{"id":11581818,"date":"2025-07-27T17:48:58","date_gmt":"2025-07-27T21:48:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/?p=11581818&preview=true&preview_id=11581818"},"modified":"2025-07-28T00:44:11","modified_gmt":"2025-07-28T04:44:11","slug":"tadej-pogacar-shows-unrivaled-audacity-to-win-his-fourth-tour-de-france-title-in-style","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/2025\/07\/27\/tadej-pogacar-shows-unrivaled-audacity-to-win-his-fourth-tour-de-france-title-in-style\/","title":{"rendered":"Tadej Poga\u010dar shows unrivaled audacity to win his fourth Tour de France title in style"},"content":{"rendered":"

By JEROME PUGMIRE<\/p>\n

PARIS \u2014 The roads were dangerously slippery after heavy rain. A fourth Tour de France title was all but won anyway, so finishing safely in the pack would do fine for Tadej Poga\u010dar. Especially considering the July 27 final stage had already been neutralized for safety reasons and he just had to complete the race.<\/p>\n

Surely there was no need to launch a seemingly pointless attack and risk crashing?<\/p>\n

But holding back or being cautious rarely appeals to Poga\u010dar, the 26-year-old cycling star from Slovenia. He clinched his fourth Tour title in inimitably daring style on July 27 and further cemented his place among cycling’s greats.<\/p>\n

Even though he really did not need to, and risked falling on oil slick-wet roads, Poga\u010dar simply could not help himself. Against all logical opinion, he tried winning the 21st and final stage with trademark uphill attacks, only to fall short of the stage win itself.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the end I found myself in the front, even though I didn\u2019t have the energy,\u201d said Poga\u010dar, who won the Tour last year and in 2020 and 2021.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust speechless to win the Tour de France, this one feels especially amazing,” Poga\u010dar added. \u201cJust super proud that I can wear this yellow jersey.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two-time Tour champion Jonas Vinegaard finished the overall race 4 minutes, 24 seconds behind Poga\u010dar in second place and Florian Lipowitz was 11 minutes adrift in third.<\/p>\n

Belgian rider Wout van Aert won the 21st and last stage, which\u00a0broke with tradition\u00a0and featured three climbs of\u00a0Montmartre hill.<\/p>\n

Because of heavy rain and the risk of crashes, organizers had earlier neutralized the times 50 kilometers (31 miles) from the end, effectively giving Poga\u010dar the victory \u2014 providing he crossed the finish line.<\/p>\n

He did the opposite of what almost every rider would do with victory a near certainty.<\/p>\n

As the rain teemed down, he set a tremendous pace in the Montmartre climbs as fans cheered all along the cobbled Rue Lepic, with flags and fans hanging out of windows.<\/p>\n

Only five riders were left with Poga\u010dar on the third ascension of the 1.1-kilometer Montmartre hill.<\/p>\n

After fending off American Matteo Jorgenson, he was caught cold near the top as Van Aert launched a stunning attack to drop \u2014 yes, drop! \u2014 Poga\u010dar, the world\u2019s best climber, on the steepest section.<\/p>\n

\u201cHats off to Wout, he was incredibly strong,” Poga\u010dar said.<\/p>\n

Van Aert rolled back down for a prestigious stage win on the famed Champs-\u00c9lys\u00e9es. Poga\u010dar looked weary as he crossed the line in fourth place, 19 seconds behind.<\/p>\n

\u2018Peace and some nice weather\u2019<\/h4>\n

But then it was time to celebrate title No. 4. Although don’t expect Poga\u010dar to make any headlines on that front.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone celebrates in their own way, I just want peace and some nice weather, not like here today,” Poga\u010dar said. “Just to enjoy some quiet days at home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Only four riders have won the showcase race five times: Belgian Eddy Merckx, Spaniard Miguel Indur\u00e1in and Frenchmen Jacques Anquetil and Bernard Hinault.<\/p>\n

Poga\u010dar won four stages this year to take his Tour tally to 21 and 30 at major races, including six at the Giro d\u2019Italia and three at the Spanish Vuelta.<\/p>\n

The UAE Team Emirates leader praised his teammates.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the second week was the decisive moment,” Poga\u010dar said. \u201cWe took more advantage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lipowitz, meanwhile, secured his first career podium at a Grand Tour, the alternative name given to the three major races.<\/p>\n

His performance, following his third-placed finish last month at the\u00a0Crit\u00e9rium du Dauphin\u00e9, suggests the 24-year-old German rider could challenge in the near future.<\/p>\n

Breaking with tradition<\/h4>\n

Traditionally, the last stage is largely processional with riders doing laps around Paris. The Tour broke with tradition after the success of the Paris Olympics road race, which also took in Montmartre, famous for its Sacr\u00e9-Coeur basilica.<\/p>\n

Five in a row<\/h4>\n

It was the fifth straight year where Poga\u010dar and Vingegaard finished 1-2 at the Tour.<\/p>\n

Vingegaard was second in 2021, before beating Poga\u010dar the next two years with the Slovenian second. When Poga\u010dar reclaimed his title last year, Vingegaard was runner-up.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve raised the level of each other much higher and we push each other to the limit,” Poga\u010dar said. \u201cI must say to him, big, big respect.\u201d<\/p>\n

Five major titles<\/h4>\n

Poga\u010dar has also won the Giro d\u2019Italia, doing so last year to become the first cyclist to secure the Giro and Tour double in the same season since the late Marco Pantani in 1998.<\/p>\n

But Poga\u010dar has not yet won the Spanish Vuelta, whereas Anquetil, Hinault and Merckx won all three major races.<\/p>\n

A century of success<\/h4>\n

When Poga\u010dar won the hilly fourth stage of this year\u2019s race, it was the 100th professional victory of his stellar career, all events combined.<\/p>\n

Poga\u010dar is also the\u00a0world road race champion.<\/p>\n

His dominant victory at the Crit\u00e9rium continued his excellent form the\u00a0spring classics.<\/p>\n

After winning stage 4 of the Tour, Poga\u010dar added three more stage wins, including an emphatic\u00a0uphill time trial.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s left to win?<\/h4>\n

He would love to win the Paris-Roubaix classic and Milan San-Remo.<\/p>\n

The 259.2-kilometer (161-mile) Roubaix race is called \u201cThe Hell of the North\u201d because of its dangerous cobblestone sections.<\/p>\n

Poga\u010dar debut appearance at the one-day classic this year saw him seeking to become the first Tour champion to win it since Hinault in 1981. But powerful Dutch rider\u00a0Mathieu van der Poel won\u00a0it for the third straight year.<\/p>\n

Poga\u010dar has also yet to win\u00a0Milan-San Remo, with Van der Poel also beating him there\u00a0this year.<\/p>\n

Expect a fired-up Poga\u010dar next year at Roubaix and Milan-San Remo.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s unsure whether he\u2019ll tackle the Vuelta.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By JEROME PUGMIRE PARIS \u2014 The roads were dangerously slippery after heavy rain. A fourth Tour de France title was all but won anyway, so finishing safely in the pack would do fine for Tadej Poga\u010dar. Especially considering the July 27 final stage had already been neutralized for safety reasons and he just had to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":11581819,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"apple_news_api_created_at":"2025-07-28T04:44:10Z","apple_news_api_id":"a8ee7602-4a90-4841-8549-38e00195047a","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2025-07-28T04:44:13Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AqO52AkqQSEGFSTjgAZUEeg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"subheadline":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[101],"tags":[],"feature":[],"location":[],"type-of-work":[],"coauthors":[24704],"class_list":["post-11581818","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"post_status":"","edit_last":0,"edit_lock":0,"highlights":"","original_byline":"","original_canonical":"","original_category":"","original_email":"","original_id":0,"original_pubdate":"","original_source":"","primary_section":"","primary_tag":0,"print_workflow_body":"","print_workflow_exported_ts":"","print_workflow_exported_username":"","print_workflow_shapes":"","print_workflow_side":"","really_short_title":"","short_title":"","syndication_source":{"canonical":"https:\/\/www.news-herald.com\/2025\/07\/27\/tadej-pogacar-shows-unrivaled-audacity-to-win-his-fourth-tour-de-france-title-in-style","id":"cG9zdDoxODAxMDY4","siteName":"News-Herald","syndicationSourceStack":[{"canonical":"https:\/\/www.news-herald.com\/2025\/07\/27\/tadej-pogacar-shows-unrivaled-audacity-to-win-his-fourth-tour-de-france-title-in-style","id":"cG9zdDoxODAxMDY4","siteName":"News-Herald","sourceUrl":"https:\/\/www.news-herald.com"}],"source_url":"https:\/\/www.news-herald.com","print_workflow_exported_ts":true},"market_neutral_title":"","social_title":"","dfm_hub_post_id":0,"paywall_level":"premium","featured_media_content":{"content_type":"image","content":{"id":11581819,"title":"TNH-L-Tour-de-France-0727-01","filename":"TNH-L-Tour-de-France-0727-01.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/TNH-L-Tour-de-France-0727-01.jpg","link":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/2025\/07\/27\/tadej-pogacar-shows-unrivaled-audacity-to-win-his-fourth-tour-de-france-title-in-style\/tnh-l-tour-de-france-0727-01\/","alt":"","author":"13","description":"","caption":"Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar crosses the finish line of the 21st stage in Paris. (Thibault Camus – The Associated Press)\n","name":"tnh-l-tour-de-france-0727-01","status":"inherit","uploadedTo":11581818,"date":1753677847000,"modified":1753677847000,"menuOrder":0,"mime":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.svg","dateFormatted":"July 28, 2025","nonces":{"update":false,"delete":false,"edit":false},"editLink":false,"meta":false,"authorName":"gqlshare","authorLink":"","uploadedToTitle":"Tadej Poga\u010dar shows unrivaled audacity to win his fourth Tour de France title in style","uploadedToLink":null,"filesizeInBytes":400030,"filesizeHumanReadable":"391 KB","context":"","height":1333,"width":2000,"orientation":"landscape","sizes":{"thumbnail":{"height":"150","width":"150","url":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/TNH-L-Tour-de-France-0727-01.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1","orientation":"landscape"},"medium":{"height":200,"width":300,"url":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/TNH-L-Tour-de-France-0727-01.jpg?w=300","orientation":"landscape"},"large":{"height":682,"width":1024,"url":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/TNH-L-Tour-de-France-0727-01.jpg?w=1024","orientation":"landscape"},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/TNH-L-Tour-de-France-0727-01.jpg","height":1333,"width":2000,"orientation":"landscape"}},"custom_caption":""},"data":[{"id":11581819,"title":"TNH-L-Tour-de-France-0727-01","filename":"TNH-L-Tour-de-France-0727-01.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/TNH-L-Tour-de-France-0727-01.jpg","link":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/2025\/07\/27\/tadej-pogacar-shows-unrivaled-audacity-to-win-his-fourth-tour-de-france-title-in-style\/tnh-l-tour-de-france-0727-01\/","alt":"","author":"13","description":"","caption":"Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar crosses the finish line of the 21st stage in Paris. (Thibault Camus – The Associated Press)\n","name":"tnh-l-tour-de-france-0727-01","status":"inherit","uploadedTo":11581818,"date":1753677847000,"modified":1753677847000,"menuOrder":0,"mime":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.svg","dateFormatted":"July 28, 2025","nonces":{"update":false,"delete":false,"edit":false},"editLink":false,"meta":false,"authorName":"gqlshare","authorLink":"","uploadedToTitle":"Tadej Poga\u010dar shows unrivaled audacity to win his fourth Tour de France title in style","uploadedToLink":null,"filesizeInBytes":400030,"filesizeHumanReadable":"391 KB","context":"","height":1333,"width":2000,"orientation":"landscape","sizes":{"thumbnail":{"height":"150","width":"150","url":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/TNH-L-Tour-de-France-0727-01.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1","orientation":"landscape"},"medium":{"height":200,"width":300,"url":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/TNH-L-Tour-de-France-0727-01.jpg?w=300","orientation":"landscape"},"large":{"height":682,"width":1024,"url":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/TNH-L-Tour-de-France-0727-01.jpg?w=1024","orientation":"landscape"},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/TNH-L-Tour-de-France-0727-01.jpg","height":1333,"width":2000,"orientation":"landscape"}},"custom_caption":""}],"rendered_content":"\"\""},"attachments":[{"ID":11581819,"post_author":13,"post_name":"tnh-l-tour-de-france-0727-01","post_type":"attachment","post_title":"TNH-L-Tour-de-France-0727-01","post_date":"2025-07-28 00:44:07","post_date_gmt":"2025-07-28 04:44:07","post_excerpt":"Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar crosses the finish line of the 21st stage in Paris. (Thibault Camus – The Associated Press)\n","post_status":"inherit","post_parent":11581818,"post_modified":"2025-07-28 00:44:07","post_modified_gmt":"2025-07-28 04:44:07","guid":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/?attachment_id=11581819","post_mime_type":"image\/jpeg","credit":"","prepared_image":{"id":11581819,"title":"TNH-L-Tour-de-France-0727-01","filename":"TNH-L-Tour-de-France-0727-01.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/TNH-L-Tour-de-France-0727-01.jpg","link":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/2025\/07\/27\/tadej-pogacar-shows-unrivaled-audacity-to-win-his-fourth-tour-de-france-title-in-style\/tnh-l-tour-de-france-0727-01\/","alt":"","author":"13","description":"","caption":"Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar crosses the finish line of the 21st stage in Paris. (Thibault Camus – The Associated Press)\n","name":"tnh-l-tour-de-france-0727-01","status":"inherit","uploadedTo":11581818,"date":1753677847000,"modified":1753677847000,"menuOrder":0,"mime":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.svg","dateFormatted":"July 28, 2025","nonces":{"update":false,"delete":false,"edit":false},"editLink":false,"meta":false,"authorName":"gqlshare","authorLink":"","uploadedToTitle":"Tadej Poga\u010dar shows unrivaled audacity to win his fourth Tour de France title in style","uploadedToLink":null,"filesizeInBytes":400030,"filesizeHumanReadable":"391 KB","context":"","height":1333,"width":2000,"orientation":"landscape","sizes":{"thumbnail":{"height":"150","width":"150","url":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/TNH-L-Tour-de-France-0727-01.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1","orientation":"landscape"},"medium":{"height":200,"width":300,"url":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/TNH-L-Tour-de-France-0727-01.jpg?w=300","orientation":"landscape"},"large":{"height":682,"width":1024,"url":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/TNH-L-Tour-de-France-0727-01.jpg?w=1024","orientation":"landscape"},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/TNH-L-Tour-de-France-0727-01.jpg","height":1333,"width":2000,"orientation":"landscape"}},"custom_captions":[]},"custom_captions":[]}],"authors":[{"ID":9312218,"display_name":"The Associated Press","description":"","first_name":"The","last_name":"Press","user_nicename":"the-associated-press","user_login":"The Associated Press","user_email":"","type":"guest-author","linked_account":0,"website":"","twitter":"","facebook":"","google_plus":""}],"taxonomies":{"category":[{"term_id":101,"name":"Sports","slug":"sports","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":101,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":194648,"filter":"raw"}]},"featured_media_array":{"id":11581819,"title":"TNH-L-Tour-de-France-0727-01","filename":"TNH-L-Tour-de-France-0727-01.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/TNH-L-Tour-de-France-0727-01.jpg","link":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/2025\/07\/27\/tadej-pogacar-shows-unrivaled-audacity-to-win-his-fourth-tour-de-france-title-in-style\/tnh-l-tour-de-france-0727-01\/","alt":"","author":"13","description":"","caption":"Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar crosses the finish line of the 21st stage in Paris. (Thibault Camus – The Associated Press)\n","name":"tnh-l-tour-de-france-0727-01","status":"inherit","uploadedTo":11581818,"date":1753677847000,"modified":1753677847000,"menuOrder":0,"mime":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.svg","dateFormatted":"July 28, 2025","nonces":{"update":false,"delete":false,"edit":false},"editLink":false,"meta":false,"authorName":"gqlshare","authorLink":"","uploadedToTitle":"Tadej Poga\u010dar shows unrivaled audacity to win his fourth Tour de France title in style","uploadedToLink":null,"filesizeInBytes":400030,"filesizeHumanReadable":"391 KB","context":"","height":1333,"width":2000,"orientation":"landscape","sizes":{"thumbnail":{"height":"150","width":"150","url":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/TNH-L-Tour-de-France-0727-01.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1","orientation":"landscape"},"medium":{"height":200,"width":300,"url":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/TNH-L-Tour-de-France-0727-01.jpg?w=300","orientation":"landscape"},"large":{"height":682,"width":1024,"url":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/TNH-L-Tour-de-France-0727-01.jpg?w=1024","orientation":"landscape"},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/TNH-L-Tour-de-France-0727-01.jpg","height":1333,"width":2000,"orientation":"landscape"}},"custom_caption":""},"syndication_canonical":"https:\/\/www.news-herald.com\/2025\/07\/27\/tadej-pogacar-shows-unrivaled-audacity-to-win-his-fourth-tour-de-france-title-in-style\/","apple_news_notices":[],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/baltimoresun.com\/2025\/07\/27\/tadej-pogacar-shows-unrivaled-audacity-to-win-his-fourth-tour-de-france-title-in-style\/","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Tadej Poga\u010dar shows unrivaled audacity to win his fourth Tour de France title in style","url":"http:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/2025\/07\/27\/tadej-pogacar-shows-unrivaled-audacity-to-win-his-fourth-tour-de-france-title-in-style\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/2025\/07\/27\/tadej-pogacar-shows-unrivaled-audacity-to-win-his-fourth-tour-de-france-title-in-style\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/TNH-L-Tour-de-France-0727-01.jpg?w=150","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/TNH-L-Tour-de-France-0727-01.jpg"},"articleSection":"Other","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"The Associated Press"}],"creator":["The Associated Press"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Baltimore Sun","logo":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/baltimore-sun-fallback.png?w=600"},"keywords":[],"dateCreated":"2025-07-27T21:48:58Z","datePublished":"2025-07-27T21:48:58Z","dateModified":"2025-07-28T04:44:11Z"},"rendered":"