“he is now above me” Merckx raves about Pogacar

This Sunday with his coronation as world champion in Zurich, Tadej Pogacar joined the very closed circle of winners of the triple crown by winning in the same year: the Tour of Italy, the Tour de France and the World Championship. Before him, the Belgian Eddy Merckx (1974) and the Irishman Stephen Roche (1987) were the only ones to have created it. The first spoke about the man who could well become the greatest legend of his sport. “ What he did is truly incredible, I can’t find the words. This guy is unrivaled.”confided the Belgian champion to the newspaper LeParisien.

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« You must be crazy. Besides, when he attacked, I started to fear for him, I told myself that he had left too soon. It’s normally impossible to win at 100 km but he did it. He is the strongest of his generation, there is absolutely no doubt. You know, at my age (79), it takes a lot to bluff me. There he succeeded. I thought he could be world champion, I never imagined it would be like this. He really is the greatest, congratulations to him. » says Merckx.

The one nicknamed the Cannibal goes further by declaring‘Team : « It’s obvious he’s on top of me now. I already thought it a little deep down when I saw what he did in the last Tour de France, but this evening there is no longer any doubt., “Obviously, we can’t compare eras, but here we are dealing with an incredible runner. I wasn’t attacking 100 kilometers from the finish in a World Championship. What he has achieved today is unimaginable.”