Tadej Pogačar is not as good as Eddy Merckx thinks he is – that's the message from seventies ace and Merckx contemporary Roger De Vlaeminck.
Nicknamed 'Mr Paris-Roubaix' on account of his four victories in the cobbled Classic, De Vlaeminck told Belgian outlet Nieuwsblad that there was no way Pogačar would have been allowed to go on 90km rampages in his day.
"With me, Merckx or [Freddy] Maertens, Pogačar would never have ridden alone in front for 90 kilometres," the Belgian insisted.
After Pogačar's World Championship victory in Zurich, which saw him become only the third rider to complete the coveted 'triple crown' after Merckx and Stephen Roche, Merckx conceded: "It is obvious now that he is above me."
But De Vlaeminck disagrees.
"I don’t want to give interviews anymore after which everyone thinks I’m the bad guy," he told Nieuwsblad. "But I don’t want to lie either. Eddy Merckx says that Pogačar is better than him, but I totally disagree."
The Slovenian was certainly the best right now, conceded De Vlaeminck, who also has 22 Giro d'Italia stage wins to his credit, as well as a host of other Classics victories. But, he said: "I can hardly enjoy it because of that."
In what was a far-reaching interview, De Vlaeminck came across as open and cheerful, though talked a lot about the passing of the years. He also questioned Pogačar's rivals.
“I wonder: who is the opposition?" he said. "[Remco] Evenepoel and Jonas Vingegaard, but he only rides the Tour. Come on guys…
"It could be that Pogačar will become the fourth rider ever to win the five Monuments. He only has Milan-Sanremo and Paris-Roubaix to go. But then you have to look at who the opponents were. Where are the Italians? The [Francesco] Mosers, [Felice] Gimondis and [Franco] Bitossis that we had to ride against? Can you name one good Italian rider at the moment?”
It is true that Pogačar has been a dominant force this year. But equally he has been the only one of the top crop of riders not to have suffered a serious crash. If Evenepoel and Vingegaard can reach their key appointments next season in full health, Pogačar could find winning becomes a more complex matter.
De Vlaeminck also addressed Mathieu van der Poel's aversion to the media and interviews, saying: "You shouldn't find that difficult. It's part of being a good rider. They can change in their own camper now, right? In our case, it was going to the race… and ringing the doorbell somewhere to ask if you could change inside.
"Your best years as a rider, that’s the best time of your life. When Van der Poel is as old as me, he’ll realise that too," he said.
