Tadej Pogačar is not so good as Eddy Merckx thinks he’s – that is the message from seventies ace and Merckx up to date Roger De Vlaeminck.
Nicknamed ‘Mr Paris-Roubaix’ on account of his 4 victories within the cobbled Basic, De Vlaeminck informed Belgian outlet Nieuwsblad that there was no means Pogačar would have been allowed to go on 90km rampages in his day.
“With me, Merckx or [Freddy] Maertens, Pogačar would by no means have ridden alone in entrance for 90 kilometres,” the Belgian insisted.
After Pogačar’s World Championship victory in Zurich, which noticed him change into solely the third rider to finish the coveted ‘triple crown’ after Merckx and Stephen Roche, Merckx conceded: “It’s apparent now that he’s above me.”
However De Vlaeminck disagrees.
“I don’t wish to give interviews anymore after which everybody thinks I’m the unhealthy man,” he informed Nieuwsblad. “However I don’t wish to lie both. Eddy Merckx says that Pogačar is healthier than him, however I completely disagree.”
The Slovenian was actually the most effective proper now, conceded De Vlaeminck, who additionally has 22 Giro d’Italia stage wins to his credit score, in addition to a bunch of different Classics victories. However, he mentioned: “I can hardly get pleasure from it due to that.”
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In what was a far-reaching interview, De Vlaeminck got here throughout as open and cheerful, although talked loads in regards to the passing of the years. He additionally questioned Pogačar’s rivals.
“I’m wondering: who’s the opposition?” he mentioned. “[Remco] Evenepoel and Jonas Vingegaard, however he solely rides the Tour. Come on guys…
“It might be that Pogačar will change into the fourth rider ever to win the 5 Monuments. He solely has Milan-Sanremo and Paris-Roubaix to go. However then you must take a look at who the opponents had been. The place are the Italians? The [Francesco] Mosers, [Felice] Gimondis and [Franco] Bitossis that we needed to experience in opposition to? Are you able to identify one good Italian rider in the mean time?”
It’s true that Pogačar has been a dominant pressure this 12 months. However equally he has been the one one of many high crop of riders to not have suffered a critical crash. If Evenepoel and Vingegaard can attain their key appointments subsequent season in full well being, Pogačar may discover successful turns into a extra advanced matter.
De Vlaeminck additionally addressed Mathieu van der Poel‘s aversion to the media and interviews, saying: “You should not discover that tough. It is a part of being a great rider. They will change in their very own camper now, proper? In our case, it was going to the race… and ringing the doorbell someplace to ask for those who may change inside.
“Your finest years as a rider, that’s the most effective time of your life. When Van der Poel is as previous as me, he’ll realise that too,” he mentioned.
