Pogačar joins Tour de France’s five-win club

The 2026 Tour de France ended with Tadej Pogačar once again in yellow—and this time with a place alongside the biggest names in the history of cycling.

The Slovenian won his fifth Tour de France, finishing the three-week race 6 minutes and 26 seconds ahead of Remco Evenepoel. UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammate Isaac del Toro finished third, 9:42 behind Pogačar, while also taking the white jersey as the Tour's best young rider.

For Pogačar, victory was about more than adding another Grand Tour to his palmarès. His fifth Tour victory put him level with Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain—the four other riders to have won cycling's biggest race five times. At just 27, Pogačar has now won the Tour three years in succession.

A Tour Won in the Mountains

The 2026 race began in Barcelona on July 4 and covered 21 stages before reaching Paris on July 26. As has increasingly become his trademark, Pogačar didn't simply defend his position once he reached the front. He attacked.

His decisive move came early, on stage 6 in the Pyrenees, where an attack on the Col du Tourmalet established his advantage over Jonas Vingegaard. Pogačar continued adding to that lead through the mountains, including victories at Le Lioran, Le Markstein and Alpe d'Huez.

The anticipated Pogačar-Vingegaard duel ultimately ended prematurely. Vingegaard crashed during stage 15 and withdrew from the race, while Evenepoel emerged as Pogačar's closest challenger. Evenepoel won the mountain stage to Plateau de Solaison and later the stage 16 individual time trial, but Pogačar's advantage was already formidable.

By Paris, the Slovenian had won five stages and had never fallen outside the top four in the general classification throughout the race.

A New Generation Arrives

Behind Pogačar and Evenepoel, the 2026 Tour offered a glimpse of cycling's next generation.

Del Toro's third-place finish in his Tour debut was perhaps the biggest revelation. The Mexican finished 9:42 behind his teammate and secured the white jersey. France's Paul Seixas finished an impressive fourth, with compatriot Lenny Martinez fifth.

Their performances gave the Tour an intriguing subplot. Pogačar may still be at the height of his powers, but the riders who could eventually challenge his dominance are already emerging.

Pedersen and Carapaz Take the Other Jerseys

The battle for yellow was only part of the story.

Mads Pedersen of Lidl-Trek won the green jersey with 559 points, completing a collection of points-classification victories across cycling's Grand Tours. Richard Carapaz of EF Education-EasyPost won the polka-dot jersey as the Tour's best climber and was also named the race's most combative rider. Lidl-Trek took the team classification.

The final stage supplied one last piece of drama. Rather than simply cruising into Paris, Pogačar attacked on the Montmartre circuit and briefly found himself at the front with Mathieu van der Poel. Van der Poel ultimately held on to win the stage, while Pogačar was able to enjoy his ride to the finish knowing the yellow jersey was secure.

Five Tours—and the Possibility of More

That leaves one unavoidable question: how many Tours can Pogačar win?

Five victories once represented the effective ceiling of Tour de France greatness. Anquetil reached five. Merckx reached five. Hinault reached five. Indurain reached five.

Now Pogačar has joined them.

What separates him is that he has reached the mark at an age when another victory—or several—remains entirely plausible. His 2026 performance suggested little decline. He could win in the mountains, limit his losses against the clock and still attack on the final day in Paris when there was virtually nothing left to gain.

The 2026 Tour therefore may ultimately be remembered less for who won it than for what that victory represented.

Tadej Pogačar is no longer chasing the legends of the Tour de France.

He has caught them.