PARIS, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Tadej Pogacar won a record-equaling fifth Tour de France title after finishing safely in Sunday's 21st and final stage in Paris.

Pogacar's previous triumphs in cycling's most prestigious road race came in 2020, 2021, 2024 and 2025. The 27-year-old Slovenian joined Belgium's Eddy Merckx, Spain's Miguel Indurain and Frenchmen Jacques Anquetil and Bernard Hinault as the only riders to win the Tour five times.

"I'm really incredibly proud to be a fifth time winner of the biggest race in the world," Pogacar said.

"It was a big goal to get five and, I'm not going to lie, it's one goal achieved," he added.

Pogacar completed the 3,197-kilometer race in 73 hours, 56 minutes and 26 seconds, finishing six minutes and 26 seconds ahead of Belgium's Remco Evenepoel in the overall standings, with Mexico's Isaac del Toro third.

Pogacar won five stages in this year's race to take his career tally to 26, placing him fourth on the all-time list behind only Mark Cavendish (35), Merckx (34) and Hinault (28).

He had all but secured the title during the previous two mountain stages, both of which finished on the Alpe d'Huez climb.

The final stage was shortened to 88.7 kilometers because of wildfires in southwestern France.

Denmark's Mads Pedersen won the green jersey as the race's leading sprinter, while Ecuador's Richard Carapaz claimed the polka-dot jersey as king of the mountains and Del Toro took the white jersey as the best young rider. ■