Tadej Pogacar is approaching the record number of victories in the Tour de France with his fourth overall victory. Five-time winners Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, and Miguel Induráin see the Slovenian breaking the record in the future.
“Number five is for next year. And then six and seven,” says Merckx in an interview with Het Laatste Nieuws. The eighty-year-old Belgian was the strongest in the Tour in 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, and 1974.
“There was never a fight,” ‘The Cannibal’ continues about the past Tour. “It became a total walk-over. Tadej is the best and most complete rider of all. That made this Tour very clear. No one can threaten him.”
Merckx sees that even Jonas Vingegaard does not come close to the leader of UAE Team Emirates. “Pogacar reigns and divides. The competition undergoes it. No rider in this generation is able to trip him up.”
According to his compatriot Merckx, Remco Evenepoel is also unable to cause Pogacar any trouble. “Much to my regret, because I would very much like to see it differently myself. Remco is a fantastic athlete with enormous physical capabilities. Unbeatable in time trials. But he falls short in the mountains.”
Most Tour victories
‘Pogacar the only one who can take the record’
Hinault and Induráin already said during the Tour that their record is likely to be broken. “Pogacar is the only one who can take the record,” Hinault told the press agency AFP. “He is only 26 years old and has already won so much. He is well on schedule.”
Induráin was also full of praise for Pogacar at Cadena SER. “It is a challenge, but he will succeed if he continues on the same footing. He is doing well, is motivated and has a very strong team around him.”
Jacques Anquetil, the other five-time Tour winner, died in 1987. Lance Armstrong was crowned winner in Paris seven times, but his victories have been erased due to doping use.