Marie Mahé, media365: published on Wednesday May 07, 2025 at 8:20 p.m.
The German Jan Ullrich, winner of the 1997 Tour de France, said he was particularly impressed by Tadej Pogacar, whom he does not hesitate to compare to a certain Eddy Merckx.
Tadej Pogacar never ceases to impress. This Tuesday, Jan Ullrich did not hesitate to say all the good he thinks of Slovenian. The winner of the 1997 Tour de France and the 1999 Tour of Spain said that, now cycling has changed a lot, especially since the arrival of Pogacar. In his time, he tried to win, in particular, another Tour de France. Slovenian is clearly not limited to the big towers. On this subject, in comments reported by Eurosport Germany, Ullrich notably said: “What he shows us is incredible. Pogacar destroys all the certainties that existed in the past. In my time, we focused on certain events, but last year, he succeeded in the double Giro – Tour while everyone has been repeating for years that it was too much.”
Ullrich: “Pogacar is ahead of his time”
In 2024, Tadej Pogacar won the Tour of Italy and then the Tour de France. The last to have succeeded in this incredible double was the Italian Marco Pantani in 1998. The resident of the UAE Team Emirates XRG team is also increasingly showing his advantage over classics and even won the world championship last year. This season, Tadej Pogacar finished in second place in Paris-Roubaix, behind the Dutch Mathieu Van der Poel. A race he discovered, however, “For cycling, the fact that a Tour winner tries to win Paris-Roubaix, it is fantastic. I am particularly impressed by the way he approaches his sport and his job. We feel fun, pleasure, even if there is a lot of work and efforts behind.” Jan Ullrich then did not hesitate to compare the Slovenian to a legend of cycling: “Tadej Pogacar is simply a mega-tail. He is constantly improving. He is the Eddy Merckx of our time. He is ahead of his time.”
