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Tadej Pogacar confirms status as a cycling great with record-equaling fifth Tour de France title
Pogacar finished 6:26 ahead of Evenepoel and took five stages. He joined Merckx, Hinault, Anquetil and Indurain as five-time winners. The Vuelta starts Aug. 22.
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PARIS – Tadej Pogacar won his fifth Tour de France on Sunday, equaling the record held by Eddy Merckx, Jacques Anquetil, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain. The 27-year-old Slovenian finished 6 minutes, 26 seconds ahead of Belgian Remco Evenepoel in the general classification. He took five stage victories during the three-week race, including wins in the Alps and the Pyrenees.
Pogacar called the victory “incredible” and said he was speechless. “I’ve ridden seven Tours already and I’ve always finished on the podium,” he said. “You might think this is a fairytale, it’s incredible for me too.”
The race lost its main challenger on stage 15 when two-time champion Jonas Vingegaard crashed out. “Shame that Jonas and others crashed out of this Tour,” Pogacar said. “I hope we can all fight again next year.”
Sunday’s final stage was shortened from 133 kilometers to 88.7, with the start moved to Paris. Wildfires in the southwest forced the change. Some security forces originally assigned to the capital were redeployed to help with emergency response.
The stage looped around Paris and included three ascents of the Montmartre climb, a sharp 1-kilometer uphill dash through streets packed with spectators. Pogacar tried to attack on the final climb but could not match Mathieu van der Poel’s power in the closing stretch. Van der Poel won the stage, edging out his Alpecin-Premier Tech teammate Jasper Philipsen and Mads Pedersen. “I thought the sprinters would catch us up so I launched from very far away,” Van der Poel said. “I gave everything I had left in my legs and it was just enough.”
Van der Poel is a former world road race champion and has multiple one-day classics titles. His father Adri won two stages on the Tour in the 1980s. His maternal grandfather was Raymond Poulidor, a legendary French rider who finished second three times and third five times. Nicknamed “Poupou” and “The Eternal Runner-up,” Poulidor was adored by French fans.