TADEJ POGAČAR ALL but sealed a record-equalling fifth Tour de France title on Saturday as Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz won the 20th stage on Alpe d’Huez.
With Sunday’s 21st and final stage of the 113th edition of the Tour likely to be the usual procession around Paris, Pogačar will need only to cross the finish line to secure a fifth Tour title in seven years.
The 27-year-old Slovenian will join cycling greats Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain as the only riders to have won the sport’s greatest race five times.
But Pogačar is the youngest to have done so.
He crossed the finishing line on Saturday in fourth, arm-in-arm with team-mate Isaac Del Toro, who had done enough to ensure third place overall and victory in the best young rider’s white jersey category ahead of French teenage ace Paul Seixas.
Pogačar crossing the line with Del Toro. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
Pogačar even had the luxury of letting Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel, who finished second in the stage ahead of American Sepp Kuss in third, snare back around 40 seconds in the overall standings.
Pogačar leads by 6min 26sec going into Sunday’s finale, with 22-year-old Del Toro third at 9:42.
Ireland’s Ben Healy moved up to 41st in the general classification after finishing 31st on Saturday.
Carapaz won his second stage in three days and also secured the King of the Mountains polkadot jersey.
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But it was agony for Kuss who was leading the Ecuadorian by around 15-20 seconds before crashing twice in the final 7km.
The second time, he was only saved from a fatal fall into a ravine by safety netting on the outside of a tight bend on a cliff-hugging mountain pass.
Kuss battled gamely to the end but was even passed by Evenepoel as Carapaz won the brutal 170.9km Queen stage of the race, which included four monstrous climbs.
Sunday’s final stage has bee shortened due to the wildfires ravaging southwest France.
The news came after the interior ministry had said that it would need to redeploy officers initially mobilised to provide security for the race, to areas affected by the fire.
“In a spirit of national solidarity with the areas and communities affected, it was decided to adapt the route for the final stage from Thoiry to Paris,” organisers ASO said in a statement.
The 21st stage was due to last 133km and begin west of Paris in Thoiry.
Instead, it will start on the Champs Elysees in Paris and take in a couple of extra laps around the famous avenue before joining the main Montmartre circuit, and will last only 89km.
The wildfires around the Arcachon Bay area near Bordeaux in the Gironde region, and around Biscarrosse in the Landes, have destroyed seen more than 36,000 hectares of wooded area.
Close to 200,000 people have been evacuated, many from tourist spots.
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Pogačar all but seals record-equalling fifth Tour de France as Carapaz claims stage 20
TADEJ POGAČAR ALL but sealed a record-equalling fifth Tour de France title on Saturday as Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz won the 20th stage on Alpe d’Huez.
With Sunday’s 21st and final stage of the 113th edition of the Tour likely to be the usual procession around Paris, Pogačar will need only to cross the finish line to secure a fifth Tour title in seven years.
The 27-year-old Slovenian will join cycling greats Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain as the only riders to have won the sport’s greatest race five times.
But Pogačar is the youngest to have done so.
He crossed the finishing line on Saturday in fourth, arm-in-arm with team-mate Isaac Del Toro, who had done enough to ensure third place overall and victory in the best young rider’s white jersey category ahead of French teenage ace Paul Seixas.
Pogačar even had the luxury of letting Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel, who finished second in the stage ahead of American Sepp Kuss in third, snare back around 40 seconds in the overall standings.
Pogačar leads by 6min 26sec going into Sunday’s finale, with 22-year-old Del Toro third at 9:42.
Ireland’s Ben Healy moved up to 41st in the general classification after finishing 31st on Saturday.
Carapaz won his second stage in three days and also secured the King of the Mountains polkadot jersey.
But it was agony for Kuss who was leading the Ecuadorian by around 15-20 seconds before crashing twice in the final 7km.
The second time, he was only saved from a fatal fall into a ravine by safety netting on the outside of a tight bend on a cliff-hugging mountain pass.
Kuss battled gamely to the end but was even passed by Evenepoel as Carapaz won the brutal 170.9km Queen stage of the race, which included four monstrous climbs.
Sunday’s final stage has bee shortened due to the wildfires ravaging southwest France.
The news came after the interior ministry had said that it would need to redeploy officers initially mobilised to provide security for the race, to areas affected by the fire.
“In a spirit of national solidarity with the areas and communities affected, it was decided to adapt the route for the final stage from Thoiry to Paris,” organisers ASO said in a statement.
The 21st stage was due to last 133km and begin west of Paris in Thoiry.
Instead, it will start on the Champs Elysees in Paris and take in a couple of extra laps around the famous avenue before joining the main Montmartre circuit, and will last only 89km.
The wildfires around the Arcachon Bay area near Bordeaux in the Gironde region, and around Biscarrosse in the Landes, have destroyed seen more than 36,000 hectares of wooded area.
Close to 200,000 people have been evacuated, many from tourist spots.
– © AFP 2026
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Cycling Penultimate Day Queen Stage Stage 20 Tour de France