Tadej Pogacar claimed the Tour de France for a record-equalling fifth time on 26 July 2026, rolling across the finish line on the Champs-Elysees inside the peloton to join Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain as the most successful male riders in the race's 123-year history.
The 27-year-old UAE Team Emirates-XRG leader made it three yellow jerseys in succession after a three-week campaign he controlled from the Grand Depart in Barcelona to the finish in Paris. It was the last of five stage wins for the Slovenian, whose explosive accelerations and relentless metronomic pace left a rival group that has had virtually no answer for years.
The final word on the Champs-Elysees belonged to Mathieu van der Poel. The Dutchman of Alpecin-Premier Tech powered clear in a frantic charge over the famous cobbles, pipping team-mate Jasper Philipsen by inches to take stage 21 and cap a race in which he had already lit up the breakaways.
The defining performance came on stage 19, when Pogacar demolished the field on Alpe d'Huez and set a record ascent of the iconic climb, sealing a victory he described as "something you wouldn't even maybe write in a story book". On the final podium in Paris, he paid tribute to his family and the team that has built an unstoppable machine around him.
With this triumph, Pogacar draws level with Anquetil, Merckx, Hinault and Indurain on five titles, and the debate over who stands above whom in the all-time rankings has already been reopened. At 27, with the Giro d'Italia, the Tour of Flanders, Milan-San Remo and the world title already on his palmares, the question is no longer whether he will break the outright record, but when.
Sources
- BBC Sport — Tour de France 2026: Tadej Pogacar wins fifth Tour as Mathieu van der Poel takes stage 21: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/articles/c07r8d4d2z5o
- Cyclingnews — Tour de France: Tadej Pogacar equals record with fifth yellow jersey as Mathieu van der Poel wins stage 21: https://www.cyclingnews.com/pro-cycling/racing/tour-de-france-tadej-pogacar-equals-record-with-fifth-yellow-jersey-as-mathieu-van-der-poel-wins-stage-21/
