From Merckx to Pogacar: comparison is not right

“Me? A cannibal? But I eat sweets…” Tadej Pogacar’s domination attracts flattering comparisons. But being a “cannibal”, as the legend Eddy Merckx was nicknamed in his time, does not suit him. Afterwards, when it comes to results on a bike, he could also be called a “Badger”. Or the little name given to another myth of the little queen, Bernard Hinault. The two glorious cyclists validate the metonymy.

“We are talking about different generations, but I like his character and his temperament,” explained the Frenchman in the columns of the Gazzetta dello Sport this spring, while the Slovenian crushed his class in the Giro. Tadej is a natural competitor. Every time he races, he wants to win. He doesn’t always succeed, but very often. But that’s not the most important thing. I like his attitude. He’s like Eddy and me.”

“What a rider this Pogacar is!” Merckx was ecstatic this spring, after the Slovenian won the Tour of Flanders. I can’t say it enough: he is much more than just a champion. We must take stock of what he has accomplished, it is not nothing. The panache and daring required to achieve such feats have already earned him a place in history. He demonstrates a form rarely seen in cycling before him. He’s a great kid, so easy to get along with… I was immediately won over!”

If, in terms of results, Tadej Pogacar gets closer to the greatest, he will be able to take another step in their direction this Sunday, around Zurich. The Slovenian is the huge favorite for the World Cup road race, so much so that despite the hazards of a route of some 270 kilometers, the bookmakers don’t even give him two to one. The iridescent jersey is one of the last bastions that resist it, with Paris-Roubaix, and the Ticino protégé Mauro Gianetti within Team UAE the rest of the year proclaimed loud and clear that his objective on a bicycle was to win everything .

This summer, during the Tour de France, self-proclaimed “whistleblowers”, particularly on social networks, explained that the figures that “Pogi” develops on a bike are not human. That the watts produced by the one who crushed the Giro then the Grande Boucle were roughly those of an extraterrestrial. These disgruntled spirits took as an example his data during certain climbs, which were stronger than a certain Marco Pantani, in the middle of a period when EPO was endemic in the professional pelotons, forgetting that progress has happened that way.

“People have compared Pantani’s figures from twenty-five years ago,” reassured Raphaël Faiss, from the Center for Research and Expertise in Anti-Doping Sciences. But it was not possible to compare Laurent Fignon with Eddy Merckx either! While there is also a quarter of a century between these eras… But cycling is changing. An example: by working on small details like the helmet, shoes and clothes for track athletes, we saved four seconds out of four minutes around a velodrome. Technique and preparation evolve. Not exponentially, of course, but very quickly due to the extreme professionalization of all cycling professions.”

A basic example. It is not an insult to Valère Thiébaud from Neuchâtel to say that he is not at the level of an athlete like Rohan Dennis a few years ago. However, a few weeks ago, by covering 53.451 kilometers on the Vélodrome de Granges (SO), the Swiss broke the Swiss hour record and slapped the planetary hour record (52.491 km) beaten by the Australian in the same place less than a decade ago. “I fought with other weapons than him,” Thiébaud said at the time. Because technical progress on bicycles has exploded in recent years. Even if the same rules as during his record were applied, I used much less power than him.

In addition, today’s pros no longer have any problem communicating about their training. What was once the prerogative of omniscient sports directors, accompanied by doctors with questionable practices, has today become teamwork. Better still, the runners themselves have been trained in preparation techniques since they were very young and they talk openly about the watts they develop. Pogacar, in particular, spoke at the start of the week about his figures and his way of preparing in a specialized podcast. Unimaginable for runners just a few years ago.

“That doesn’t surprise me. Let them talk about it like this, but also the figures they admit, continued Raphaël Faiss. All this is known, there are no secrets around the values ​​required to race at a high level. Athletes share them willingly and it is also a way to bluff opponents. Before, there was a doctor who prepared an athlete for a fee, like Doctor Ferrari. Now, it has evolved thanks to the structures put in place by the International Cycling Union: one coach for eight riders.”

At the time of the great rides of Gino Bartali, Eddy Merckx, and even those of Miguel Indurain, Chris Froome, even… Thibaut Pinot, young cyclists were restricted in their progress. Between the authorities which regulated the developments of young people’s bicycles and the managers who kept their greatest talents in reserve so as to “not burn them out” before the age of 25, a lot of potential has long been untapped. Today we can shine earlier. But getting tired more quickly as you approach thirty is also true.

And then the days when the boss of a training course did absolutely everything are over. “Now, the manager manages, the doctor takes care of the medical, the sports director does the tactics, the coach ensures that the runner arrives in shape at the appropriate time, imagined Faiss. There is the physio, the osteo, the scientific manager, the aerodynamics specialist, the textile specialist… All the positions are occupied by people who have doctoral level training in all the teams.

Thanks to that, it’s no longer marginal gains like the Sky team of the time that we’re talking about. But by leaps and bounds.

* Some articles about the Cycling Worlds were written before the death of the young Muriel Furrer.