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Chandelis Duster
Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar, wearing the overall leader's yellow jersey, rides during the last stage of the Tour de France cycling race with start and finish in Paris, Sunday, July 26, 2026. Thibault Camus/AP hide caption
Tadej Pogačar of Slovenia won the Tour de France on Sunday, his fifth win in the annual race.
Pogačar crossed the finish line of the final stage of the race at just before 8 p.m local time.
He thanked his fans and supporters after the race, telling reporters in a press conference that the win felt "unbelievable."
"Yeah, seven tours already and seven times on podium and five wins," said Pogačar. "It's something that you wouldn't even maybe write in a story book."
The final stage of France's iconic cycling race began around 5:50 p.m. local time on the Champs-Élysées in Paris. The start time was slightly delayed, after changes due to wildfires raging in the southwest portion of the country.
The route for the Tour de France's final stage was also shortened because security and police for the event were reassigned to assist with the fires, organizers said on Saturday. The final stage was originally set to begin in Thoiry, about 56 kilometers to the west of Paris, and cyclists would then ride into the capital.
The final stage of the race was won by Dutch rider Mathieu van der Poel, in a time of 1 hour, 58 minutes and 49 seconds. Pogačar's final time for the whole tour was 73 hours 56 minutes and 26 seconds, almost six and half minutes faster than his nearest competitor, Belgium's Remco Evenepoel.
With this fifth tour victory, Pogačar became the joint most successful competitor ever in the event, joining Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, and Miguel Induráin. Lance Armstrong previously won seven, but was stripped of his titles after it emerged that he had used performance-enhancing drugs.
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