PARIS (Reuters) - Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar secured a record-equalling fifth Tour de France title on Sunday after safely navigating the final stage, won by Mathieu van der Poel, to seal a third consecutive crown in cycling's greatest race.
The 27-year-old UAE Team Emirates XRG cyclist, affectionately known as "Pogi", only needed to avoid a race-ending mishap on the run into Paris to join Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain as a five-time Tour champion.
Belgium's Remco Evenepoel finished second overall, while Mexico's Isaac del Toro rounded out the overall podium in third.
"Thank you to all the fans and to all of France for hosting this great race," Pogacar said. "Thank you to my competitors for putting on a great show. We fought hard over the last three weeks."
'A DREAM'
Van der Poel and Pogacar broke away on the final ascent of Montmartre with around 10 kilometres remaining and took a slender advantage into the run to the Champs-Elysees as the chasing group closed relentlessly.
Pogacar's challenge faded inside the final kilometre, but Van der Poel pressed on to secure victory in a photo finish ahead of Alpecin–Premier Tech teammate Jasper Philipsen, with Mads Pedersen of Lidl–Trek in third.
"When I was sick last year and I had to watch the stage on television, I was already thinking about this moment," Van der Poel, 31, said.
"The way it went, it's a dream. It's incredible. It was super hard, and to be up there with the best rider in the world, all my respect for Tadej.
"I thought we were going to get caught back, then I was just thinking about this moment. I put my head down in the last five hundred metres. I just went as hard as I could...
"I'm super happy. I have a few races I still wanted to win in my career and this was one of them."
SUPREME POGACAR
Pogacar underlined his supremacy throughout the Tour by claiming five stage victories.
His path to a third straight yellow jersey became less complicated when two-time Tour winner Jonas Vingegaard, widely regarded as his principal challenger, withdrew after a crash on Stage 15.
The Tour's traditional finale in Paris was shortened after security forces were redeployed to help tackle wildfires near Bordeaux. As a result, Stage 21, which customarily takes the peloton into Paris before several laps of the Champs-Elysees, was reduced to 89 kilometres from the 133 originally scheduled.
This year's race also produced a remarkable first: no rider from France, Italy or Spain won a stage, making it the first Tour de France without a stage victory from any of the three nations that created and host cycling's Grand Tours.
Pogacar's latest triumph caps three weeks of racing since the Grand Depart in Barcelona and further cements his status as the dominant rider of his generation.