The result had long been expected, yet the achievement remains remarkable. Tadej Pogačar claimed his fifth Tour de France title in Paris on Sunday, sealing the overall classification 6 minutes and 26 seconds ahead of Belgium’s Remco Evenepoel.
His UAE Team Emirates XRG teammate, 22-year-old Mexican rider Isaac del Toro, finished third in what was his very first Tour de France. On the final stage, Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel took the win after a breathtaking last lap of the circuit on the Champs-Élysées, with his teammate, Belgium’s Jasper Philipsen, and Denmark’s Mads Pedersen completing the podium.
With the victory, Pogačar joins an exclusive group. He becomes only the fifth rider ever to win the Tour five times, alongside the legendary Eddy Merckx, Miguel Indurain, Jacques Anquetil, and Bernard Hinault. The 26-year-old Slovenian caps a superb season that also featured wins at the Tours of Switzerland and Romandie, along with several major one-day classics, cementing his standing as the dominant force in the world peloton.
Paris, the Beating Heart of the Tour
The 2026 edition will be remembered as much for the heatwave and wildfires that shaped it as for the racing. The extreme conditions forced organisers to alter three stages, including Sunday’s finale in Paris.
Because of the fires in the southwest, the 21st stage was cut to 89 kilometres from the 133 originally planned, freeing up emergency services to be redeployed to the areas ravaged by the flames. Under the revised route, riders set off from the Champs-Élysées, tackled three climbs of the Butte Montmartre, then returned to the famous avenue for the final finish.
In a charged atmosphere, large crowds turned out to cheer the riders on, a fresh sign of the capital’s enduring bond with hosting the Tour’s grand finale.
