All-time cycling great Eddy Merckx has joined the chorus of praise for Tadej Pogačar’s Tour of Flanders exploits, which saw the Slovenian join Merckx and Louison Bobet as just the third rider in history to win both the Ronde and the Tour de France.
“It was an XXL victory because he did it with panache and style,” Merckx told La Dèrniere Heure newspaper.
“When he goes for it, you can see he’s not thinking about the consequences. He doesn’t ask himself any questions. That’s real cycling, the kind that people love. Tadej is an exceptional rider and if he wants, he’s going to have an enormous palmares.”
Merckx was not willing to provide a direct contrast between his own exploits with what Pogačar’s achievements, saying, “we can’t compare my generation and modern-day cycling, but it’s clear that Pogacar can win everything. Even Paris-Roubaix, which on paper, is the least suitable race for him.”
Merckx was equally direct when talking to the Flemish media, telling Het Nieuwsblad that, “since Sunday afternoon in Oudenaarde, Tadej has entered the history of the sport.”
“He is anything but a rider run by computer data, a trend which had taken over the sport too much in recent years. His presence in these kinds of races is a blessing for cycling fans.”
Apart from being convinced that Pogačar, 24, can go on to win all five Monuments in his career as well as repeat his victory in Flanders in the years to come should he return, Merckx also had praise for other riders in the Ronde, notably Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck), second, and Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost), fifth.
“He [Van der Poel] raced very cleverly but Tadej was just a little better. And did you see Neilson Powless? He’s a debutant who used to race with my son’s team as a U23. A class act.”
Merckx was less appreciative of DSM’s strategy of massing and slow-pacing at the front of the race on the Kortekeer, calling it “dangerous”. He also had some sharp-edged comments about Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), fourth, saying “he didn’t have the legs to follow the big attacks."
"At moments like that, you can regret not winning Gent-Wevelgem,” which Van Aert gifted last Sunday to his teammate Christophe Laporte, and which Merckx said he would not have done in Van Aert's place. "But," Merckx concluded, "that was his choice.”
