Pogacar joins select few winning 5th Tour de France
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PARIS -- Tadej Pogacar confirmed his status as one of cycling’s all-time greats after winning a record-equaling fifth Tour de France title in emphatic style.
Daring mountain attacks from deep, multiple stage wins and an ice-cool temperament all helped the 27-year-old Slovenian seal his victory on Sunday. He joined Belgian Eddy Merckx, Spaniard Miguel Indurain and Frenchmen Jacques Anquetil and Bernard Hinault as the only riders to win five Tours.
“I’m speechless. It’s an incredible day, there was an incredible atmosphere,” Pogacar said. “I’ve ridden seven Tours already and I’ve always finished on the podium. You might think this is a fairytale, it’s incredible for me too.”
After competing strongly in Sunday’s 21st and final stage in Paris, Pogacar finished 6 minutes, 26 seconds ahead of Belgian rider Remco Evenepoel in the overall standings.
Two-time Tour champion Jonas Vingegaard was Pogacar’s main rival heading into the race but the Dane crashed out on the 15th stage.
“Shame that Jonas and others crashed out of this Tour,” Pogacar said. “I hope we can all fight again next year.”
Pogacar’s UAE Team Emirates XRG teammate Isaac Del Toro, a 22-year-old Mexican making his Tour debut, was third at 9:42 back from Pogacar, who smiled and held up his thumb and all the fingers on his hand to signify his wins. His teammates then joined him as they stood proudly on the Champs-Élysées.
“I don’t know how I do it,” Pogacar said. “I now have to find a new goal to chase. Which goal? Let’s just not jump ahead of ourselves, and enjoy this moment.”
Pogacar won the Giro d’Italia in 2024 but has not won the Spanish Vuelta, which starts on Aug. 22.
“Will I be at La Vuelta in a few weeks?” he said. “Let’s see.”
Peerless Pogacar
Pogacar won five stages at this year’s race to take his impressive tally to 26 overall.
He tried to win on Sunday, too, but victory ultimately went to Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel, who just held off the chasing pack on the home straight for his second stage win at this year’s race and fourth overall.
Sunday’s 55-mile stage looped around Paris and was mostly processional, although less so than in previous years, which were usually entirely flat stages for sprinters and not for the rest of the peloton.
The stage was shortened from 133 kilometers and its starting point in Thoiry, west of the capital, was changed to Paris so as to reduce pressure on emergency services combating wildfires in the southwest. Some security forces initially mobilized for Paris were redeployed to help response efforts.
Cycling pedigree
Van der Poel is widely considered one of the best cyclists in the world. He has multiple victories in one-day classics and Cyclo-cross world championship titles, and is also a former world road race champion.
His father Adri van der Poel won two stages on the Tour in the late 1980s.
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Slovenia’s Tadej Pogacar, wearing the overall leader’s yellow jersey, celebrates by flashing how many Tour de France overall titles he now has won as he crosses the finish line in the last stage of this year’s event with the start and finish in Paris on Sunday. (AP photo)