UAE Team Emirates rider Tadej Pogacar said he was glad to be part of a "golden age" for cycling after securing a third Tour de France title on Sunday, following wins in 2020 and 2021.
Pogacar, 25, capped a dominant performance, winning the final day's time-trial as defending champion Jonas Vingegaard came in second to seal second overall ahead of Remco Evenepoel, third on the day and also third overall.
Victory not only re-established Pogacar as the leading rider in the sport, but made him the first to complete a Giro d'Italia-Tour de France double since Marco Pantani in 1998.
"It was an amazing journey. What a battle with Jonas and Remco. So much happened," said the Slovenian, who finished six minutes and 17 seconds ahead of Vingegaard in the final standings. Evenepoel was 9:18 off the pace.
"We are living in the golden age of cycling. The rivalry with Remco (Evenepoel), Jonas (Vingegaard), Primoz (Roglic) is just incredible. We have to take advantage of this moment."
Pogacar won six stages on this edition of the Tour, just as he did during his victorious Giro campaign earlier in the season.
"To achieve the double is incredible," added Pogacar.
"When I won the Giro, some people said that it would serve as a safety net for me if I didn't win the Tour. Winning the Tour still represents the level above and winning the two is the next level."
Pogacar could easily have played it safe having started the final day with a commanding lead over Vingegaard, but once again pushed for the stage win, his third in a row, to finish the Tour in style.
Eritrea's Biniam Girmay won the green jersey for the points classification with Richard Carapaz of Ecuador taking the polka dot jersey for the mountains classification.
Pogacar's UAE Team Emirates won the team classification, while Evenepoel, who won the stage seven time trial, took the white jersey for the best young rider in his first Tour.
Winning again will be on Pogacar's mind at the Paris Olympics when he looks to improve on his road race bronze medal from the Tokyo Games. Then he will aim for world gold in Zurich in September, having claimed a bronze in Glasgow two years ago.
"It is an Olympic year and there are the World Championships, too," he said.
"I really like the course this year at the Worlds. Switzerland is a nice country. To have the rainbow jersey would be a dream."
Meanwhile, Vingegaard revealed he will not be competing at the Vuelta a Espana.
The Visma-Lease a Bike rider, who won the last two tours, entered this year's event after a three-month break following multiple serious injuries, including a collapsed lung and fractured rib he sustained in a crash at the Tour of the Basque Country in April.
The Dane, 27, never really appeared like he could retain his title after the injuries, though he did secure a stage win.
"I'm tired, I don't think I've ever been this tired after a Grand Tour before. To be honest, I'm exhausted," Vingegaard told Eurosport. "Of course I want to come back and win it again. I think now I need a bit of rest.
"Unfortunately, I will not be at the start of the Vuelta a Espana. I have different priorities this year, but for sure I will be there again in the future.
"It's been quite some journey because it's only three and a half months ago I had the worst crash of my career, breaking almost every bone in the upper right side of my body, and puncturing both lungs."
