Tadej Pogacar’s astonishing defence of his rainbow jersey in Kigali has deepened the debate about where he stands in cycling’s pantheon. For TNT Sports analysts Adam Blythe and Dani Rowe, however, there is no hesitation: the Slovenian is already the greatest rider the sport has ever seen.
“He is the greatest already. By far,” Blythe said in the aftermath of Pogacar’s latest long-range exhibition. “In Eddy Merckx’s era, it was a different time. Now, everything is so concentrated. You are either a Tour de France rider, or you are a Classics rider or you are a sprinter. He can do everything. Literally everything.”
“Merckx could as well, but that was in an era when everyone was doing everything. This guy is going against Tour de France specialists, he goes against the best Classics guys – not just the best now, but the best in a long time, like Mathieu van der Poel – and he is putting them to bed,” continued the former British national champion. “For me, he is the best rider who has ever lived a long, long way. I don’t think we are ever going to see someone like him again, not in my lifetime for sure.”
It is a bold claim, but Pogacar’s record increasingly supports it. Still only 25, he has four Tours de France, a Giro d’Italia, two rainbow jerseys, Monument wins across Flanders, Liege, Lombardia, and a collection of podiums at nearly every other major race.
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