Slovenian road cycling superstar Tadej Pogačar won his third Tour de France title after a third straight stage win, becoming the first rider after Marco Pantani in 1998 to win both the Tour and the Giro d'Italia in the same year.

Winning the final stage of the race, an individual time trial, Pogačar took a total of 6 stage victories in his fifth Tour de France, and 17th overall for his 20th win this year.

The 25-year-old Slovenian UAE Emirates rider finished the most prestigious of the three Grand Tours with a 6:17 lead over his long-standing rival, Dane Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma-Lease a Bike). Belgian Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quickstep) was third in the general classification, 9:18 adrift.

The final stage between Monte Carlo and Nice was the second time trial of the Tour. In the first one, Pogačar was second only to Evenepoel, the reigning time trial world champion, while this time he bested Vingegaard by 1:03 and Evenepoel by 1:14, and the stage podium line-up reflected the result of the general classification.

"I'm super happy. I cannot describe how happy I am after two hard years in the Tour de France. Always some mistakes and this year everything to perfection. I'm out of words, so I'm super happy to win here, incredible," Pogačar said at the finish.

"Totally confident" throughout the race

"I think this is the first Grand Tour where I was totally confident every day. Even at the Giro I remember I had one bad day, but I won't tell which one. This year, the Tour was just amazing. I was enjoying it from day one until today and I had such great support behind me. I just couldn't let anyone down, so I was enjoying it for them as well," he said.

Pogačar first donned the race leader's yellow jersey in stage 2, saying later this had not been the plan, but ultimately, he could not resist it. He conceded it for a day, but reclaimed it in stage 4 and has ridden in yellow ever since.

After having won the most prestigious race in road cycling in 2020 and 2021, Pogačar finished second in 2022 and 2023, with Vingegaard winning both times.

This year, Pogačar dominated the Tour after having already won Giro d'Italia in May, while Vingegaard came to the tour following a crash at the Tour of Basque Country in April.

Despite serious injuries, as reported by his team, Vingegaard was the only rider who could keep up with Pogačar in many a stage, even out-sprinting him to win stage 11, and saying he was in the best shape of his life.

Giro-Tour double

Pogačar had already proved unbeatable at the Giro two months ago, where he also took six stages. In addition to the two Grand Tour wins, he also won the Volta a Catalunya, Liege-Bastogne-Liege and the Strade Bianche races this year.

"It's incredible. I would never have thought about this," he said of his Giro-Tour double. "Maybe for some people would think the Giro was a safety net if I didn't succeed at the Tour de France. For such it would've been - if I didn't win here, it would've been an incredible year already, but to win the Tour is another level and to win both together is another level above that level. I'm super happy and really proud that we did it," Pogačar said.

Olympics and worlds ahead

Now, he is headed for the Paris Olympics to compete in the road race in two-week's time. He intends to compete in Canada in mid-September, the world championships in late September, and the monument Il Lombardia in October, Team UAE Principal and CEO Mauro Gianetti has said. Pogačar won the Lombardy race for the third consecutive time last year.

Talking to the press before the final stage of the Tour, Gianetti rejected speculation that Pogačar might attempt to win three Grand Tours this year, by taking part in La Vuelta. Pogačar needs to rest, which will also be important for his career in the long term, said Gianetti.

Team UAE has long-term plans for Pogačar, said Gianetti, adding that it would be irresponsible to try and get a triple crown record only to see him burn out.

Slovenia's Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) also started the Tour, competing for the yellow jersey. He was considered one of the four favourites to win the general classification, alongside Pogačar, Vingegaard and Evenepoel.

Roglič was firmly in fourth place before suffering two falls in two consecutive stages that ultimately forced him to drop out of the race after stage 13.

Other Slovenian riders make a mark

In addition to Pogačar and Roglič, three other Slovenian riders took part in the Tour, each leaving their mark.

Jan Tratnik (Team Visma-Lease a Bike) served as a reliable domestique for Vingegaard. The winner of three Tour stages so far Matej Mohorič (Bahrain-Victorious) was sick at the start of the Tour but still went into several breakaways, while Luka Mezgec, an experience lead-out man for the sprinter Dylan Groenewegen of Jayco-AlUIa, helped his team secure a stage win and two top-three placements.

The three domestiques and Pogačar make up the Slovenian road cycling team for the Olympics, with Roglič yet to decide whether he will join them.

Pogačar in particular and the rest of Slovenian riders were cheered on along the road by many Slovenian fans, so many that his teammates asked Mezgec whether the whole of Slovenia travelled to France for the Tour, being a nation of just two million people.