Tadej Pogacar has won the Tour de France for the third time. He finished the final stage, a time trial from Monaco to Nice, with a strong performance. This victory marks his first Tour de France win in three years.
Pogacar, a 25-year-old Slovenian rider, won the time trial and celebrated his overall victory in style. His main rival, Jonas Vingegaard of Denmark, couldn’t challenge him. This win also made Pogacar the first cyclist to secure both the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France in the same year since Marco Pantani in 1998.
“I think this is the first Grand Tour where I was totally confident every day,” said Pogacar, who rides for UAE Team Emirates. “This year, the Tour was just amazing. I was enjoying it from day one.”
Vingegaard, the defending champion, finished second overall. He also placed second in the final stage. Belgian rider Remco Evenepoel came in third.
Pogacar completed the 34-kilometer time trial in 45 minutes, 24 seconds. Vingegaard was 1 minute, 3 seconds behind, and Evenepoel was 1:14 back. In the overall standings, Vingegaard finished 6:17 behind Pogacar, and Evenepoel was 9:18 behind.
The final stage took place in Nice instead of Paris due to the upcoming Olympic Games. Fans lined the streets, especially along the Promenade des Anglais, to watch the cyclists.
Richard Carapaz from Ecuador won the best climber’s polka dot jersey. Eritrea’s Biniam Girmay won the top sprinter’s green jersey, and Evenepoel took home the white jersey for best young rider.
Pogacar’s dominant performance and multiple stage wins made this year’s Tour de France a memorable event.
