"Evenepoel, Del Toro and now Van der Poel as well" - Zonneveld claims Pogacar "gifted" the Champs-Élysées victory to his rival
Cycling
Tadej Pogacar equalled the historical milestone of five overall victories at the 2026 Tour de France. However if wishes to add a Champs-Élysées triumph to his palmares, he'll have to return in the future to try and leave his mark at this prestigious venue. Because the hero of 2026 was Mathieu van der Poel who had a little more in his tank than Pogacar in the finale and managed to hold off the launching peloton.
The last few editions of Tour de France have not seen the traditional sprinters parade on the main boulevard of Paris. After 2024 time trial finish in Nice, the race returned to the French capital, but with a revised circuit featuring Montmartre climb. This has caused quite a stir, but the racing has undeniably become more fascinating thanks to this change.
"What a fun sport this is! This is the cycling you want to show your children," journalist Thijs Zonneveld exclaims enthusiastically in his podcast In de Waaier after the final stage.
"Isn't this just damn awesome? To blast through Paris like that, up and down Montmartre, and for the best riders of their generation, a very special generation, to go play outside in the final Tour? Not: we're going to take it easy, no risks... No, Mathieu rings Tadej's doorbell: Sure I'm coming to play outside!"
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Keep challenging each other
Two other protagonists of the 2026 race; Mads Pedersen and Remco Evenepoel have also played their part in stage 21, joining Pogacar's move over the penultimate climb, even though it ended up reeled in.
"Those four! Man, oh man. We are blessed to be able to watch cycling in this generation. Sometimes it is also deafeningly boring; we’ve talked about that enough. But these guys have a combination of talent, enjoyment, and a fair bit of ego. They are guys who dare to challenge each other on terrains that don't necessarily suit them."
Remco Evenepoel and Tadej Pogacar
Classics all over again
It was a fresh start again in the final lap, and Van der Poel with Pogacar were once again the strongest, despite starting the climb from further back. Their duel was reminiscent of the many duels the titans have fought, from the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix to the World Championships.
"The best rider ever and one of the best classics riders ever, riding to the finish together à la Trofeo Baracchi (a two-man time trial, ed.)," is how Zonneveld explains the situation. "They were also helped by the motorbike occasionally, that must be said."
Still, the remains of peloton lead by Decathlon CMA CGM were able to close the gap. "But you can see that even the best riders in the world against a cooperating peloton are struggling."
"With a very slightly different course of events, either Philipsen, Pedersen, or for that matter Max Kanter would have won the stage, were it not for the fact that Pogacar is giving everything to move up. He practically provided a lead-out: you can't call it a gift, because he had to work hard for it. But Pogacar granted it to Evenepoel, he granted it to Del Toro, and now he granted it to Van der Poel as well."
Ultimately though, it was mainly thanks to Van der Poel's own willpower that he was able to win.
"Where Van der Poel conjures up that last kilometer from is a real mystery to me. The peloton was practically right there, and then he attacks again, with a heart rate of 200, lactate in his little toe. You think: he can't possibly stay away here, but somehow he makes it anyway. If you did it like that in a movie, you'd think: come on. A bad, American Hollywood movie."
On the line, sprinters lead by Jasper Philipsen fly past Van der Poel. Philipsen raises his hand... but he's looking and shouting at his Dutch teammate. He did it, even if by a small margin. "It's a photo finish, where he has half a wheel's length left over Philipsen."
Did Philipsen perhaps hold back to let the Dutchman take the victory? "Maybe a little," Zonneveld admits. "It is classy, though. Kanter could just as easily have crashed right over him at full power. And Kooij was there too, surely not the slowest."
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- I get the point totally. We live in the snowflake society where some riders forget they are getting paid to ride and get results. When they have a few issues they try to look outside of the real issue instead of themselves. It odd so many of the team are making no complaints and getting on with their job. If you do not like what you do find another job simples. Tough love as my mum would say.paultryan200207-11-2026
- many people advise him to grow slowly and rather do giro and/or vuelta instead of tdf. but i can totally understand that he is not satisfied with taking over once pogi declines, but instead beat him in his prime. so if he goes for tdf again, i‘m all for it. let‘s hope that pogi recovers soon!Ketterechts07-11-2026
- So gracious to offer something no-one would be prepared to pay for. The Giro is not the Tour and doesn’t command the same interest or attract the same “elite” (those willing to pay to be a part of something they consider has ego boosting potential). Roadside viewing will always largely remain free for everyone outside circuits. Introduction of a symbolic entrance to mountain climbs is worthy of exploration. Asking 1-2€ isn’t going to repulse real fans (most will spend 50-100€ on their outing that day all things included) but will prevent a portion of the total knobhead thrillseekers who will join in any large gathering as long as it’s free, just because they’re attracted to crowds, without which it it difficult for them to work up their anti-social behaviour.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- How is radio going to help when someone went over a cliff or bridge or off the roadside into a forest unnoticed and is laying there unconscious?Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Yep, next we’ll be accusing F1 drivers of avoiding Le Mans.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- But on what is that opinion based? Are you holding him to a different standard than others? Are you saying he should do learn to like something he doesn’t Are you saying he hasn’t achieved enough Are you saying he pretends to be better than his results? It’s actually a really strange opinion to oust if you consider it objectively or rationally. Try applying it to others or yourself by asking if not EVERYONE should then be doing more? Nobody in athletics or swimming gets criticism for not expanding their repertoire when a rival or someone else does. In fact, most who move to another event get accused of running from their rival. Opinions are boring, the reasons behind them are what count.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- for a medical chief to throw things like is just bad. There are already radios which were banned for spectacle. allow radios. Gps trackers are not a complete solutionabstractengineer07-11-2026
- any rider less than 25 whether they are really ready for the position of leadership of GT is probably not the case. I think Pogi himself suffered when he was defeated by Jonas in the TDF twice. But that would be the team's job to ensure support so that they can bounce back. It requires a team and time to get back up and win after getting knocked down.abstractengineer07-11-2026
- I'm very glad he got the big late Quickstep Vuelta win and I hope he has a few left for Euskaltel-Euskadi.flyer07-11-2026
- My memories of Ivan Basso aren't good but I liked his sister Elisa ok.flyer07-11-2026
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