Barcelona made history with a team presentation ceremony for the 2026 Tour de France Grand Départ that went beyond the traditional format to become a magnificent cultural, artistic and televised spectacle. The city fused sport, heritage and culture along a unique route connecting the Sant Pau Modernista Complex and the Sagrada Família, showcasing its identity to 190 countries.

Under the slogan “Barcelona Embraces the Tour”, the Catalan capital leveraged this global event to present itself as a creative, Mediterranean, inclusive and open city, transforming the official team presentation into a visual and emotional experience for millions of viewers.

Coinciding with the 2026 Year of Architecture, some of the city’s most iconic landmarks took centre stage during the ceremony. The 23 participating teams began their journey at the Sant Pau Modernista Complex and paraded along Avinguda de Gaudí to the main stage, located in front of the Sagrada Família where they were warmly welcomed by thousands of fans.

The event went way beyond a standard sports presentation, becoming a grand stage production directed by playwright and director Martí Torras Mayneris, who integrated music, dance, contemporary circus, street arts and popular culture into a performance designed to showcase to the world the values shared by Barcelona and the Tour de France: resilience, overcoming challenges, diversity and community.

The ceremony featured performances by Sílvia Pérez Cruz, Lia Kali, Doctor Prats creators of the Grand Départofficial song, Energia, OMAC, the Castellers de Vilafranca (human tower builders), and Cor de Teatre, among other artists, a showcase that highlighted the talent and creativity of the Catalan cultural scene.

The event, hosted by journalists Carlos de Andrés, Elisenda Pineda and Jordi Basté, turned Barcelona into the global epicentre of cycling and produced one of the most iconic images of the 2026 Tour de France Grand Départ. With this ceremony, the city demonstrated its ability to blend sport, culture, heritage and international projection in a spectacle that amazed the world and will go down as one of the great moments in the Tour’s recent history.