Today the Tour de France begins its journey and we anticipate it by taking you on a journey through the numbers of the Tour. To learn more and discover that...

27 nations are represented at the start of the 113th edition of the Tour de France, one more than last year. For the first time since 1980, Belgium leads the nations ranking with 31 riders (compared to 29 in 2025). It is the first time since 2007 that France, the second nation by number of participants with 30 riders, is not in first place. Back then it was Spain with 41 riders. The Netherlands completes the podium with 17 riders.

The average age of the group is 29 years and 16 days, slightly higher than in 2025 (28 years and 343 days), which was the youngest group since 1999.

The youngest at the start is Paul Seixas, who turns 19 years and 283 days today. He is the youngest rider to have started the Tour de France since Adrien Cento in 1937 (19 years and 118 days).

Seixas is among the 50 debutants at the Tour de France, which now counts 5,509 participants. He is also one of the 12 debutants in a Grand Tour and one of the 41 contenders for the white jersey for best young rider, reserved for riders born in 2001 or later.

The oldest rider in the group is Damiano Caruso, at his eighth participation at 38 years and 265 days. However, he is not the most experienced; this distinction belongs to Ion Izagirre (Cofidis), Warren Barguil (Picnic PostNL) and Luke Durbridge (Jayco AlUla), all at their twelfth participation. The record is held by Sylvain Chavanel with 18 appearances.

Three Yellow Jersey winners are at the start, having won it also in the last seven editions: Tadej Pogacar (2020, 2021, 2024, 2025), Jonas Vingegaard (2022, 2023) and Egan Bernal (2019).

Also at the start are three Green Jersey winners: Michael Matthews (2017), Jasper Philipsen (2023) and Biniam Girmay (2024). There are also five polka dot jersey winners: Warren Barguil (2017), Julian Alaphilippe (2018), Tadej Pogacar (2020, 2021, 2025), Jonas Vingegaard (2022) and Richard Carapaz (2024). Similarly, five previous white jersey winners – Adam Yates (2016), Egan Bernal (2019), Tadej Pogacar (2020, 2021, 2022, 2023), Remco Evenepoel (2024) and Florian Lipowitz (2025) – are eligible to compete for the title.

Mark Cavendish holds the record for stage wins with 35 successes. The most successful riders in the 2026 group are Tadej Pogacar (21 wins / 6th best all-time result), Jasper Philipsen (10) and Julian Alaphilippe (6).

Eleven national road titles and eleven national time trial titles are in contention, held by 20 different riders. Two of them hold both titles, road and time trial: Isaac del Toro (Mexico) and Mathias Vacek (Czech Republic). Mexico returns to the group 29 years after Miguel Arroyo's last appearance. His compatriot Isaac Del Toro becomes the third Mexican to participate after Raul Alcalá (9 participations from 1986 to 1994) and Arroyo (3 participations in 1994, 1995 and 1997).

23 TEAMS: KEY STATISTICS

In 2026, 23 teams will participate, the same number as in 2025. The most experienced are Movistar (formerly Reynolds, Banesto, Illes Balears and Caisse d'Épargne) with 44 participations; closely followed by Visma-Lease a Bike (formerly Kwantum, Superconfex, Buckler, Wordperfect, Novell, Rabobank, Belkin, LottoNL and Jumbo) with 43 participations; and Lotto Intermarchè with 40 participations.

The Caja Rural-Seguros RGA team returns to compete in the Tour de France 37 years after its last appearance. It had already raced in 1987 and 1988 as Caja Rural-Orbea, and then again in 1989 as Paternina.

Tudor boasts the greatest experience at the Tour de France among its riders, with a total of 31 participations, compared to 27 for Jayco AlUla and 26 for Soudal Quick-Step. Conversely, the riders of Caja Rural-Seguros RGA have only two participations combined.

Lotto Intermarchè has the youngest roster, with an average age of 25 years and 189 days. At the opposite end, Soudal Quick-Step has the highest average age, with 31 years and 69 days.

Five teams in the 2026 group have already won the Tour de France: Netcompany Ineos and Movistar with seven wins each; UAE Emirates XRG holds the record for the most stage wins at the Tour de France, with 24 successes (of which 21 obtained by Tadej Pogacar). Followed by Alpecin-Premier Tech with 12 wins (of which 6 won by Jasper Philipsen) and Tudor with 10 (of which 6 won by Julian Alaphilippe).

Visma-Lease a Bike is at the top of the most successful teams ranking with 72 stages, ahead of Soudal-Quick Step with 56 and Lotto Intermarchè with 41. Tudor, which joined the Grande Boucle last year, is the only team that has not yet won a stage. French teams are in the majority with 4 teams originating from the country (Cofidis, Decathlon CMA CGM, Groupama-FDJ United and TotalEnergies), compared to 3 for Belgium (Alpecin-Prem

The teams with the greatest diversity of nationalities are Bahrain Victorious, EF Education-EasyPost, Netcompany Ineos, NSN and UAE Emirates XRG, each with riders from seven different countries. In contrast, TotalEnergies boasts a roster composed 100% of French riders (8 out of 8). Groupama-FDJ United has almost the same number of French riders (7 French and one Italian).