Tadej Pogacar cements his place at the pinnacle of Tour de France history.

Tadej Pogacar cemented his place at the pinnacle of Tour de France history. Dominant with five stage wins (bringing his total to twenty-six), the Slovenian secured the fifth Grande Boucle of his career, following his victories in 2020, 2021, 2024 and 2025. With this achievement, the two-time world champion joins four other five-time Tour winners : Frenchman Jacques Anquetil (1957, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964), Belgian Eddy Merckx (1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974), Frenchman Bernard Hinault (1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1985) and Spaniard Miguel Indurain (1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995). With this latest triumph, Pogacar also becomes the youngest rider to complete this rare five-win feat, at the age of 27 years, 10 months and 5 days. He thus dethrones “The Cannibal” Eddy Merckx, who won his final Grande Boucle at the age of 29 years, 1 month and 4 days, fifty-two years ago.

With his fifth overall victory, Tadej Pogacar also secured the 71st Yellow Jersey of his career. Having worn the prestigious jersey for sixteen stages this year, the Slovenian is closing the gap on Bernard Hinault (79 Yellow Jerseys) but remains far behind the record-holder, Eddy Merckx, who kept it 111 times. Since his debut in 2020, Pogacar has amassed no fewer than 189 distinctive jerseys at the Tour. In addition to the Yellow Jersey, the five-time winner of the event has claimed three green jerseys, forty polka-dot jerseys, and seventy-five white jerseys.

Having broken away alongside Tadej Pogacar at the Butte Montmartre climb, Mathieu Van der Poel then held off the charging sprinters solo on the Champs-Élysées, covering the final kilometre at an average speed of 52.9 km/h. This Sunday, the Dutchman claimed the fourth Tour de France stage victory of his career, his second this year following his win in Ussel (stage 9). By triumphing in Paris, Van der Poel bettered the achievement of his father, Adrie, who finished second at the same place in 1982, and imitates his grandfather Raymond Poulidor, who won in the capital in 1967 during a time trial. The former world champion also becomes the sixth Dutchman to win in Paris, following in the footsteps of Jan Janssen (1968), Gerben Karstens (1976), Gerrie Knetemann (1978), Jean-Paul van Poppel (1988) and Dylan Groenewegen (2017).

On the attack during the final three Alpine stages, Richard Carapaz managed to unseat Tadej Pogacar and claim the polka-dot jersey as the best climber. This marks the second time he has won the title, following the 2024 edition, which concluded with a similar outcome. The Ecuadorian thus becomes the eighteenth rider in Tour history to win the mountains classification at least twice, and the ninth to achieve this feat since the introduction of the polka-dot jersey in 1975.

Consistent throughout his debut Tour de France, Paul Seixas ultimately finished 4th, 11 minutes and 56 seconds behind Yellow Jersey wearer Tadej Pogacar. At 19 years, 10 months and 2 days old, the French climber thus becomes the youngest rider in history to break into the top 5 of the Grande Boucle. He displaces Henri Cornet, who won the race in 1904 at the age of 19 years, 11 months and 19 days.