Tadej Pogačar has said that comparisons between himself and Eddy Merckx, the Belgian considered to be the greatest cyclist of all time, are “complete nonsense”.
The Slovenian is a two-time world champion and four-time Tour de France winner. This season, he has the chance to join two exclusive clubs alongside Merckx by winning a fifth Tour and completing the set of all five Monuments; Pogačar is targeting victories at Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix to add to his previous at the Tour of Flanders, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Il Lombardia.
“There is so much talk about me and comparing to Eddy [Merckx] etc. For me, it’s complete nonsense,” Pogačar told Cycling Weekly on Wednesday, as he announced his role as global ambassador for crypto exchange KuCoin.
“I like to live in the moment, in the present, not thinking too much about the records or whatever. I want to keep having fun, that’s the most important [thing] in cycling, in sport, in life, too; that what you do is for fun, that you have some sort of challenges, that you have some goals, but that you don’t overdo it also and overthink it.”
After Pogačar’s victory at the 2024 UCI World Championships in Switzerland, where he won with a 100km attack, Merckx told French publication L’Équipe that it was “obvious [Pogačar] is now above me – deep down, I already thought as much when I saw what he did on the last Tour de France, but tonight there’s no more doubt about it.”
Merckx later backtracked on his comments, telling Spanish outlet Relevo that the Slovenian had “a long way to go” to be considered greater than him.
In 2024, Pogačar completed the Triple Crown of cycling, winning the Giro d’Italia, Tour de France and World Championships in the same year, a feat Merckx achieved in 1974. The Belgian, now 80 years old, retired in 1978 with more than 500 wins.
Pogačar has been the UCI’s number-one ranked male cyclist for the past five years, and reached a milestone 100 career wins at the Tour de France last summer, aged 26.
Asked about his legacy, the Slovenian told Cycling Weekly he hopes to be celebrated for more than his victories.
“Maybe the results are not everything that I want people [to remember me for], just saying ‘Yeah, this guy won this and this, and won everything’,” he said.
“Maybe I also want to show the young generations that everything is possible. When you do this, you also need to play it as a game. It’s not all about cycling, you also need to enjoy your life.”
Pogačar is scheduled to begin his 2025 season at Strade Bianche on 7 March.
A more extensive, feature-length interview with the world champion will be published in Cycling Weekly magazine this spring.
