The news of Pogacar’s withdrawal will make Jonas Vingegaard the overwhelming favourite for this year’s Vuelta. The Dane has never won a Grand Tour outside the Tour de France, having finished second to teammate Sepp Kuss in 2023, and showed in the final week of the Tour that he is back climbing at his best level.

The four-time Tour de France champion underlined his era-defining superiority again this summer - but where does he go next?

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 Pogacar. Especially considering Sunday's final stage had already been neutralized for safety reasons and he just had to complete the race.

The 2025 Tour de France has been dominated by Tadej Pogačar. What to know about the Slovenian cycling star on verge of fourth title.

Although Tadej Pogacar appears on the verge of emulating cycling great Eddy Merckx, the Slovenian says he is in no rush to chase history, warning that the risk of burnout looms large in one of the most mentally and physically demanding sports.

A thrilling final stage in Paris brought an end to a Tour de France competed at breakneck speed for all three weeks

As Tadej Pogacar relaxed on the sands of Seychelles, the 2025 Tour de France route was revealed last October. So was, it turned out, a theme of the Slovenian's pursuit of a fourth Tour title: the ghosts of Pogi's past.

Tadej Pogacar closed out a supreme 21-day performance to win the Tour de France in Paris on Sunday, crushing his rivals in the 3,400km slog to rack up a fourth title.

* 2018 was Pogacar's breakthrough year. He won the Tour de l'Avenir, a stage race for young riders often seen as a springboard for the Tour de France. He also won the mountains classification in that race.

Tadej Pogacar rolled across the line atop La Plagne, wet and miserable. The yellow jersey appeared to weigh him down, like a suit of armor worn to guard against heavy blows which couldn’t reach him anyway.