FILE - Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar of Slovenia celebrates on the podium after the twenty-first stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 132.3 kilometers (82.1 miles) with start in Mantes-la-Ville and finish on the Champs-Elysees in Paris, France, on July 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus, File)

PARIS — Tadej Pogacar has never appeared stronger as he stands on the verge of joining the ranks of the Tour de France’ s greatest champions.

The two-time world champion has crushed his rivals this season, across all terrains. That’s primed Pogacar to chase a record-equaling fifth Tour victory starting on Saturday in Barcelona.

The only four riders to have won five Tours are Belgian Eddy Merckx, Spaniard Miguel Indurain and Frenchmen Jacques Anquetil and Bernard Hinault.

American rider Lance Armstrong won seven Tours from 1999-2005 but was stripped of them for participating in a systemic doping program.

Pogacar’s insatiable thirst for winning has drawn comparisons with Merckx, widely regarded as the greatest of all time.

Some observers believe the 27-year-old from Slovenia could eventually surpass Merckx’s records from the 1960s and 70s.

Take this season, for instance: In only 16 race days he recorded 13 victories, including general classifications wins at the Tour de Suisse and the Tour de Romandie, as well as one-day triumphs at Liege-Bastogne-Liege, the Tour of Flanders, Milan San Remo and Strade Bianche.

His only setback came at Paris-Roubaix, where Belgian rider Wout van Aert prevented Pogaaar rider from completing the set of cycling’s five Monuments.

Pogacar’s latest outing, at the Tour de Suisse, was a masterclass in which he left only crumbs for his rivals.

He finished 6 minutes, 32 seconds ahead of second-placed Ecuador rider Richard Carapaz.

“The work has been done, I’m really looking forward to the whole month in France,” Pogacar says.

The UAE Team Emirates-XRG leader is not only the strongest rider, he can also rely on talented and experienced teammates. Pogacar is supported in his quest by 2025 Giro d’Italia runner-up Isaac del Toro — a key asset in the mountains — Felix Grobschartner, Brandon McNulty, Nils Politt, Florian Vermeersch, Tim Wellens, and Adam Yates, who finished third on the 2023 Tour.

“I know I’ll have a fantastic group of teammates,” Pogacar says. “We have a lot of confidence in each other and have built up a lot of experience together over the years.”

Who can beat Pogacar?

Even though Pogacar is in a class of his own, cycling is a brutal sport where a crash or a moment of fatigue can shatter a rider’s hopes in an instant. Perfectly aware that fortunes can change in the blink of an eye, his rivals will line up with their morale high.

Like in every summer for the past five years, Jonas Vingegaard of Visma-Lease a Bike should be Pogacar’s main rival. They have split Tour victories since 2020, with Vingegaard taking home the yellow jersey in 2022 and ’23.

The Danish rider is aiming to complete the men’s Giro-Tour double. When he won the Giro in May, Vingegaard became the eighth male rider to win all three Grand Tours.

“That gave me a tremendous amount of confidence heading into the Tour de France,” he says. “A third Tour victory would be a dream come true. It has been three years since I last won the Tour and ever since then it has remained one of my biggest goals.”

Despite van Aert’s absence because of an elbow injury, Vingegaard can count on a strong group of domestiques including top American climbers Matteo Jorgenson and Sepp Kuss, as well as highly rated Tour debutants Per Strand Hagenes and Davide Piganzoli.

Among others hoping to dethrone Pogacar, Remco Evenepoel and Florian Lipowitz — third last year — will share the leadership at Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe.

France cheering for Seixas

France will have its eyes fixed on a rider making his Tour debut with the ambition of winning it one day.

At 19, Paul Seixas will become one of the youngest riders ever to take part in cycling’s showpiece race. He’s widely regarded as France’s best hope of a first champion since Hinault in 1985. But the CMA CGM Decathlon team leader has been downplaying his hopes.

Seixas crashed recently at the Tour Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes though he says he’s recovered well.

“I feel ready to give everything to get through these three weeks and achieve the best possible overall result,” he says. “I’m not setting a more specific goal because I’m heading into the unknown, since I’ve never competed in a race this long and demanding before.”