The 2026 Tour de France featured a gripping day-by-day duel between two top riders with contrasting strengths, complete with bold escapes, clever team moves and shifting fortunes that built to a thrilling peak on the hardest stage. The fight for the green jersey between Mads Pedersen and Jasper Philipsen proved memorable.

Expectations for similar drama in the yellow jersey race faded quickly. All tension vanished with 42km left in stage six above La Mongie when Tadej Pogacar dropped Jonas Vingegaard and other contenders on the Col du Tourmalet. His sharp attack produced the usual result, creating a gap that proved decisive.

Former FDJ manager Marc Madiot summed it up bluntly for RMC radio: one rider attacked during the entire event, and that single move by Pogacar ended the contest for everyone.

Top cyclists often remove doubt rather than build it, leaving fans to focus on other contests such as the points race or the mountains jersey.

After the Tourmalet move, Pogacar looked certain to become the fifth rider with five Tour wins alongside Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain, and he achieved that on Sunday. With talents like Paul Seixas emerging and Remco Evenepoel established, many expect further records if he continues.

Pogacar excels in several ways, yet within this small group he remains distinct as the youngest and the only one without setbacks or doubts along the way. No moment arose where victory seemed at risk.

Rumors of stomach trouble hidden by black shorts in the final week do not compare to real problems such as Hinault's broken nose from a crash near Saint-Etienne or Merckx's painful injury that required constant treatment and padding during his 1974 win. Merckx took eight stages but nearly faltered on the Pla d'Adet climb and never fully recovered.

Other past winners faced late pressure too, from Armstrong's need to seal the 2003 race in the final time trial to Indurain's team crisis in the Massif Central in 1995 and Anquetil's close call with Poulidor in 1964.

Among the all-time greats Pogacar already surpasses Indurain, a strong stage racer who avoided one-day events and never claimed a world title. He also outshines Anquetil in that area, though he cannot attempt the unusual double of the Dauphine and Bordeaux-Paris in one go.

Against Hinault the numbers invite more discussion. Pogacar leads in one-day victories with 13 Monuments and two world titles, yet Hinault holds more Grand Tour wins including two each in the Giro and Vuelta. Merckx still tops the Slovenian in total Grand Tours, world titles, Monuments and the hour record.

Arguments over the best ever will persist, especially if Pogacar targets the Vuelta and worlds later this season, where he would likely prevail. Only Merckx and Hinault in their peak years invited such expectations, underscoring Pogacar's current standing.