Pogacar wins 2nd straight Tour de France

Slovenian rider Tadej Pogacar retained his Tour de France title as cycling's crown jewel wrapped up on Sunday in Paris.

Pogacar's victory over countryman Primoz Roglic in the 2020 edition came as a shock, but his spot atop the podium at this year's race has been a foregone conclusion for the better part of the three weeks.

After Sunday's famed 21st stage around the Champs-Elysees in the French capital, UAE Emirates rider Pogacar claimed three of the Tour’s four classifications: The yellow jersey, the King of the Mountains jersey, and the best young rider jersey.

Joining Pogacar on the podium in Paris are Jumbo-Visma rider Jonas Vingegaard and Richard Carapaz of Ineos Grenadiers. Vingegaard became an unlikely candidate for general classification honors following pre-race favorite and teammate Roglic's withdrawal.

Vingegaard and Carapaz were the only riders to finish within 10 minutes of Pogacar, whose 5:20 margin of victory is the largest since Italian Vincenzo Nibali won the 2014 event by 7:39.

The 22-year-old will now fly to Japan on Monday to prepare for the men's cycling road race at the Tokyo Olympics.

Mark Cavendish was awarded the green jersey for points classification for the second time in his celebrated career and first since 2011. Cavendish, affectionately known as the "Manx Missile," came up short in a frenzied sprint against Jumbo-Visma's Belgian talisman Wout van Aert.

Cavendish finishes the 2021 Tour de France with four stage victories and 34 for his career, level with cycling icon Eddy Merckx for the most all time.