On the Champs-Élysées, Tadej Pogačar sealed his fifth Tour de France, matching the four other five-time winners in the race's history. The 27-year-old Slovenian finished 6:26 ahead of Remco Evenepoel. It was his third overall title in a row.
A fifth crown, the all-time record now matched
The last stage began and ended on the Champs-Élysées. It was cut to about 89 kilometres after emergency crews were sent south-west to fight wildfires. With the yellow jersey long secure, Pogačar needed only to reach Paris safely.
Tadej Pogačar could not resist one last attack. He broke clear with Mathieu van der Poel on the Montmartre climb with ten kilometres left, but faded inside the final 700 metres. Van der Poel held on to take the stage in a photo finish.
Pogačar led the race almost from the start and was rarely troubled. His chief rival, Jonas Vingegaard, crashed out during the third week. Teammate Isaac del Toro finished third overall on his first Tour, a place Pogačar helped protect after slipping into a support role.
New records on the Tourmalet and Alpe d'Huez
The margin only tells part of the story. Along the way Pogačar set a new mark on the Col du Tourmalet, then broke Marco Pantani's 1995 record on Alpe d'Huez, climbing the 13.8 km ascent in 35:27. His five stage wins took his career Tour total to 26.
He weighed the achievement quietly afterwards. "Seven tours already and seven times on podium and five wins," Pogačar told reporters, adding that it was "something that you wouldn't even maybe write in a story book."
The four names at the top of the Tour have become five. At 27, and level with the greats, his story reads far from closed.
