Overview
- Tadej Pogacar won his fifth overall Tour de France in 2026, extending a run of dominance that left him level with the sport's five-time champions.
- Former champion Jan Ullrich publicly called Pogacar the 'best of the best' and compared him to Eddy Merckx while praising his consistency under pressure.
- In the Paris finale Pogacar worked with Mathieu van der Poel and sacrificed the stage win, an act widely reported as sportsmanlike that helped produce a memorable finish.
- Ullrich listed remaining targets for Pogacar—Olympic gold, the Vuelta a España and Paris–Roubaix—and suggested the rider might retire after the 2028 Olympics, a scenario that remains speculative given Pogacar's contract through 2030.
- Pogacar's run is reshaping the sport by combining record-breaking power, modern training gains and public spectacle, a mix that raises questions about competitive balance and the future of elite racing.