Tadej Pogacar on Sunday completed a supreme performance to win the Tour de France in a rainy Paris, crushing his rivals to collect a fourth title.
Wout van Aert triumphed in the final-day cliffhanger around Montmartre, but Pogacar was spared any late challenge to his overall lead when the weather forced organizers to neutralize the times to avoid accidents on the slippery cobbled roads.
However, Pogacar more than played his part in a thrilling finale, before Belgian rider Van Aert pulled away on the last climb.
Photo: AFP
“I was really happy they neutralized the times of the GC [general classification],” Pogacar said. “Then it was more relaxed to race and you just had to have good legs to be in front. I tried, but hats off to Wout, he was incredibly strong. It was a really nice race.”
The Slovenian has now won the Tour four times in six years and finished runner-up twice.
“It’s six years in a row on the podium and this one feels especially amazing,” he said.
Jonas Vingegaard, second, was unable to contend with Pogacar, but the winner paid tribute to the Dane.
“I spoke to Jonas today. We’ve been racing each other for five years now and we have raised each other to a higher level,” Pogacar said.
Despite the rain, tens of thousands of spectators packed Montmartre to follow Pogacar’s progress through the narrow streets.
He played to the delighted crowds by racing to the head of the peloton near the Moulin Rouge at the foot of the climb, before Van Aert produced a well-timed attack to drop Pogacar and charge to the finish line on the Champs-Elysees.
Pogacar was fourth on the day, but after wins in 2020, 2021 and last year, he again proved untouchable in the world’s greatest bicycle race.
Vingegaard, the champion in 2022 and 2023, suffered two shocking off-days and ended second overall, 4 minutes, 24 seconds adrift.
“I had some of my worst days here and some of the best,” Vingegaard said after the race, adding he would turn his attention to the Vuelta a Espana.
“I’ll have a week off now and then start training for the Vuelta,” he said.
Breakout German star Florian Lipowitz, 24, took third on his debut, rounding out the podium a distant 11 minutes off the pace.
Defending his title, Pogacar embarked from the start in Lille as the clear favorite and won four stages along the way.
In the first week, he struck on rolling runs in the north and west at Rouen and the Mur de Bretagne.
He then turned the screw on the slopes of the Pyrenees in week two, with his rivals as good as vanquished.
Vingegaard suffered on the stage-five time trial, and again in the second week at Hautacam mountain, leaving the Dane in shock as his form abandoned him.
In need of a massive turn around in the Alps, Pogacar adopted mature tactics and sat on his rival’s wheel.
After it was all over, a beaming Pogacar said he could finally relax.
“Everybody has different ideas about how to celebrate. I want some peace and beautiful weather, enjoying some quiet days at home,” he said.
A barnstorming first week of the Tour revealed a raft of emerging stars.
Lipowitz was given a run for his money for third place by 22-year-old Scot Oscar Onley, whose steady ride propelled him to fourth overall.
The pair came first and second a minute adrift in the white jersey battle for the best under-26 rider, raising hopes of a new Tour rivalry in the making.
Ireland’s Ben Healy bagged a stage win and a two-day stint in the yellow jersey.
Adding a heroic near-miss on Mont Ventoux was enough to earn Healy the prize for combativity, voted for by the public.
The return of one-time guru Dave Brailsford from his role at Manchester United to Ineos Grenadiers was overshadowed by the team’s Italian powerhouse Filippo Ganna falling early on stage one. He was withdrawn due to concussion.
Having previously masterminded seven overall Tour de France wins, Brailsford dug in and the team’s Dutch climber Thymen Arensman pulled off heists in the Pyrenees and the Alps to win two stages.
France’s sole and unexpected stage win came on the lunar-like summit of Mont Ventoux when Valentin Paret-Peintre won an enthralling war of attrition with Healy.
However, this year’s Tour will be remembered for Pogacar’s all-round dominance.
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