{"id":275797,"date":"2025-11-10T16:54:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-10T16:54:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/275797\/"},"modified":"2025-11-10T16:54:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-10T16:54:11","slug":"tadej-pogacar-couldnt-lace-eddy-merckxs-shoes-cycling-legend-claims-four-time-tour-de-france-winner-is-overrated-brands-remco-evenepoel-arrogant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/275797\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cTadej Poga\u010dar couldn\u2019t lace Eddy Merckx\u2019s shoes!\u201d Cycling legend claims four-time Tour de France winner is overrated, brands Remco Evenepoel \u201carrogant\u201d, and says Mathieu van der Poel \u201ccan\u2019t time trial, climb, or sprint\u201d + more on the live blog"},"content":{"rendered":"

Roger De Vlaeminck, one of cycling\u2019s greatest ever classics riders, isn\u2019t the shy, retiring type, especially when it comes to airing his views on what he considers the pampered prima donnas of the sport\u2019s modern era.<\/p>\n

But De Vlaeminck\u2019s latest \u2018back in my day\u2019 hot takes are something else \u2013 even by Mr Paris-Roubaix\u2019s notoriously grumpy standards.<\/p>\n

\u201cPoga\u010dar couldn\u2019t lace Merckx\u2019s shoes!\u201d the 78-year-old told Het Laatste Nieuws<\/a> when confronted with the \u201ccrazy\u201d suggestion that the four-time Tour de France winner is now comparable to De Vlaeminck\u2019s great rival.<\/p>\n

\u201cJournalists who dare make that comparison don\u2019t know anything about it \u2013 just write it down.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Eddy<\/p>\n

>\u00a0\u201cFor outright talent, Poga\u010dar is definitely better than Merckx. But will he beat Merckx\u2019s record? That\u2019s another question\u201d: Sean Kelly questions whether world champion can \u201ckeep his focus\u201d to become cycling\u2019s GOAT<\/a><\/p>\n

Despite the Belgian legend\u2019s derisive dismissals of the topic, cycling\u2019s GOAT debate has been picking up steam over the last two years, as Tadej Poga\u010dar continues to gobble up bike races at an alarming rate.<\/p>\n

The 27-year-old Slovenian is now just one yellow jersey away from drawing level with Eddy Merckx on five Tour de France victories, while another world title will equal the Cannibal\u2019s career haul of three rainbow jerseys.<\/p>\n

Poga\u010dar\u2019s latest Il Lombardia triumph also saw him become the third most successful monuments rider of all time, with 10 wins across cycling\u2019s biggest one-day races \u2013 though the UAE Team Emirates rider still has a long way to go before he eclipses Merckx\u2019s tally of 19 monuments.<\/p>\n

It might only take until next spring, however, before he overhauls De Vlaeminck on the monuments league table.<\/p>\n

\"Roger<\/p>\n

The rider known as \u2018The Gypsy\u2019, the biggest contender to Merckx\u2019s one-day supremacy during the 1970s, managed 11 monuments during his career, including four Paris-Roubaix wins (a record only since matched by Tom Boonen), three Milan-Sanremo titles, two Lombardy victories, one Tour of Flanders, and a Li\u00e8ge-Bastogne-Li\u00e8ge.<\/p>\n

But while Poga\u010dar is breathing down in his neck when it comes to their status in cycling\u2019s history books, De Vlaeminck is adamant that the Slovenian wouldn\u2019t get the better of him if they were racing against each other today.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet me be 22 today and ride in the peloton with Poga\u010dar, and he won\u2019t drop me,\u201d he told Het Laatste Nieuws.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere was it recently, when he rode away from Evenepoel? In Lombardy. On not even a difficult climb. As good as Merckx… Come on, man.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tell us what you really think, Roger.<\/p>\n

\"Roger<\/p>\n

>\u00a0\u201cParis-Roubaix is not too difficult\u201d: Tom Boonen says he\u2019s \u201c100 per cent convinced\u201d Tadej Poga\u010dar can win the Hell of the North \u2013 but fellow four-time winner Roger De Vlaeminck says Slovenian\u2019s long-range attacks would never have been allowed in the 1970s<\/a><\/p>\n

Elsewhere in the wide-ranging interview \u2013 which saw him name 91-year-old Brigitte Bardot as his ideal dinner guest \u2013 De Vlaeminck also let rip at two of cycling\u2019s other stars: Mathieu van der Poel and Remco Evenepoel.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like him,\u201d he said of Van der Poel, who is aiming for his own fourth Paris-Roubaix win next April.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd he\u2019s a great rider. But he can\u2019t time trial, he can\u2019t climb, he can\u2019t sprint\u2026 there\u2019s not much left, is there? I won mountain stages, time trials, I could sprint, oh my\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Mathieu<\/p>\n

Zac Williams\/SWpix.com<\/p>\n

Reminds me of that George Best quote about David Beckham: \u2018He can\u2019t kick with his left foot, he can\u2019t head a ball, he can\u2019t tackle, and he doesn\u2019t score many goals. Apart from that, he\u2019s alright.\u2019<\/p>\n

Apart from all that Mathieu, you\u2019re alright.<\/p>\n

As for triple world time trial champion Remco?<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s not my type. A good cyclist, you know. A superb time trialist,\u201d the 78-year-old said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut, I don’t know… I find him a bit arrogant sometimes. To cross the finish line and raise your bike in the air… is that necessary? Just cross the line and win, right? I raised my hand back then.<\/p>\n

\"Remco<\/p>\n

Zac Williams\/SWpix.com<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, no, we\u2019ll call Eddy Merckx to come and talk to him. I have immense respect for Eddy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Finally, De Vlaeminck was asked whether it bothers him that some in the cycling world don\u2019t appreciate his forthright opinions and \u201csharp tongue\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cMore so before than now. I used to think, \u2018Should I have said it like that?\u2019 But then again, that\u2019s who you are, right?<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd if there are people who don\u2019t want to say hello or talk to me anymore… I don\u2019t have to live with them, do I?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Roger De Vlaeminck, one of cycling\u2019s greatest ever classics riders, isn\u2019t the shy, retiring type, especially when it…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":275798,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[569],"tags":[64,63,784,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-275797","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-cycling","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275797","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=275797"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275797\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/275798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=275797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=275797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=275797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}