Tadej Pogačar rode to Paris on Sunday as this year’s winner of the Tour de France, securing his fifth title and cementing his status among the greats.
The 2026 edition brought riders to fight across seven flat stages, four hilly stages, and eight mountain stages as well as two time trials from Spain to France.
And while the Tour produced some exciting duels this year, only Pogačar emerged to top the battle of the giants.
No close contender left for Pogačar
Pogačar ended up erasing a time deficit with the breakaway in stage 19 on the way up Alpe d’Huez in a true Pogačar-style attack to cruise to another victory, adding to his other four stage wins this year.
However, it was evident he was a little subdued during the other stages in the final week of the Tour, focusing instead on helping his protege Isaac Del Toro secure the white jersey and a place on the podium.
The exit of Jonas Vingegaard, with whom Pogačar has shared the French podium from 2021 to 2025 in an all-encompassing rivalry, made the Slovenian’s victory nearly certain again.
Vingegaard had been the closest contender to Pogačar’s dominating streak in the last five years, and had even successfully thwarted his reign in 2022 and 2023.
The leader from Team Visma Lease-a-Bike was on his way to try and challenge him again before a crash last week.
And in another shocking exit, Florian Lipowitz, who placed third last year, suffered a broken collarbone when he hit the deck on stage 16, effectively ending his race and giving leadership reigns to teammate Remco Evenepoel.
Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe’s Evenepoel, who was promoted to second overall after Vingegaard’s exit, gave a good fight despite Lipowitz’s crash, securing another dominating TT win in stage 16 on top of his already impressive mountain stage 15 victory.
Evenepoel proved naysayers wrong and ended up defending his second place until the final stage in Paris on Sunday – though his gap to Pogačar was more than six minutes in the end.
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Tour de France opens prologue to Del Toro-Seixas rivalry
Another close battle was already brewing by the time the Tour entered its final week between Mexican wonder Del Toro and French prodigy Paul Seixas, who were not only fighting for the third spot on the podium but also the youth classification jersey.
Both riders made their debut this year at the Tour, headlining the entry of cycling’s new generation.
Each time Decathlon CMA CGM Team’s Seixas attacked, Del Toro was there to glue to his wheel and vice versa, opening up a prologue in what could be the sport’s next rivalry.
By stage 16, Del Toro, who was in third place, only had 20 seconds from Seixas.
They were locked in a stalemate until stage 19, during which Seixas lost four seconds to Del Toro.
But Del Toro, with the help of Pogačar, managed to extend the gap between them in stage 20 when Seixas began to crack, spelling the end of the gripping duel.
Seixas conceded both the white jersey and overall third place to Del Toro, a gap of two minutes and 14 seconds between them.
It was still a remarkable feat for Seixas, who, at 19 years old, is the youngest rider to start at the Tour de France since 1937.
Comeback for Richard Carapaz, Alpecin – Premier Tech
The Tour de France also saw another comeback this season, with Richard Carapaz of EF Education – EasyPost defying all odds to take stage 18 after he went solo 3.4 kilometres from the finish line.
He did it again in the queen stage 20, where he held his position against the likes of Sepp Kuss and Evenepoel.
Meanwhile, Alpecin – Premier Tech reversed their fortunes after Jasper Philipsen surged to a sprint win in stage 17 thanks to an enigmatic leadout from teammate Mathieu van der Poel.
And in the last explosive battle in stage 21, van der Poel denied Pogačar another stage win, with Philipsen right behind him in second.
Van der Poel’s powerful display particularly echoed that of his greatest rival Wout van Aert, who also stopped Pogačar from winning in Paris last year.
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Fairytale ending for Pogačar
Pogačar’s win meant he equalled the record of Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, and Miguel Indurain.
“I’m happy that the race is over and that we won it for the fifth time. Every victory is really special. I’ve ridden seven Tours already, and I’ve always finished on the podium,” he said after the race.
“You might think this is a fairytale – it’s incredible for me too.”
He placed high importance in “enjoying what you do” and the support of the people who were there for him.
Although he called this year’s podium “magnificent” and that he got to share it with “incredible champions”, he mulled over the absence of Vingegaard and other riders who were forced to abandon the Tour.
“Shame that Jonas and many others crashed out of this Tour. I hope we can all fight again next year.”
La Vuelta in sight?
What’s next for Pogačar? The Slovenian was a bit secretive about his next goals, including whether he would appear in the Vuelta a Espana — the last Grand Tour of the cycling season.
“Will I be at La Vuelta in a few weeks? Let’s see,” he concluded.
If he does decide to compete in La Vuelta and win, he can follow in the footsteps of rival Vingegaard, who earlier this year secured his triple Grand Tour crown when he won the Giro d’Italia.
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