Pogacar wins record-equaling fifth Tour de France title

Tadej Pogacar won his fifth Tour de France title on Sunday, matching Eddy Merckx and moving into the rarest tier of the sport’s history. The Slovenian had already locked up the race by finishing safely in the penultimate stage, then rode into Paris with five stage wins in this Tour and 26 career Tour stage victories.

The final stage covered 88.7 kilometers around Paris, starting in Thoiry and finishing on the Champs-Élysées, with Montmartre again part of the route. Mathieu van der Poel won stage 21, while Richard Carapaz won stage 20, a reminder that the closing weekend still produced separate battles even after Pogacar had settled the general classification.

This fifth title changes Pogacar’s place in cycling more than it simply extends his résumé. He had already won the Tour in 2020, 2021 and 2024, and his 2024 victory, his third overall, came after he became the first man in the 21st century to win both the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France in the same season. That combination of Tour consistency, one-season versatility and stage-race dominance is what now puts him alongside Merckx rather than behind him.

Merckx himself had already signaled where Pogacar stood in the sport’s hierarchy before the final stage, saying in early July that he admired the way Pogacar wins races and that Pogacar was welcome in cycling’s five-win club. The line mattered because Merckx remains the comparison point for all Tour greatness, and Pogacar has now reached the number that long defined that argument.

What makes the comparison more compelling is how Pogacar has built it. His 2026 Tour was not a defensive accumulation of place finishes. He won five stages, arrived in Paris with 26 career Tour stage wins and controlled the race across a course that still demanded a late climb through Montmartre and a final push into the Champs-Élysées. In an era shaped by tighter tactics, sharper specialization and constant scrutiny, that breadth matters. Pogacar is no longer just adding trophies. By matching Merckx’s five Tour wins while still taking stages and shaping the race itself, he has changed the standard of his legacy.