Tadej Pogačar wins his fourth Tour de France for UAE Team Emirates-XRG

Finishing fourth on stage 21, Tadej Pogačar became a four-time Tour de France champion on Sunday afternoon. The world champion was able to celebrate the incredible achievement with his UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammates in Paris, all of whom have been instrumental in helping the Emirati squad secure its fourth title in six years.

For Pogačar, his fourth Tour success has perhaps been his most resounding yet, with the Slovenian not losing a single second on the road to any of the top five in the general classification between stages 1-20. He becomes only the second rider in Tour de France history, after Maurice Garin in 1903, to do so.

Along the way, Pogačar has taken four memorable stage victories and held his great rival Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) at arm’s length. The Danish two-time Tour champion left no stone unturned in his bid to dethrone Pogačar in the Grand Boucle, including an all-or-nothing siege on stage 18, but was unable to repeat his victories of 2022 and 2023. For his efforts, Vingegaard was rewarded with second place in the overall, as Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe’s Florian Lipowitz rounded out the podium in third.

For UAE Team Emirates-XRG, Pogačar led the line in style but did so with the unwavering support of his teammates, from Lille to Paris via the Pyrenees and the Alps. The Emirati squad ends its ninth Tour de France with five stage victories, including four from Pogačar and Tim Wellens‘ superb stage 15 win from the breakaway. It takes UAE Team Emirates-XRG to 26 stage wins on the sport’s grandest stage.

Sporting the hallowed Yellow Jersey through 13 stages and on the final podium in Paris, Pogačar also vanquishes the polka dot jersey as the winner of the King of the Mountains classification. It is the third time that the Slovenian has won both classifications in his career, and comes courtesy of his dominant displays in mountain stages.

After the race, Pogačar spoke with reporters to reflect on another Tour de France title, and analyse where the race was won.

Pogačar: “I am just speechless. To win a fourth Tour de France and finish six years in a row on the podium, this one feels especially amazing. I am super proud that I can wear this Yellow Jersey.

“I think it all started with how we started to ride with the team. We had a great atmosphere, great team, great spirit. We went fighting from day one, and then after stage 5 and Mûr-de-Bretagne, I knew that I had good legs to compete for the victory.

“We just kept on fighting, and then I think the second week was the decisive moment. We took the advantage and we went more comfortably into the third week.”

“Myself and Jonas [Vingegaard] talked in the neutral zone about how much has changed in the last five years of us racing against each other. We raised the level of each other much higher, and we push ourselves to the limit to try to beat each other. I must say that battling against Jonas was again a tough experience, but I must say respect to him, and a big congratulations for his fight.

“It was an incredible race. Now it’s time to celebrate.”

To celebrate his achievements at the 2025 Tour de France, Pogačar rode aboard an all-yellow Colnago Y1Rs on stage 21, with a matching helmet and sunglasses from MET and Scicon, respectively. His teammates, meanwhile, sported custom-designed, yellow-infused kits from the historic Italian brand, Pissei. After three weeks of from-the-gun racing around France, Sunday offered a welcome moment of celebration for those who had worked tirelessly to land the top step in Paris.

João Almeida was unfortunately forced to abandon this year’s Tour after a nasty crash late in the first week, but his efforts are roundly appreciated, notably for his assist in Pogačar’s victory on stage 4. Down a man through the final two weeks, Wellens, Marc Soler, Nils Politt, Adam Yates, Jhonatan Narváez and Pavel Sivakov each stepped up to the mark and delivered assured performances as the pressure came from Pogačar’s rivals.

The tale of this Tour de France, as was expected ahead of the race, is one of three weeks. From the moment that the flag dropped in Lille at the Grand Départ, Pogačar and his teammates got stuck into the all-action racing which stretched across Brittany and Normandy. Over a series of Classics-style stages, the 26-year-old won a blockbuster affair to Rouen on stage 4 before vanquishing the climb to Mûr-de-Bretagne on stage 7.

Heading into the first rest day down a teammate, UAE Team Emirates-XRG bounced back in style through the race’s second week, as the Tour de France headed into the Pyrenees. Of the five stages before the second rest day, Pogačar claimed back-to-back victories on Hautacam and Peyragudes, before Wellens rounded out the week with his sensational win on stage 15.

Through the third and final week of the race, Vingegaard’s Visma-Lease a Bike squad looked to attack Pogačar on battlegrounds they had previously conquered, Mont Ventoux and the Col de la Loze, but this time around, the UAE Team Emirates-XRG leader was more than up to the fight.

In the last mountain stages of the race, Pogačar produced a series of gritty displays in defence of Yellow, ensuring that he would ride into Paris with an advantage of almost four and a half minutes in the general classification.

Draped arm in arm with his teammates as they posed for a celebratory photo at KM0, Pogačar was wearing the 53rd Yellow Jersey of his career, moving him up to fifth in the all-time standings. On Saturday, the Slovenian had drawn level with Jacques Anquetil’s tally of 52 days in Yellow from his illustrious career, but now only Chris Froome, Miguel Induráin, Bernard Hinault and Eddy Merckx stand ahead of the UAE Team Emirates-XRG man.

Pogačar now draws level with Froome on four Tour de France victories, and at just 26 years of age, eyes will slowly turn to the record holders Merckx, Induráin, Hinault and Anquetil, all of whom ended their careers with five Tour wins. Moving to over 100 career victories during this year’s race, Pogačar continues to define sporting excellence, and UAE Team Emirates-XRG remains at his side all the way.

All eight riders and the countless staff on the road in France stepped up when it mattered, making this Tour de France victory one that must be dedicated to all, both riders and staff.

It’s a win for João, who demonstrated our fighting spirit in earnest.

For Marc, whose tireless work can never be taken for granted.

For Pavel, who battled illness to be there for the team no matter what.

For Jhonatan, who produced perhaps the best performances of his career across these three weeks.

For Tim, who guarded the Yellow Jersey as only he can do, and joined the Grand Tour stage-winning ‘treble club.’

For Adam, who went above and beyond in the mountains, particularly in the all-important final week.

For Nils, whose trademark pain face could be seen on the front of the peloton for most of July.

For Tadej, whose extraordinary talents only continue to make history for UAE Team Emirates-XRG.

And, of course, for all the staff who kept things ticking behind the scenes and in the team car, without whom none of it would have been possible.

In the biggest race of the season, UAE Team Emirates-XRG and Tadej Pogačar are four-time Tour de France champions. The history books might remember this success as the best yet.

Tour de France 2025 general classification (final) after stage 21:

1. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 76:00:32

2. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) +4:24

3. Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +11:00

Under the rain-soaked skies of Paris, this was no ordinary stage 21 at the Tour de France. Instead, it was a blockbuster animated primarily by the panache of the champion-elect, Tadej Pogačar.

Over the cobblestones of the Montmartre climb, made famous by last summer’s Olympic Road Race, the Yellow Jersey only elevated the legend of this corner of the capital. With the GC times neutralised, Pogačar could be forgiven for not contesting the stage honours inside the final 50km, but that would simply not be in keeping with the Slovenian’s character.

As the rest of the top 10 in the general classification sat up, content to ride to the finish line within the peloton, Pogačar joined the stage-hunters on the attack. It was a sight to behold, and the roar of the thousands of supporters who lined the streets of Paris must have reverberated across the country, such was its passion.

Earlier in the day, the usual formalities of the final-day procession had been observed. UAE Team Emirates-XRG had made their way to the front to pose for photos, national compatriots welcomed one another across the peloton, and Pogačar’s teammates led the bunch onto the Champs-Élysées. But as the race entered its final 50km, all was about to change.

Owing to the biblical rain that was set to pour, the race organisers had neutralised the GC times for the three laps of the Montmartre circuit. Given the conditions, it appeared the wisest move, and ensured that Pogačar need only coast to the finish to crown himself a four-time Tour de France champion.

As the peloton approached the 1.1km climb for a first ascent, however, it soon became clear that Pogačar had come to race. The Slovenian was immediately in the thick of the action.

It was only fitting that France’s favourite son, Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor Pro Cycling), was the first to attack, but equally, it was apt that the Yellow Jersey proved the man to chase him down. With the former two-time world champion caught, the UAE Team Emirates-XRG man went to the front and led a reduced group over the top of the climb.

From here on out, the race would not take a breath until the finish.

A near 30-man group hit the foot of the Montmartre for a second ascent, but it did not take long for Pogačar to whittle this down. Riding on the front for the entire final 650m of the climb, the champion-elect tore the race apart and as they came across the summit, only four riders remained on the wheel of Pogačar. With Matej Mohorič (Bahrain Victorious) bridging across on the descent, this group swelled to six with 20km to ride.

Joining the two Slovenians were Matteo Trentin (Tudor Pro Cycling), Davide Ballerini (XDS Astana Team) and the Visma-Lease a Bike pair, Wout van Aert and Matteo Jorgenson. These six riders would ultimately contest the stage win.

Jorgenson tried his luck before the third and final ascent of Montmartre, but the American could not get away. Instead, the six-man group hit the foot of the climb as one, with Pogačar wasting no time in delivering yet another attack.

For a while, the group remained together, but once the elastic snapped, it did so in dramatic fashion. With 500m to go to the top, only Van Aert and Ballerini remained on Pogačar’s wheel, and at this point, the race took an unexpected but entertaining turn.

Sensing his own opportunity, Van Aert surged off the front and became the first and only rider to distance Pogačar in this year’s Tour de France. Spurred on by the incredible support of those gathered on the cobbled streets of Paris, the Belgian buried himself to head over the top alone and ride to the finish line on the Champs-Élysées. He would not be caught again.

It was a spectacular ride from Van Aert, but so too from Pogačar, who eventually crossed the line in fourth on stage 21. For the Slovenian, it was a moment to celebrate regardless. With an arm raised towards the sky, the UAE Team Emirates-XRG man soaked up the acclaim as he was crowned this year’s champion.

Taking a fourth Tour de France title would have made Sunday remarkable enough for Pogačar, but in the way he rode on a stormy but sensational stage 21, the 26-year-old honoured the Yellow Jersey in a way only he can. It brought the curtain down on another Grand Tour to be remembered for both Pogačar and UAE Team Emirates-XRG.

Pogačar: “In the end, it was a nice race. It was great from the organisers to neutralise the GC times so that nobody had to risk anything. It was fair play, and I gave it a go because I was in the front.

“You just needed to have good legs to be in the front, and I found myself in the front, I tried to race, but hats off to Wout. He was incredibly strong and it was a really nice race in the end today.

“Wout was incredibly strong today, he did an amazing attack on the top of the climb and he deserved this big, big win.

“In the end, I am super happy that it is over but I must say that I quite enjoyed the whole Tour. For sure, I will maybe already miss it next week, but it was a pleasure to be here and to wear this Yellow Jersey. It was a pleasure to ride with these teammates and to race against these opponents. It was a great, great Tour.”

Tour de France 2025 stage 21 results:

1. Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) 3:07:30

2. Davide Ballerini (XDS Astana Team) +19″

3. Matej Mohorič (Bahrain Victorious) s.t

4. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) s.t