenchman cannot do it, but just that the teenager has not yet proved that capacity.Del Toro beat him at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes last month before Seixas later withdrew with injury — and UAE domestiques have made it onto the podium before, such as Adam Yates in 2024.Lidl-Trek’s Ayuso is another potential winner, riding as a team leader for the Tour at the first time, while Movistar’s leader Cian Uijtdebroeks and Netcompany-INEOS’ Frenchman Kevin Vauquelin may also take a tilt at white.Which stars are missing?Van Aert will not appear in the Tour for the first time since 2018 after aggravating an elbow infection in the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, which forced him to spend a night in hospital. Winner of the final stage over Montmartre in last year’s edition, one of Vingegaard’s key helpers, and fresh off the back of his dream win at Paris-Roubaix, his presence usually guarantees a spectacle, so he will be missed.Another casualty of last month’s tune-up was Oscar Onley, expected to lead Netcompany-INEOS after his excellent fourth place for Picnic-PostNL last year. He injured his shoulder after a scary downhill crash on stage six — frankly, it is a relief that his injuries were not worse — leaving the British-Danish squad likely hunting stages rather than pursuing GC.Finally, Joao Almeida’s strange season continues. The Portuguese climber pushed Vingegaard all the way at last year’s Vuelta, beating him over the Angliru and only finishing a minute down on GC. Expected to challenge the Dane again at this year’s Giro, Almeida pulled out with illness less than two weeks before the race — and UAE Team Emirates have opted not to include him as one of Pogačar’s key domestiques, instead entrusting that role to Del Toro.Other riders are skipping the Tour having either focused on the Giro or wishing to target the Vuelta — Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe pairing Giulio Pellizzari and Primož Roglič both fall into this camp.Wout van Aert will be a big miss at this year’s Tour de France (Anne-Christine POUJOULAT / AFP via Getty Images)What’s the route?This year’s Grand Depart begins in Barcelona — with the first team trial since 2019 getting the race underway. There are slightly different rules governing this TTT — though riders compete in their teams, individual times will be taken across the line.In theory, this gives teams tactical freedom — would UAE Team Emirates burn Del Toro’s energy to launch Pogačar close to the line with the hope of gaining a few seconds over Vingegaard, or opt for both to finish together to reap the tactical rewards further down the line?Anyway, once that drama is decided, the next two days in Catalonia see circuits of Montjuic and a hilly third stage to Les Angles. The race’s start location means that the Pyrenees, straddling the French-Spanish border, are visited exceptionally early. This year’s race contains the third-most vertical metres of any of the last 20 editions but a lot of that climbing is spread across medium-mountain stages, which should — hopefully — make the race more unpredictable.Heat is expected to be a significant factor once again, especially with such a southern route. (Marco Bertorello / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)After a transitional second week from the south-west to eastern France, the race culminates in a celebration of the Vosges, the Jura, and the Alps. Stage 14, up the steep Le Markstein, is expected to be a significant moment.For the first time ever, Alpe d’Huez will host back-to-back finishes on stages 19 and 20 — the latter comprising the race’s queen stage, as the peloton also take on the Col de la Croix de Fer and Col du Galibier before taking the steep Col de Sarenne back route to arguably France’s most famous summit.Like last year, the race will finish with a circuit loop over Montmartre before concluding on the Champs-Élysées — but organizers have moved the final ascent earlier in the race, hoping to maintain the possibility of a sprint finish.Who are the teams taking part — and who has the strongest squad?The peloton will be 184 strong in Barcelona — made up of 23 teams of eight riders each.All 18 WorldTour teams will take part, along with five ProTeams — recently-relegated Cofidis, Tudor Pro Cycling, TotalEnergies, and debutants Caja Rural and Pinarello Q36.5. The popular Unibet Rose Rockets, debutants at this year’s Giro, did not receive a wildcard.Over the past seven years, Visma has typically had a stronger squad than UAE Team Emirates — with Pogačar’s brilliance keeping him in touch with Vingegaard.Last year, however, cycling’s two true superteams entered the Tour equal in strength — but UAE’s riders were dominant in the race. Tim Wellens and Jhonatan Narvaez were at a career-best level, while Visma’s key men, such as Matteo Jorgenson and Sepp Kuss, were slightly below par.Concerningly for Visma, UAE’s squad looks stronger on paper entering the 2026 edition. Del Toro is the best domestique in the race, with Adam Yates and American Brandon McNulty also very good in the high mountains. Nils Politt, Florian Vermeersch, and Wellens are also three brilliant team men on flat and rolling terrain — it is a balanced and dangerous squad.Visma have been hurt by Van Aert’s withdrawal, while their climbing support feels a little one-note — Jorgenson, Kuss, and Davide Piganzoli have not quite shown themselves to be on Yates and Del Toro’s level in the past season, though Victor Campenaerts, Edoardo Affini and Bruno Armirail are good flat options to keep Vingegaard out of trouble.Elsewhere, Netcompany-INEOS look a good bet for the TTT and other stage wins with Filippo Ganna, Kevin Vauquelin, Thymen Arensman, and French sprinter Dorian Godon, while Lidl-Trek’s entire squad is filled with quality riders — albeit many slightly scratching for form.