Tadej Pogacar Wins 2026 Tour de France, Matches Cycling Record

Tadej Pogacar is once again a Tour de France champion, and his win on Sunday cemented his name in cycling history.

The 27-year-old Slovenian joined Belgium's Eddy Merckx, Spain's Miguel Indurain and France's Jacques Anquetil and Bernard Hinault as the only cyclists to have won five Tour de France titles. The win also marked three consecutive victories in the race.

Pogacar had a dominant showing at this year's Tour de France, winning five of the 21 stages. He finished six minutes and 26 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher, Belgium's Remco Evenepoel, in the overall standings.

Pogacar nearly won the final stage of the race, but Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel held off his late push to win his second stage, which gave him a fourth-place finish overall.

Pogacar's UAE Team Emirates XRG teammate Isaac Del Toro finished third overall, 9:42 behind Pogacar. The 22-year-old Mexican came up short in this year's Tour, but Pogacar's mentee will likely soon be on his way to greatness as well.

Pogacar won his first Tour de France in 2020 at just 21 years old and defended his title the following year. Having won three in a row, he's now one of just five cyclists to have achieved such a feat.

He's also the youngest member of the five-win club at the Tour de France.

But at just 27 years old, Pogacar isn't done chasing history. He'll now look to become the only person ever to win six Tour de France titles, and Merckx thinks he's capable of it.

"I don't think he'll be content just to draw level with me and the other ­champions," Merckx said. "He'll soon break our record for Tour victories."