With a record-tying fifth Tour de France title already in hand, Tadej Pogacar did his best to put on another show on Sunday before relenting near the finish of the shortened final stage in Paris.
The cycling star from Slovenia was overtaken on the final straightaway of Stage 21, but still won the overall title in a time of 73 hours, 56 minutes, 26 seconds over the three-week event. He finished 6:26 ahead of Belgium’s Remco Evenepoel.
Pogacar’s UAE Team Emirates teammate Isaac del Toro of Mexico finished third overall, which also clinched the title for top rider 25-years-old and under.
Mathieu van der Poel of Belgium won the final stage in a sprint to the finish line along Paris’ Champs-Elysees.
Pogacar and van der Poel were locked in a duel on the final circuit before van der Poel used his famed sprinter’s speed to pull away. It was a 1-2 finish for the Alpecin-Premier Tech team with Jasper Philipsen of Belgium coming in second. Mads Pedersen of Denmark, and the Lidl-Trek team, finished third.
Stage 21 was adjusted this year to include the hilly Montmartre circuit, which has gained popularity since being used during the 2024 Paris Olympics. The route was adjusted further Saturday when it was reduced to 88.7 kilometers due to wildfires outside of Paris.
Richard Carapaz of Ecuador won the overall title for top climber while wearing the polka-dot jersey while Pedersen clinched the sprinter’s title in the green jersey. Lidl-Trek, which includes Quinn Simmons of the United States, won the team title.
Simmons, the reigning United States road race champion, was awarded “Best Teammate” for the second consecutive year.
Pogacar ended up in 30th on the final stage, but the overall title had long been in hand as he won the Tour de France for the third consecutive year. He also won titles in 2020 and 2021.
“It’s an incredible day and an incredible atmosphere,” Pogacar said. “I’m happy that it’s over and we won for a fifth time.”
Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard of Denmark are the only riders to win the Tour de France since 2000. Vingegaard was forced to abandon this year’s race on Stage 15 when he crashed in a turn and came away with a right arm injury. Vingegaard was second overall when he crashed.
Miguel Indurain of Spain was the last to win five Tour de France titles, clinching the last of those in 1995. Bernard Hinault of France, Eddy Merckx of Belgium and Jacques Anquetil of France also won five titles.
“Every victory is really special and seven Tours already, seven times on the podium, with five wins, it’s something that you wouldn’t even write in a storybook,” Pogacar said. “It’s unbelievable for me.”
Pogacar stamped himself as one of the top road racers of all-time by winning Stages 3, 6, 10, 14 and 19 this year. The five wins this year give him 26 Tour de France stage wins.
“It’s a lot of factors,” Pogacar said when asked how he was able to secure title No. 5. “You enjoy what you’re doing, and you have the people around you that you trust and they help you. They’re there for you when you’re at your lowest and you can be yourself and chase your dreams.”
–Field Level Media
