Van Der Poel Defeats Pogačar And Conquers The Tour Finale In Paris

Mathieu van der Poel won a spectacular final stage of the Tour de France after surviving an all-out duel with Tadej Pogačar on Montmartre and holding off the sprinters by the narrowest of margins on the Champs-Élysées. Jasper Philipsen finished second to complete an Alpecin-Premier Tech one-two, with Mads Pedersen third.

The shortened 88.7-kilometre stage was far removed from the traditional Paris procession. With the general classification times neutralised before the decisive circuit, Pogačar was free to attack without endangering his yellow jersey. On the second ascent of Montmartre, the Slovenian accelerated and formed an elite group with Van der Poel, Pedersen and Remco Evenepoel.

That move was brought back with around 20 kilometres remaining, leaving the final passage over Rue Lepic as the decisive point. Van der Poel launched a powerful acceleration on the cobbles and only Pogačar could follow. The two great classics specialists crossed the summit together and committed fully to the final ten kilometres.

Their advantage never became comfortable. The chasing peloton, driven mainly by Decathlon CMA CGM, remained only a few seconds behind. Van der Poel and Pogačar entered the final kilometre with the sprinters almost on their wheels and both visibly exhausted after their effort through the streets of Paris.

Pogačar finally ran out of strength, but Van der Poel found one last acceleration. The Dutchman reached the line just before the charging peloton, while Philipsen recognised that his teammate had survived and avoided passing him. Pedersen completed the podium and Pogačar crossed shortly afterwards, celebrating his fifth overall victory.

For Van der Poel, the triumph carried special meaning. He had watched the Montmartre finale on television the previous year while ill and had spent months thinking about returning to win it. His success also gave Alpecin-Premier Tech the perfect ending after a Tour in which Van der Poel won two stages and helped Philipsen take another.

Paris therefore produced two winners: Van der Poel claimed one of the most prestigious stages of his career, while Pogačar confirmed his place among the greatest champions in Tour history.