Tadej Pogacar secured his fifth Tour de France victory in a final stage in Paris that was neutralised due to safety concerns over rain on the cobbles of the Butte de Montmartre. The 27-year-old Slovene now joins Eddy Merckx as a five-time champion, widely regarded as one of cycling's greatest.
Pogacar's dominant performance left only Remco Evenepoel of Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe and Isaac del Toro of UAE Emirates XRG within 10 minutes of his winning time. Pogacar celebrated in a specially designed all-yellow kit featuring the number five.
Pogacar on improvement and retirement
“You get more experience, you deal with things differently, there are small things that are improving,” Pogacar said. “But it's the details that sometimes count, the mood and emotions. I think this is where I am improving a lot.” He praised his teammates, many of whom battled sickness during the Tour. “Massive respect for what all of the guys have been doing over the last three weeks. I already appreciated the work of my teammates but now it's another level.”
Pogacar hinted at retirement: “I will definitely not be doing this for a long time.” He suggested del Toro as his natural successor, saying, “He's still young, he's a quick learner, super smart and has a big talent and big engine.”
Evenepoel and del Toro react
Runner-up Evenepoel, the Olympic road and time trial champion, said he came to the Tour to “make the podium.” He added: “I'm proving once again that all the comments and criticisms were wrong. I finished third two years ago. I finished second this year. I won the Vuelta. I think that's not too bad for someone who supposedly isn't a Grand Tour rider.”
Del Toro, winner of the best young rider classification, thanked Pogacar: “There was sickness in the team. I tried to prevent people from noticing I was weaker, saying I was OK, but it wasn't true. My teammates took care of me. Tadej has shown how good a friend he is. I can't feel more privileged than I feel today.”
