Pogacar finds joy in winning and helping teammate Del Toro

PARIS, July 26 : The Tadej Pogacar who won the Tour de France on Sunday with a record-equalling fifth title, and his third in a row, was a different man to the rider of last year.

The grumpy Pogacar of the 2025 Tour's third week when, he later said, he had knee issues, gave way to a joyful one in this year's edition, mainly due to his plan to help teammate Isaac del Toro secure third place overall.

The sight of Pogacar leaving the press conference room on Saturday singing "Torito", in reference to Del Toro, highlighted his lightness over the three-week race.

Pogacar's dominance was such a matter of course that he offered the second-stage victory to Del Toro in Barcelona, regardless of the bonus seconds he could have gained with the win.

The Slovenian eventually claimed five stage wins on this Tour, taking his tally to 26 in seven editions. He made the difference on the first major high-altitude day, during stage six, which tackled the Col du Tourmalet.

WINS IN HARD STAGES

"Pogi" was already holding a commanding lead of more than two-and-a-half minutes over Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard when he put the hammer down in Le Lioran's stage 10.

The competition eased with Vingegaard's withdrawal on stage 15 following a crash, hours after the Dane and the Slovenian had been woken up in the night to undergo anti-doping tests.

Even then, Pogacar was not the most vehement rider against night-time controls, a response which drew criticism within the peloton.

With two-time Tour winner Vingegaard out, Pogacar turned into a dream teammate for Del Toro, while making sure he himself secured some of the hardest stages of this edition, including Le Markstein on stage 14 and the feted Alpe d'Huez on Friday's 19th stage.

Once it was clear that he would