The 2026 Tour de France is over. That was fast, wasn’t it? We’ve been keeping our The 2026 Tour de France Power Rankings updated through the race, and now we look back with our cold retrospective eyes on who the real winners were in this year’s edition.
The Big Winner: Tadej Pogacar
It’s a bit obvious, and we can see the argument against calling a person who’s meeting expectations the biggest winner. But in this case, the expectations were so high and he so thoroughly met them, winning his fifth Tour (the third in a row), several stages, going on work experience as a domestique, and generally making cycling look like fun.
Most Impressive Streak: Nelson Oliveira
Movistar’s Nelson Oliveira finished his 24th consecutive Grand Tour, which started with the 2011 Vuelta a España and encompasses 500 stages. That’s longevity.
Worst Crash: Einer Rubio
There were a few contenders in this year’s race, but none were as viscerally horrifying as Einer Rubio slamming head first into the back of a UAE team car on Alpe d’Huez. Covered in blood and requiring 20 stitches to his face, the Movistar rider was also stuck on the mountain for over an hour until he could be extracted through the fans to a helipad. Get well soon.
Young Rider: Paul Seixas
Look, it’s obvious, we know that. We could go more obscure, but it’s silly to do so: this is a teenager who finished fourth in the Tour, and who never really looked out of place at the front end of the race for the full three weeks.
Biggest Bollocks: Carapaz and Pedersen
It’s a tie. The point of this 21 stage competition, after all, is to not separate or rank people. Well, fine, we admit that we don’t want to take credit away from either of these riders. Both attacked a lot, achieved their objectives, and added excitement to a race that had been stale in the GC since the very start.
Best Sprinter: Tim Merlier
Tim Merlier is our pick. Jasper Philipsen was off the pace for most of the race, with a single win in Voiron salvaging it. Mads Pedersen secured the green jersey, but in the straight sprints Merlier was untouchable, with three separate stage wins.
Best Stage: Bourg d’Oisans to Alpe d’Huez
Stage 20 from Bourg d’Oisans to Alpe d’Huez would normally be about 14km long. This time, they went the other direction, hitting the Col de la Croix de Fer, Galibier, Sarenne, and the final few kilometers of the Alpe. Great racing, great stage design. And we’ve ridden all of those roads so we knew every inch of the course.