"Evenepoel, Del Toro and now Van der Poel as well" - Zonneveld claims Pogacar "gifted" the Champs-Élysées victory to his rival
CyclingMonday, 27 July 2026 at 23:00
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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- Not sure how long until even knowledgeable commentators get it that this has nothing to do with tactics, domestiques, course design, or anything other than pure power. Maybe all that played a role in the Team Sky era - I came on as a fan in 2019, so I'll let others weigh in on that - but what we are seeing now is much closer to Mike Tyson than Chris Froome. Tyson famously said "everyone has a plan until they get hit in the mouth." Wout and MVDP can manage Tadej on the flats, and just barely at that. But with or without teammates and on pretty much every other terrain, Tadej can deal knockout blows all by himself. As long as he is on this level - and barring injury or burnout it could be years - there is no rule change or strategy that will change outcomes. Either someone rises to his level or he will just keep dominating.MidnightRider28-07-2026
- Evenepoel = Winner. So much trash talk saying he wasn't even a contender. Hopefully this performance silences that nonsense once and for all. Once Vingo was out he was clearly the best of the rest by a solid margin.mobk28-07-2026
- Yeah benefiting from someone else racing isn't a "gift". It's literally the sport of cycling and the physics of aerodynamics. Sure a two man break with Pog and MvdP had a much better chance than MvdP alone. That doesn't mean Pogi didn't want the win before he was totally cooked. No gift here.mobk28-07-2026
- Are you serious?MajorPayne28-07-2026
- We all knew the story of one guy who cheated death to triumph over an EPO-fueled peloton while riding clean was a big lie. Thank goodness the first guy who cheated death to triumph over an EPO-fueled peloton while riding clean is here to remind us.
MarkFour28-07-2026 - We will have to aggree to disagree on that topic then it seems. Have great day.Cyclingsbestfan28-07-2026
- i would argue that if you know you can’t even make it to the line then you’re in no position to give any GIFT.OCexile28-07-2026
- And Jonas. By then, both Seixas and Del Toro (and maybe someone else) will have grown up...MajorPayne28-07-2026
- What big race does Ayuso have a chance of winning? ;)MajorPayne28-07-2026
- Would love to say that this is Zonneveld's worst take ever, but it's just his latest worst take.mrvco28-07-2026
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