Van der Poel masters Montmartre in thrilling Tour finale as Pogacar joins five-time champions

Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech) conquered the cobbles of the electric Montmartre circuit to win stage 21 in Paris, as Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) was crowned winner of the 2026 Tour de France for the fifth time in his career.

The contest for the stage victory would centre around the three laps of the Montmartre circuit, which featured the Côte de la Butte Montmartre, which debuted at the Tour last summer. In the end, the duo would animate the finale after riding clear in the finale, before Van der Poel held on to take one of the most dramatic of dramatic victories. 

Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) ignited the action with an attack on the first ascent that drew a group clear that included Pogačar and Van der Poel. However, the group would be caught by the peloton just a few kilometres later. 

The second ascent saw Pogačar launch a searing attack which formed an elite group featuring Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Pedersen and Van der Poel. Despite the pedigree of the quartet, the strength in depth of Decathlon CMA CGM reeled the group before the final lap. 

Pogačar and Van der Poel rocketed clear once more on the third final ascent, and the duo opened an advantage of ten seconds over a six-man chase, with the peloton a further ten seconds behind.

Both Pogačar and Van der Poel cooperated well, and looked to extend their advantage inside the final 10km over the chasers. Inside the final 5km, the duo remained in front, as the Decathlon-led peloton caught the second chasing group. 

It was a tense finale with their advantage reduced to single digits inside the final 2km. Cofidis led the chase under the flamme rouge, as the duo looked to be doomed. 

However, Van der Poel dropped the hammer on the final straight, distancing Pogačar and holding off the charging peloton to take the stage victory with a lunge to the line ahead of his teammate Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Premier Tech) and Pedersen.

Pogačar’s final margin of victory in the general classification stood at 6:26 over Evenepoel in second and 9:42 over Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) in third. 

In addition, Pedersen claimed the green jersey, Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) the polka-dots, and Del Toro won the white jersey. 

The 158 remaining riders of the 2026 Tour began the shortened final stage on the Champs-Élysées, due to a shortage of emergency services in the capital amid wildfires in the southwest of the country. 

Despite the shortened stage, the three laps of the Montmartre circuit to round out the Tour would still feature, with the final GC times being taken at the final finish line passage before the first ascent of Montmartre with just over 40km remaining.

Celebrations were still to be had on the opening laps of the traditional Champs-Élysées circuit, with the race leader Pogačar and his UAE teammates among those involved. 

The racing action began with 74km remaining, as the Lotto-Intermarché duo Liam Slock and Baptiste Veistroffer drew out a group of eight riders; however, it was immediately shut down. 

That didn’t stop the ever-enthusiastic Veistroffer from making another move, and this time the Frenchman drew out a more substantial advantage. Veistroffer would pass through the intermediate sprint first with 61km remaining, while Pedersen, having already mathematically secured the green jersey, rolled through in fifth to extend his streak of collecting points.

Veistroffer was reeled in shortly after the intermediate sprint, which opened the door for a flurry of opportunistic attacks, leading to Xabier Mikel Azparren (Pinarello-Q36.5) and Thibault Guernalec (TotalEnergies) opening an advantage that maxed out 40 seconds. 

Del Toro suffered a mechanical with 44km remaining, just a few kilometres before the GC times were taken, leaving him with a frantic chase. 

The breakaway duo reached the climb with 43km remaining, holding a slender lead of around ten seconds on the charging bunch, as Azparren distanced Guernalec and enjoyed his moment at the front of the race, in front of the spectacular crowds.

Alpecin led the peloton onto the Montmartre climb with Pedersen also well positioned. The Dane launched an attack with 42.5km remaining, rattling his way past Guernalec and then Azparren.

Pedersen’s aggressive acceleration forced both Pogačar and Van der Poel to chase, which formed a selective group of around ten riders initially, before more riders jumped across in the following kilometres. 

Pogačar, Van der Poel, and Pedersen all traded turns at the front of a reduced 15-rider group, briefly holding off a desperate peloton chasing just ten seconds behind, before the two groups united with 37km remaining.

However, Del Toro’s mechanical proved costly; he was caught in a separated second peloton alongside Lenny Martinez (Bahrain-Victorious), Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek), and Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5). This chasing group would never return to the head of the race, though their GC positions remained completely safe with the overall times already set in stone.

Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates) set a fierce tempo into the second ascent, serving as a launchpad for Pogačar, who exploded off the front. Van der Poel latched onto the yellow jersey's wheel as Pedersen and Evenepoel were also able to follow. 

However, shortly before the top, Pogačar's relentless acceleration saw Pedersen and Evenepoel distanced before the crest. Both were able to time trial their way back to the front duo. 

The quartet opened an advantage of 15 seconds as Decathlon CMA CGM, who had plenty of resources, formed the chase and caught the group inside the final 20km.

Victor Campenaerts (Visma | Lease a Bike) led the bunch onto the final ascent with 11km remaining before Fred Wright (Pinarello-Q36.5) attacked and opened a gap as Pogačar, Van der Poel and Evenepoel led the chase. 

Van der Poel rocketed past, with Pogačar on his wheel, the reverse of the previous lap, as the duo surged clear of the competition with an advantage they would hope would be enough to contest the victory.