That’s a Wrap: 2026 Tour de France Finishes in Paris
by Sean Mackinnon
The 2026 Tour de France has come to an end, and once again the top step of the podium was dominated by Tadej Pogacar, who wins the coveted Yellow Jersey for the 5th time. He joins Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain in the official tally of most TDF wins of all time.
Stage 21 Excitement as the Tour Says Goodbye
The final stage that was supposed to roll into Paris was modified due to wildfires and the stage was shortened to circuits within the city. The 88.7km route featured a slow start as photo opportunity obligations needed to happen before the racing could begin.
Once the photo op was finished the racing kicked off around the traditional roads of the Champs-Elysees with a duo gaining close to half a minute as the race approached the first ascent of the Cote de la Butte de Montmatre. Issac Del Toro suffered a mechanical and ended up finishing a number of minutes behind the front of the race. A decision by race organization to stop the general classification time with over 40km before the finish meant that the Del Toro’s untimely mechanical was a moot point, and the results of the Tour were cemented before the end of the stage. Had this decision not been made we would have been treated to a nailbiting finish for the last step on the podium.
The riders tackled the Montmatre climb three times, and Pogacar found himself at the pointy end of the race with Mathieu Van Der Poel, Remco Evenepole and Mads Pederson. The quartet was chased down by the Decathlon CMA CGM Team with Paul Seixas putting in a massive effort to bring the race back together before the final ascent. On the penultimate trip up the climb Pogacar and Van Der Poel find themselves ahead of the race with mere seconds separating the two superstars from a chasing group behind. With less than 500 meters to go, Pogacar sat up and left Van Der Poel to finish the day off alone. The former world champ held off teammate Jasper Philipsen to win the iconic final stage of the Tour de France.
The 2026 Results
There is no doubt who won Yellow, Pogacar got it done. Remco Evenepoel finished minutes behind the World Champion, with Isaac Del Toro rounding out the podium.
| Place | Name | Team | Country | Overall Time | Time Behind Leader |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tadej Pogačar | UAE Team Emirates XRG | Slovenia | 73h 56′ 26” | – |
| 2 | Remco Evenepoel | Red Bull – Bora – Hansgrohe | Belgium | 74h 02′ 52” | +6′ 26” |
| 3 | Isaac Del Toro | UAE Team Emirates XRG | Mexico | 74h 06′ 08” | +9′ 42” |
| 4 | Paul Seixas | Decathlon CMA CGM Team | France | 74h 08′ 22” | +11′ 56” |
| 5 | Lenny Martinez | Bahrain Victorious | France | 74h 09′ 28” | +13′ 02” |
| 6 | Mattias Skjelmose | Lidl-Trek | Denmark | 74h 11′ 25” | +14′ 59” |
| 7 | Juan Ayuso | Lidl-Trek | Spain | 74h 14′ 14” | +17′ 48” |
| 8 | Richard Carapaz | EF Education – EasyPost | Ecuador | 74h 16′ 26” | +20′ 00” |
| 9 | Tom Pidcock | Pinarello-Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team | Great Britain | 74h 25′ 54” | +29′ 28” |
| 10 | Jarno Jegat | TotalEnergies | France | 74h 29′ 47” | +33′ 21” |
The White Jersey was won by Del Toro, with French duo Paul Seixas and Lenny Martinez rounding out the young rider podium.
Mads Pederson earned the Green Jersey with several decisive moves to take maximum intermediate sprint points on parcourses that did not suit any of the other fast men. Performances on stage 19 and 20 in the mountains secured his win in the category, but it was his consistency throughout the race that made the difference, including a win on stage 4.
The Polka Dot Jersey landed on the shoulders of Richard Carapaz for the second time in his career. The Ecuadorian, riding for EF Education – Easypost, asserted his dominance on the king of the mountains classification with two mountain stage wins- Stages 18 and 20. While Carapaz dueled it out with Valentin Paret-Peintre, it looked like Pogacar was going to be the biggest threat to his classification win. With the way the closing stages happened, Carapaz won in dominant fashion with a 56-point lead over second-best Pogacar.
The Team Classification was won by Lidl-Trek ahead of UAE Team Emirates – XRG. This classification is ranked by each team’s top three riders on each stage, with the idea being consistent riding across the 21 stages will reap a reward. The team leading the classification can be distinguished in the peloton with yellow helmets and numbers. It is no surprise to see Lidl-Trek taking home this classification, with two riders in the top 10 GC and world class support riders complimenting the squad.
The Combative overall win went to Carapaz, who earned the classification with his two stage wins late in the race, while Best Team-Mate award went to Quinn Simmons who was integral in the Lidl-Trek success.
Biggest Winners
UAE Team Emerates – XRG was absolutely unstoppable winning 6 stages, Del Toro kicked the tally with a Stage 2 win, and Pogacar an eye watering five stage victories. With two Jersey wins, and two riders on the podium, the world’s best cycling team once again showed everyone why they hold that title. Pogacar took on a teammate role, nursing Del Toro up climbs on a few stages and the World Champion highlighted the team effort in interviews and shared insight on how he would not have been in Yellow without the support of the entire team. Pogacar still won his fifth Tour by minutes over Evenepoel. The dominant win was predicted well before the start of the race, and cemented when Jonas Vingegaard crashed out.
Red Bull Bora Hansgrohe rode a great race and placed Evenepoel on the second step of the general classification podium. The Belgian superstar rode to two stage victories and had teammate Florian Lipowitz for company near the top of the GC battle before the German crashed out of the stage 16 time trial. The team respected their position in the race throughout 21 stages and a finish behind Pogacar on the podium can basically be called a win.
Biggest Disappointments
The 2026 edition of the Tour was the first time since 1999 that a French rider did not win a stage. The blow was lessened with three French riders finishing the race in the top 10 general classification this year. Paul Seixas lead the pack in fourth ahead of Lenny Martinez in fifth, Jordan Jegat secured a top-10 for the second year running, finishing 10th. The ferocious speed of the race this year was a factor in this newly dubbed drought. The average speed for the winner was over 43 km/h, making it the fastest Tour to date. The iconic Alpe d’Huez climbing record (newly crowned at 35:27) stood for 31 years before Pogacar shattered it this year, beating the late Marco Pantani’s record set decades ago.
Rider safety was one piece of this year’s race that could not be ignored. Friday’s Alpe d’Huez stage saw Einer Rubio crash into the back of the UAE team car and forced the Colombian rider to abandon the race. The crash was caused by a fan who was in front of the car on the climb. It was not the only fan-related incident of the day, and might be a cause for big changes to races in the future. One of the best parts of cycling is that fans can file along the route and can be right beside the action. Incidents and dozens of close calls at the Tour this year might have organizers rethinking just how close fans can get to the riders, and increase their barricade budget tenfold.
What’s Next in Cycling
With the biggest three weeks in cycling now concluded, there are still dozens of race days left on the calendar. Many riders will take a much needed break and prepare for the next cycle of their season away from France. The women’s peloton will start their Grand Depart in Switzerland on August 1, finishing in Nice, France on August 9. The Tour de France Femmes runs for the fifth time this year and will be an exciting stage for the world’s best to once again compete in the iconic event.
When Pogacar went in front of the press after the stage, one question was asked a couple of times. The world is still waiting to find out if he will take the start at the Vuelta a Espana, which starts down the road from his home in Monaco on August 22. Pogacar is no stranger to winning back to back Grand Tours after completing the Tour – Giro double back in 2024. Having taken a record-equalling Tour win this season it would be no surprise to see Pogacar go for the win at the Spanish grand tour he has yet to win.
With the world championships in Montreal, Canada at the end of September we will see many riders who completed the tour make the trip over to North America for some preparation races before the world’s. The action will kick off on August 30 in Philadelphia, before heading to Canada for two World Tour one day races in the French speaking part of the country. The pro peloton will head back to Europe after Worlds this year for the final weeks of racing before a much needed offseason that starts in October. The European Championships and Il Lombardi (the last monument of the season) will be one of the last days of racing to wrap up the year.
All photos credited to ASO.
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I wonder if Mads would have had enough juice to win the Paris field sprint had he not caught the breakaway with Carapaz and Kuss cresting Croix de Fer on Saturday to mop up the sprint points (which he did not need) and closed on Van Der Poel (who played the Paris stage and the lead up perfectly).
For me Carapaz was the most interesting rider of the entire three weeks. Seixas has huge upside from here. He played the 3 weeks out like he had a decade of experience. The two stage on Alpe d’Huez were for the ages for sure. I think we have 6 riders from Friday’s Alpe d’Huez climb in the top 15 all time results now inclusive of the Lance vs Ullrich 2004 ITT year off fresher legs.