Pogacar seals record-equalling fifth Tour de France as Van der Poel wins Paris finale

Overall victory

Pogacar sealed his fifth Tour de France title with a final margin of 6 minutes 26 seconds over Remco Evenepoel. The Slovenian, 27, claimed five stage wins during the three-week race and wore the yellow jersey from stage six onward. He becomes the fifth rider to reach five victories, alongside Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain. His UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammate Isaac del Toro finished third overall, ahead of French debutant Paul Seixas.

I don't think he'll be content just to draw level with me and the other champions. He'll soon break our record for Tour victories.

Final stage drama

The 21st stage was shortened to 88.7 kilometres and relocated entirely to Paris after emergency services were diverted to fight wildfires near Bordeaux. The route featured three climbs of the Butte Montmartre, where Van der Poel attacked on the final ascent, taking only Pogacar with him. The pair built a slim lead over the chasing peloton. Pogacar was caught inside the final kilometre, but Van der Poel powered on to win by half a wheel length, with his Alpecin-Premier Tech teammate Jasper Philipsen second and Mads Pedersen third.

For a year I was thinking about this when I was sick last year and had to watch on television... It's a dream. It was super hard. To be up there with the best rider in the world, all my respect for Tadej, I thought we were going to get caught. I put my head down in the last 500 metres and went as hard as I could waiting for a wheel to come past me and it didn't happen.

Pogacar's dominant run

Pogacar stamped his authority early, winning stage six at the Col du Tourmalet to take the yellow jersey. He added victories in Le Lioran (stage 10), Le Markstein (stage 14) and Alpe d'Huez (stage 19), setting record climbing times on the two latter ascents. His five stage wins lifted his career tally to 26, fourth on the all-time list behind Mark Cavendish (35), Merckx (34) and Hinault (28). He spent his 70th day in the yellow jersey, surpassing Chris Froome and Indurain and trailing only Hinault (75) and Merckx (96). He is the youngest rider to win five Tours, more than a year younger than Merckx was when he achieved the feat. After two-time winner Jonas Vingegaard crashed out on stage 15, Pogacar shifted focus to shepherding Del Toro onto the podium, pacing the Mexican up the Plateau de Solaison on the same day.

Maybe people will talk about how I helped Isaac to arrive on the podium but first of all, he helped me to arrive in yellow. It was an honour to ride for Isaac the last two hours.

Timeline of key moments

Other classifications

Denmark's Mads Pedersen secured the green jersey for the points classification. Ecuador's Richard Carapaz won the polka-dot jersey as the best climber. The Tour was marked by stifling heat and wildfires that forced route changes, but Pogacar's dominance and the Paris finale delivered a memorable race.