But he has already smashed another record with his landmark week at No. 1 – the first rider ever to achieve the feat.
Pogacar has held the top rank for almost four years, since he began his stint at the summit on September 28, 2021.
Pogacar clinched his second Tour de France title in 2021 before he went on to lead the rankings, and since then, he has claimed two more general classification wins at the iconic race, as well as a Giro d’Italia victory in 2024.
The world road race title, Criterium du Dauphine, Tour of Flanders, Liege-Bastogne-Liege, Paris-Nice and Volta a Catalunya are just a handful of his other achievements in that time – some of which he has claimed on more than one occasion.
Elsewhere in the UCI world rankings – updated on Tuesday – Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) rose to No. 2, followed by Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck), reshuffling with new No. 4 Remco Evenepoel (Soudal–Quick-Step) and Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) now in fifth.
“I’m super happy that it’s over,” he said after the Tour de France. “But I quite enjoyed the whole Tour and I think I will maybe already miss it next week.
“It was a pleasure to be here, to wear this yellow jersey, to ride with my team-mates and fight against all my opponents.”
On the upcoming Vuelta, which begins in August, he added: “Let’s take one week easy now. I want to enjoy some summer days.
“We were training so many times for heat adaptation and in the end the Tour was not so hot, so I want some hot days now, but without the suffering on the bike.
“Let’s take a week off and see from then on.”
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