Five, and level with the immortals
Tadej Pogacar rolled onto the Champs-Elysees on Sunday with the yellow jersey settled long ago, and by the time he crossed the line the number next to his name had changed for good. Five Tours de France. Only four riders in the history of the race had ever reached that mark.
The Slovenian now sits alongside Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain, the four men who defined their own eras of the sport. Pogacar is 27. That detail is the one his rivals will chew on all winter.
Remco Evenepoel took second overall, more than six minutes back, a gap that tells the story of how the mountains went. Pogacar built the victory on the first summit finishes and never gave it back.
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A wild sprint to close the show
The final stage belonged to Mathieu van der Poel, who timed the dash to the line in Paris to perfection and held off Jasper Philipsen, Mads Pedersen, Max Kanter and Olav Kooij. Chaos at full speed while the general classification stayed frozen behind him.
Van der Poel had spent three weeks hunting stage wins and forcing the race to move. The Champs-Elysees finally handed him the reward the earlier days kept denying.
What it means for the record books
Pogacar has now won the Tour in 2020, 2021, 2024, 2025 and 2026, a run broken only by two seasons of Jonas Vingegaard. Reaching the all-time record before his 28th birthday puts a sixth title, once thought out of reach, squarely on the table.
The argument about where he ranks among the greats has already started. Winning remains the quickest way to settle it.
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