Mathieu van der Poel pulled off one of the most astonishing victories of his career on Sunday, holding off the peloton on the Champs-Élysées to win stage 21 of the Tour de France.Van der Poel and yellow jersey Tadej Pogačar worked together after going clear on the third and final ascent of the Montmartre climb, but it looked a long shot for them to hold off the various sprinters teams massed about 10 seconds behind them. Pogačar was caught with around 700 meters to go but Van der Poel pressed on, and found another surge of speed just as it looked like he was going to be overtaken.Pogačar safely crossed the line in 30th place, and becomes a five-time winner of the Tour de France, one of only five men to ever reach that landmark, while Mads Pedersen, Richard Carapaz and Isaac del Toro win the green, polka dot and white jerseys respectively.Jacob Whitehead and Duncan Alexander recap a memorable final stage of the 2026 raceThe absurd brilliance of Van der PoelVan der Poel’s face was a grimace, Tadej Pogačar’s more of a smile, but both were rapt in pain. These were the expressions of men with nothing left to prove, but who put themselves there anyway.Cycling’s beauty is in its unlikely alliances, the greatest classics rider of his generation and the greatest rider of any generation forged together on the Champs-Élysées, working together to find one of the lone prizes to have escaped them.Van der Poel had attacked on the third climb of Montmartre, bringing only Pogačar with him. The pair time trialled their way to the line, bouncing over Parisian cobbles as they were chased down by a Visma-led group, then a Decathlon CMA CGM train, working for Olav Kooij.This was an escape that should not have worked, a lead of just 12 seconds with 10km remaining. It showed the absurdity of these riders, of these performances, that it did.Van der Poel and Tadej Pogačar put on an exhibition for the fans in Paris (Xavier Galiana / AFP via Getty Images)Pogacar tied up, for the first time all Tour, in the final kilometer. He crossed the line at walking speed, a mortal for a moment at least, as much as the yellow jersey can be, freewheeling down the Champs-Élysées.But out front, Van der Poel was still pushing, launching a heroic sprint with 800m to go. It was doomed until it wasn’t. Jasper Philipsen and Pedersen launched their sprints with 300m to go, Van der Poel’s legs visibly slowing in front of them. All three crossed the line in a blur. Philipsen’s arm went up. He celebrated his teammate’s win.