Tadej Pogačar has proven he's the best of all time, I don't see anyone challenging him for another two years – Sean Kelly's Tour column

What can you say about Tadej Pogačar? Once again, he dominated the race from start to finish. There was talk before this Tour de France that Jonas Vingegaard might be that bit closer to Pogačar's level, but for the time the Dane was in the race, it didn't look that way.

The way he climbed Alpe d'Huez on stage 19, the record-breaking time that he ascended it and the time he took back on the breakaway, there's no other rider in the race able to live with him on that climb. He was so confident on that climb; you could tell from the moment he attacked, and I think he could have gone faster if he needed to – there are no words to explain how impressive it was from the Slovenian. We've seen so many great rides from Pogačar, but that was the best we've ever witnessed.

For all Pogačar's untouchable displays, though, his UAE Team Emirates-XRG squad didn't have a straightforward Tour de France. There was a lot of sickness they had to deal with: Brandon McNulty was unable to finish, Adam Yates struggled for a few days, and while the team said that Tim Wellens wasn't under the weather, he told Belgian media a different story. So when you're in a team, and your teammates are coming down with illnesses, there's going to be concern that you either lose them from the race, or come down with something yourself. Of course, you never hear the full stories during the race, just little bits of information, and we saw that with Pogačar's knee injury last year, so it will be interesting to see what comes out in the next few days.

Nonetheless, that only makes the final result all the more impressive.

Naturally, focus now turns to what Pogačar will do next, both in the short and long term. The first question is: how many more years will he commit to the Tour de France? Because, while the media, pundits, and fans like to talk about records, Pogačar repeatedly says that's not of much interest to him; he just wants to win different races. It's something that I think he means too, especially when you look at Mark Cavendish's stage win record, that Pogačar is just nine wins away from equaling. There are times when he is going all out for the stage, but others, like stage 20, when the win was certainly within his grasp, where he was riding in support of Del Toro's podium bid.

But in terms of the yellow jersey record, it's a difficult one to read: he could win another two Tours or simply call it quits after next year, especially with the LA 2028 Olympics on his hit list. Either way, at least for the next two years, Vingegaard, Remco Evenepoel, and Paul Seixas will not be able to challenge him.

I think another key factor that will dictate what Pogačar does next is the state his body is in currently. Compared to last year, he's finished this Grand Tour in much better shape. We know that he backed off on some stages in 2025 because of his knee injury, but this year he played with his rivals; you could see that on Alpe d'Huez.

Because of that, I could see him racing La Vuelta a España as soon as this year. He didn't have to go really deep at any point, neither physically nor mentally, because he has shown mental fatigue at the end of Tours previously; he looks fresh. La Vuelta is also definitely a target of his; that's the one he wants to win.

How does Pogačar stack up against other five-time winners?

Pogačar now joins an elite club of just five riders to win Le Tour five times – Anquetil, Merckx, Hinault, Indurain, and now Pogačar. I had to ride against the latter three during my career – even if Merckx and I only crossed over for a year of our professional careers – and would say that it's difficult to compare Pogačar with his clubmates.

They all raced in a time when everyone was fairly equal in terms of equipment and preparation. But I think Pogačar's standout attribute, compared to these other guys, is that he's strong in every department. He can sprint, he can time trial, he can climb at a rate that no one else can live with, and if you go back through the other winners, it's not the same story. Bernard Hinault, for example, was good on the big climbs, but he wasn't a super climber and had to limit his losses at times. The same applies for Eddy Merckx; he had to really fight to avoid losing time to his challengers on those mountaintop finishes.

But Pogačar is just riding away from his challengers and has proven to be the best of all time.

Mentally too, in this modern era of cycling, you have to be more relaxed than in previous generations given all the media attention and spotlight. Compared to Vingegaard, for example, he's definitely a much more relaxed and open person, which seems to be a good way to be for him – not too focused or concentrated on the race day after day; it probably makes it easier for him.

Pogačar, who is very open and sometimes even a bit blasé, is in stark contrast to the likes of Miguel Indurain, who wouldn't say boo to a goose. He was a good guy who just did his own thing during races, but he was rather timid. I think that's down to a shift across the sport more than anything, though.

How do you solve a problem like Pogačar?

I previously wrote about why I was against Paul Seixas riding the Tour de France at just 19, especially riding for GC as he did. With the end of Pogačar's dominance still an unknown, I think it's going to be another two years before we really see if Seixas can challenge Pogačar, and even then, if Pogačar continues to race the Tour, it will be a tough ask.

The magic question with the Frenchman is whether he’ll continue to improve at the rate he has in the last 12 months.

The concern I have about Seixas is that going from racing in the junior ranks two seasons ago to riding for GC at the Tour, while mightily impressive, might leave long-term traces of fatigue with the efforts he’s put in at this age. I’d be afraid that his full potential might never be reached because he’s tackling the Tour de France at just 19.

When you compare Seixas with Del Toro, you only have to think about last year’s Giro d’Italia and how the Mexican wasn't being talked up as a big favourite, without the expectation of a cycling-mad nation on him as Seixas does. That can play a part in performance.

That being said, were Pogačar to step aside from the Tour, based on their performances this year, Evenepoel, Seixas and Del Toro – who can’t ride away from others like his UAE leader – will make for a very interesting, suspenseful Tour whenever that day comes.

Of course, that’s still the question mark on everyone’s lips, not least those other GC hopefuls dreaming of one day winning the maillot jaune. I know Merckx suggested that Pogačar could even win all three Tours in one year, but I’m not sure if him planning to do that is in his character, given how conservatively you’d have to race. I just don’t see it in most scenarios, apart from if he rides the Giro and Tour, gets through both feeling fairly fresh and thinks 'I might as well go to La Vuelta, if I win it great, if I blow up, so be it' and I reckon people would respect him either way.

But that's part of the beauty about watching cycling while Pogačar is around; you really just don't know what the guy is going to do next. He has such a long palmarès already, so where does it stop?