PARIS — Tadej Pogačar claimed his fourth Tour de France title on Sunday, cementing his status as the most dominant rider of his generation and joining Britain’s Chris Froome on the all-time winners’ list.

The 26-year-old Slovenian, who previously triumphed in 2020, 2021 and 2024, delivered a near-flawless performance over three weeks, excelling in every department, even coming close to prevailing on a spectacular final stage on the Champs-Élysées after an epic duel with Belgian Wout van Aert.

Pogačar had no need to contest the stage win, especially given the danger of crashing on slick roads. Yet as the rain fell heavily, he showed his relentless thirst for victory and attacked anyway, setting a tremendous pace in the Montmartre climbs as fans cheered.

Only five riders were left with Pogačar on the third ascension of the 1.1-kilometer Montmartre hill, with Van Aert winning the 21st stage.

“Just speechless to win the Tour de France; this one feels especially amazing,” Pogačar said. “Just super proud that I can wear this yellow jersey.

“This was one of the hardest Tours I’ve ever been in.”

Two-time Tour champion Jonas Vingegaard finished the overall race 4 minutes, 24 seconds behind Pogačar in second place and Florian Lipowitz, making his Tour debut, was 11 minutes back in third.

It was the fifth straight year where Pogačar and Vingegaard finished 1-2 at the Tour.

“We’ve raised the level of each other much higher, and we push each other to the limit,” Pogačar said. “I must say to him, big, big respect.”

The competitive element was largely neutralized Sunday after organizers decided to freeze the times with about 50 kilometers left in the stage due to hazardous road conditions in driving rain.

It did not prevent Pogačar from going for it, but Van Aert proved to be the best on the day, beating Italian Davide Ballerini and third-placed Matej Mohorič. Pogačar took fourth place.

“Hats off to Wout,” Pogačar said. “He was incredibly strong.”

The world champion effectively sealed his victory in the Pyrenees, with a brutal attack on the climb to Hautacam and a commanding victory in the uphill individual time trial, leaving Vingegaard more than four minutes behind before controlling the race.

With his latest triumph, Pogačar equals Froome (2013, 2015-17) and now only trails cycling greats Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Jacques Anquetil and Miguel Induráin, who share the record with five titles.

Pogačar also secured the polka-dot jersey for the mountains classification, underlining his all-round dominance, while Italy’s Jonathan Milan clinched the green jersey for the points competition.

Lipowitz won the white jersey for the best U-25 rider.

Pogačar won four stages this year to take his career Tour tally to 21 and 30 at major races, including six at the Giro d’Italia and three at the Spanish Vuelta.

He won the Giro d’Italia 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. Pogačar has not yet won the Spanish Vuelta, whereas Anquetil, Hinault and Merckx won all three major races.

Traditionally, the last stage of the Tour de France 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 place in Montmartre, famous for its Sacré Coeur basilica.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.