Tadej Pogačar of Slovenia wins the 2026 Tour de France, his fifth victory within the race : NPR
Slovenia’s Tadej Pogacar, sporting the general chief’s yellow jersey, rides over the past stage of the Tour de France biking race with begin and end in Paris, Sunday, July 26, 2026.
Thibault Camus/AP
disguise caption
toggle caption
Thibault Camus/AP
Tadej Pogačar of Slovenia received the Tour de France on Sunday, his fifth win within the annual race.
Pogačar crossed the end line of the ultimate stage of the race at simply earlier than 8 p.m native time.
He thanked his followers and supporters after the race, telling reporters in a press convention that the win felt “unbelievable.”
“Yeah, seven excursions already and 7 instances on podium and 5 wins,” stated Pogačar. “It is one thing that you simply would not even perhaps write in a narrative ebook.”
The ultimate stage of France’s iconic biking race started round 5:50 p.m. native time on the Champs-Élysées in Paris. The beginning time was barely delayed, after modifications as a result of wildfires raging within the southwest portion of the nation.
The route for the Tour de France’s closing stage was additionally shortened as a result of safety and police for the occasion have been reassigned to help with the fires, organizers stated on Saturday. The ultimate stage was initially set to start in Thoiry, about 56 kilometers to the west of Paris, and cyclists would then journey into the capital.
The closing stage of the race was received by Dutch rider Mathieu van der Poel, in a time of 1 hour, 58 minutes and 49 seconds. Pogačar’s closing time for the entire tour was 73 hours 56 minutes and 26 seconds, nearly six and half minutes quicker than his nearest competitor, Belgium’s Remco Evenepoel.
With this fifth tour victory, Pogačar turned the joint most profitable competitor ever within the occasion, becoming a member of Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, and Miguel Induráin. Lance Armstrong beforehand received seven, however was stripped of his titles after it emerged that he had used performance-enhancing medication.
