Tadej Pogačar of Slovenia won the 2026 Tour de France on Sunday, claiming his fifth overall title in the race.
Pogačar crossed the finish line of the final stage on the Champs-Élysées in Paris just before 8 p.m. local time, riding the last ceremonial kilometers after a day shortened by exceptional circumstances.
At a post-race press conference he described the victory as “unbelievable” and thanked fans and supporters. “Yeah, seven tours already and seven times on podium and five wins,” Pogačar said. “It’s something that you wouldn’t even maybe write in a story book.”
The final stage began around 5:50 p.m. local time on the Champs-Élysées after a delayed start. Organizers shortened the route and moved the ceremony earlier in response to ongoing wildfires in southwestern France; security and police resources were reassigned to assist firefighting and public-safety efforts. The stage had originally been scheduled to start in Thoiry, roughly 56 kilometers west of Paris.
Dutch rider Mathieu van der Poel won the race’s last stage, finishing in 1 hour, 58 minutes and 49 seconds. Pogačar’s overall time for the entire Tour was 73 hours, 56 minutes and 26 seconds, finishing almost six and a half minutes ahead of his nearest rival, Belgium’s Remco Evenepoel.
With this fifth Tour victory, Pogačar becomes the joint-most successful rider in the history of the event, joining Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Induráin. The record once credited to Lance Armstrong no longer stands: Armstrong’s seven Tour titles were stripped after revelations he had used performance-enhancing drugs.
The victory cements Pogačar’s place among the sport’s modern greats and marks another milestone in a career that has seen consistent podium finishes at cycling’s toughest race.
Photo credit: Thibault Camus/AP.