Tadej Pogačar of Slovenia won the 2026 Tour de France, securing his fifth victory in the race and tying with cycling legends Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, and Miguel Indurain for most Tour wins in history. The final stage took place on Sunday evening on the Champs-Élysées in Paris, though it was shortened due to wildfires in southern France that required police reassignment. Dutch rider Mathieu van der Poel won the final stage ahead of Pogačar, who finished the overall race in 73 hours 56 minutes and 26 seconds—nearly six and a half minutes faster than Belgium's Remco Evenepoel. Pogačar described his seventh podium finish as "unbelievable" and noted that his five Tour victories were something that "you wouldn't even maybe write in a story book."
Original Article Source Link:
https://www.npr.org/2026/07/26/nx-s1-5908503/tadej-pogacar-tour-de-france-2026-winner-wildfires