Tadej Pogacar of Slovenia has won the Tour de France for a record-equalling fifth time, crossing the finish line on Paris’ Champs-Elysees. The 27-year-old UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider now joins an elite group of cyclists including Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, and Miguel Indurain as the sport’s most successful male riders in the event.
This victory marks Pogacar’s third consecutive Tour win. His performance included a record-breaking ascent of Alpe d’Huez on stage 19, where he secured another dominant victory. This was one of four stage wins for Pogacar in the race, showcasing his explosive launch and consistent metronomic pace against his rivals.
The final stage of the three-week Grand Tour saw the Netherlands’ Mathieu van der Poel of Alpecin-Premier Tech claim victory. Van der Poel charged to the line on the famous cobbled streets of the French capital, narrowly beating Denmark’s Mads Pedersen. The stage, originally 133km, was reduced to 89km due to emergency services being redirected to assist with wildfires in south-west France.
Pogacar’s overall win places him among many as the greatest cyclist of all time, surpassing the achievements and status of Belgian legend Merckx. He has accumulated 126 wins in his eight-year elite professional career and has won nearly every major race in the sport, including the Tour of Flanders, Giro d’Italia, Milan-San Remo, Road World Championships, Giro di Lombardia, and Liege-Bastgone-Liege.
Champs-Elysees drama and podium finishes
The final stage on the Champs-Elysees, typically a formality for overall contenders, became a flat bunch sprint. Organizers ASO introduced a circuit last year that includes a cobbled climb over Montmartre hill, designed to encourage more powerful riders to contend for victory. This year, Van der Poel took advantage, attacking with 11km remaining alongside Pogacar.
The two riders led through the narrow lanes over Montmartre and past Sacre-Coeur. While Pogacar eventually faded after three weeks of consistent dominance, Van der Poel’s strength allowed him to maintain his lead, staying ahead of a rapidly closing chasing pack. He collapsed off his bike after the finish, breathing heavily for several minutes, having secured a prestigious victory to add to his many one-day race wins, such as multiple victories in Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders.
The final podium saw Pogacar in first place, followed by the much-improved Belgian Remco Evenepoel of Red Bull-Bora-Hansgohe, who finished six minutes 26 seconds behind overall. Third place went to Pogacar’s Mexican teammate Isaac del Toro, who also secured the white jersey for the best young rider. Del Toro’s position on the podium was aided by Pogacar, who sacrificed a potential victory on Saturday’s ‘queen’ stage to Alpe d’Huez to help consolidate Del Toro’s standing.
Del Toro’s white jersey came at the expense of France’s 19-year-old star Paul Seixas of Decathlon-CMA CGM, who showed strength on climbs but faded on Saturday. Many observers believe Seixas could be a future rival to Pogacar.
Other notable performances
Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard, who won the Tour in 2022 and 2023, abandoned this year’s race after breaking his collarbone on stage 15. This incident led to scrutiny of the International Testing Agency (ITA), which had conducted an anti-doping test on Vingegaard at 2am. Pogacar also underwent testing at 5am, with the ITA citing “exceptional circumstances” for the rare night tests.
In other jersey competitions, Ecuador’s Richard Carapaz of EF Education-Easypost claimed the king of the mountains’ polka dot jersey for the second time in his career. He won stage 18 and stage 20 after topping the race’s highest point following 5,450km of climbing. The green points jersey was awarded to Pedersen of Lidl-Trek, who demonstrated tenacious riding on climbs and won stage four.
Britain’s Tom Pidcock of Pinarello-Q36.5, a former Ineos rider, did not win a stage but achieved ninth in the general classification, building on his third-place finish in last year’s Vuelta a Espana. Fellow Briton Adam Yates, 33, showed tenacity after falling ill on stage 16, riding at the back of the field for two days before assisting Pogacar on a climb for victory on stage 19. The Lidl-Trek team also secured the team classification, holding over a half-hour advantage on UAE Team Emirates-XRG.
Source: ca.sports.yahoo.com
