Tadej Pogacar celebrated his fourth Tour de France title in Paris but was denied what would have been a stunning final stage victory as Wout van Aert rode away on the wet cobbles of Montmartre to win on the Champs-Elysees.
Pogacar looked keen to take what could prove to be a unique opportunity to win in yellow in Paris as the introduction of three ascents of the climb to Montmartre reshaped the usual final day procession, but Van Aert broke clear on the last time up to take the glory.
Although the general classification times had been neutralised in the soggy conditions, Pogacar still had to finish to secure his title yet was willing to risk it all on the greasy cobbles in pursuit of a fifth stage win of this Tour.
The Slovenian attacked each time up the narrow climb to whittle down a leading group to just a handful of riders, but had no response when Van Aert made his move 400 metres from the summit of the final ascent, winning solo by 19 seconds from Davide Ballerini.
“It was a special day out,” said Van Aert, who took his 10th career stage win at the Tour and first since 2022. “It is really special to win here on the Champs-Elysees once again and on the first occasion we climbed to Montmartre.
“The rain made it quite sketchy but I managed to stay upright. I had the full support of my team and I really have to thank them, to keep believing in me over and over again…
“Going into the last climb, to leave it all out there was our plan and it worked.”
Pogacar sat up to safely bring home the yellow jersey and beat his rival Jonas Vingegaard by a final margin of four minutes and 24 seconds, moving level with Chris Froome on four titles, one shy of the record jointly held by Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Miguel Indurain and Jacques Anquetil.
“I’m just speechless to win a fourth Tour de France, six years in a row on the podium,” the 26-year-old Pogacar said. “This one feels especially amazing and I’m super proud I can wear this yellow jersey.
“I found myself in the front even though I didn’t really have the energy to motivate myself to race today. I was really happy they neutralised the times in the GC, then it was more relaxed to race. I found myself in the front but hats off to Wout, he was incredibly strong.”
Pogacar also paid tribute to Vingegaard, his closest challenger, as the pair shared the top two spots on the podium for the fifth Tour in succession. “We raised the level of each other much higher, and we push each other to limit to try to beat each other. Battling against Jonas was a tough experience but I must say to him, respect and a big, big congratulations for his fight and incredible race.”
German Florian Lipowitz finished third overall, some 11 minutes down on Pogacar and one minute 12 seconds ahead of 22-year-old Scot Oscar Onley who has enjoyed a breakout Tour.
On the 50th anniversary of the first Champs-Elysees finish, the Tour returned to the French capital after last year’s enforced absence due to the Olympics. Race organisers had been inspired by those Games to add the climb to this day and were rewarded with a dramatic finish.
