'As good as Merckx... Come on' – Belgian cycling legend calls it 'crazy' to consider Tadej Pogačar as greatest of all time

Belgian cycling legend Roger De Vlaeminck has had his say on the current men's peloton's best riders, stating that comparisons between Eddy Merckx and Tadej Pogačar are 'crazy' and describing Remco Evenepoel as arrogant.

Speaking to Het Laatste Nieuws in one of their 'Openhartig' (Open-hearted) candid interviews, the 78-year-old, 11-time Monument winner didn't hold back in his assessments, and the belief that he would have been a match for the current World Champion.

He said it was "crazy!" to think the Slovenian is as good as the Cannibal was: "Pogačar hasn't even touched Merckx's toes! Journalists who dare make that comparison don't know anything about it – write that down," he told HLN.

"If I were still 22 today and riding in the peloton with Pogačar, he wouldn't drop me. Where was it recently when he rode away from Evenepoel? In Lombardy, on not even a difficult climb.

"As good as Merckx... Come on."

Merckx, long considered as cycling's best-ever rider, won the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia five times each in his illustrious career than spanned the late 60s and 1970s, alongside one Vuelta a España, three world titles and the most Monuments of any rider with 19.

Pogačar is often compared to the great Merckx as the most dominant men's rider anyone has seen since, winning four Tours de France, a Giro d'Italia, two World Championships road races and 10 Monuments already in his career – one less than De Vlaeminck.

He's 27 and showing no signs of slowing down, and having matched or even surpassed several of Merckx's records, he's the only rider who has really threatened to match a similar palmarès of the Belgian for 50 years.

Still, for De Vlaeminck's typically harsh criticism, he's not done enough to be considered alongside Merckx. The same lack of recognition follows his contemporaries Mathieu van der Poel and Evenepoel, whom he was also asked to comment on.

"I like him too. And he's a great rider," said De Vlaeminck of Van der Poel, who has won the second most Monuments of any active rider with eight. "But he can't time trial, he can't climb, he can't sprint – there's not much left, is there? I won mountain stages, time trials, I could sprint."

For Evenepoel, it was his celebrations that got on the nerves of the 78-year-old. Despite being the top current Belgian male rider, he still thinks a chat with Merckx is in order.

"No. He's not my type. A good cyclist, you know. A superb time trialist. But, I don't know... I find him a bit arrogant sometimes," he said.

"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. No, no, we'll call Eddy Merckx to come and talk to him. I have immense respect for Eddy."

Merckx himself has been asked similarly about the stars of today several times, often praising Pogačar for what he's managed to do already in his career, but also pointing out how he doesn't have the same level of competition as Merckx did in the 70s.

"He's incredibly strong, there's no doubt about that, but we're talking about different generations, right?" Merckx told De Telegraaf back in July.

"Pogačar faces less opposition than I had from rivals in my time. If there had been more competition, it would have been harder for him to achieve so many victories. But if you ask me if he'll win more than five Tour de France victories, I can only answer with: absolutely!"