Why Tadej Pogačar Is BECOMING The GREATEST Cyclist Of All Time?

[@Jinpepaljor]

Tadej has something that no other great rider before him has had, seemingly a good heart. He is a fierce competitor but not an arrogant, aggressive or all about him. That cannot be said of the Badger or the Cannibal. People don't just want to see him win because of his talent but because he is such a good person.

[@tonyg3091]

He always rides for the win, always in the mix, heck he wanted a part in the sprint on stage 21 of the Tour😂 It is impossible not to like this guy.

[@basstheangelo]

I like Tadej. But there are a few riders who are more complete and better all around.

[@Nowayfrrrrrrr]

@@basstheangeloAs of example? Who can win grand tours, mountain stages, be at the top of time trials, win classics and monuments?

[@sebastianlauri9622]

​@@basstheangeloProbably but i guess most haven't left kindergarten yet

[@annetteljungberg2912]

Allthough Im danish 🇩🇰 I totally agree with you.Besides from being the greatest rider EVER, he comes across as funny, entertaining and showing a great sportsmanship, always there to say congrats to whomever winning a stage. I simply adore him….👏👏👏🇸🇮

[@Eline_Meijer]

We need a whole video on why the 2022 Visma team was one of the greatest teams ever assembled. Sepp Kuss needs a whole episode on its own.

[@photonfantastic]

The most complete rider of the modern era.

[@jademermaidmusic]

@user-tn6xo3fe8ralong with Jonas 💯

[@iansemroc8943]

@user-tn6xo3fe8rnah Vingegaard

[@louisvanderwalt716]

​@user-tn6xo3fe8rdo you have proof of that??

[@tonyg3091]

WvA

[@exa0247]

Wout Van Aert is the most complete rider

[@Flexo_l]

Now it is much harder to dominate in any sport. Competition is much greater and they are closer. So when you see someone dominate like that it is much more special.

[@denisesayer9225]

Let's not forget home fun he is to watch race and how much he animates any race he is in.

[@jademermaidmusic]

If that’s the criteria then Remco is the best rider in the world 😂

[@msemmahale4608]

He IS so exciting to watch!! Such panache! And off the bike he has personality (though not as much as Sagan who I will miss)

[@tonyg3091]

@@jademermaidmusicRemco is one the most exciting to watch for sure

[@saturnative]

@@jademermaidmusic Remco who?

[@bbuuttercupp]

Great video. He obviously has a long way to go but there is something monumental about watching him race and win. It does feel like we're getting to witness one of the greats in real time, in a way I don't feel when watching many other current riders win, except maybe Mathieu van der Poel.

[@beatrix2523]

Masterful description: “His aggressiveness and willingness to do or die on the bike, his performances characterized by his strategic intelligence. His unyielding determination and unmatched panache to win in his generation” 🤯 please write a book!

[@osimnod]

Also worth mentioning is his victory in the Tour of California. Couldn't even pronounce his name and wondered "who is this guy"? Let's hope he continues with good health, no injuries and many more years of combative cycling.

[@71CMM]

Tour of California? 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@thecyclingdane]

very true I miss the race so much

[@osimnod]

@@71CMM Care to explain your emojis?

[@aleksanderpeca759]

I remember that race❤

[@donbovie]

They call him pogakar

[@BrigitteBender-q7d]

He is the greatest champion ever!!! We love him so mutch ❤❤❤

[@pihi42]

He seems to be the closest we will see to the GOAT in modern times. Unless cycling declines massively, I don't see another Merckx coming. One can only dominate before the era of sophistication and specialization. After that, the One would need some serious advantage over all the others. Like plutonium power source or something.

[@brandi3338]

He can beat Ving in 1 day races and sprint finishes. He can't beat Ving in 3 week races.

[@byhsu6140]

​@brandi3338 this year he was not well prepared as was said in the video, yet came in 2nd in the TdF, next year we will see how he fares against Vingegaard.

[@lamf4846]

Incorrect. 2021 Tour de France was won by Pog. Fishboy came second. In week long races Pog has the advantage over Fishboy. Fishboy has not won a monument or classic. Pog has 5 monuments and 3 classic wins. @@brandi3338

[@HolgerDanske874]

@@byhsu6140 Or maybe his break before Tour de France made him better? You don't know, I don't know. Fact is, he lost to Vingegaard again, by 7 minutes(!). Vingegaard is by far the best stage racer.

[@Nowayfrrrrrrr]

I think Cycling is the only sport where a certified cheater like Merckx will be considered the greatest of the sport, truly weird to call someone who won by cheating the best athlete.

[@philipsefton5270]

No 1 rider on the Butterfly Effect ❤🏴‍☠️

[@LL-iy7bg]

We know Pogi is great.Btw,Mohorič is the new gravel🌍🏆😊

[@msemmahale4608]

Mohoric’s interview when he won a stage at the tour (I think it was) really made a very positive impression upon me. He was so humble and authentic in describing the suffering one has to endure in order to win a grand tour stage, and how in the end there is also some luck and he felt badly that those he competed with for the stage win couldn’t also be winners. The guy has a great character. Hope he continues to be successful in gravel and/or on the road.

[@EdvardRojc]

Love the historical material used! Pretty good text, too.

[@lukadobo4769]

Definitely the most exciting rider right now who makes people tune in to the sport. He just seems the most natural and does things others don't even try and does it in style! I love Primoz and Jonas but compared to POG they are a bit more one dimensional and do it more by the book.

[@rafalpruszynski1707]

If Tadej can win 1 Giro, 1 Vuelta and 2 more TdFs and add 5 more monuments that would put him above Eddy who dominated an essentially amateur sport. Modern cycling is levels above the Merckx era

[@lamf4846]

And Merckx wasn't clean.

[@HolgerDanske874]

@@lamf4846 Pogacar isn't clean either ...

[@HolgerDanske874]

It's not even close. He will never get 5 Tour de France wins like Eddy Merckx. Farming Lombardia isn't that impressive, his Flanders win was way more impressive.

[@lamf4846]

Submit your evidence to the UCI and WADA.@@HolgerDanske874

[@HolgerDanske874]

@@lamf4846 Do you believe in God, lamf4846?

[@AlsGroove]

Excellent piece, Dane; you make a strong argument and thanks!

[@thecyclingdane]

Thank you kindly!

[@markmiddaugh9359]

Tadej has a long, long way to go.

[@RayAdamson]

At least 2 failed doping tests....

[@msemmahale4608]

If he can stay healthy both physically and mentally, he’ll be as great as Merckx

[@dickmcwienersonIII]

Having 2 tour de frances and a tour of flanders seems like he's ahead of everyone else for the last 30 years

[@markohabjanic7212]

Best cyclist at the moment and potential to be the best ever.

[@msemmahale4608]

As others have stated elsewhere, Pogi needs to win a few more grand tours including the Giro and Vuelta at least once before he can be ranked “The GREATEST cyclist of all time” as well as the Tour another 4 times or more AND continue winning in the monuments. If he could win San Remo and Roubaix once and maybe Flèche Wallone to complete the monuments and spring classics - THEN he’d be the greatest of all time (maybe not better than Merckx though).

[@markohabjanic7212]

@@msemmahale4608 as I said, he has potential to be the best, but he of course have to win all that, yes.. And fleche wallone he won this year.

[@teddansonLA]

@@msemmahale4608 Pogacar has won Fleche Wallone.

[@HolgerDanske874]

Best alll around rider, Vingegaard is the better stage racer and Van der Poel is the better one day racer

[@AndrezzSpideyzzz]

He's won all ardenne classics and came close to do the triple ardenne classics if it werent for his crash at LBL.@@msemmahale4608

[@radhi0zil]

I hope he can beat Jonas in TDF next year. The most likeable, talented and complete cyclist for me (just started watch road cycling in 2019)

[@johnsheanon1291]

I’m in agreement, furthermore todays racing seems really exciting with several top riders being so competitive, with unpredictable tactics!= so exciting to watch. Q; are we in a new golden ere of cycling???

[@jayhoward4878]

I would make the case that Eddy would have been even better in the current era. He never rode in comfort or climbed as well after his post-Tour crash in 1969. Modern orthopedic surgery would probably have been able to fix his issue. He would have benefitted from modern training methods and equipment as much as anyone else. Specialization only came about because of more money in the sport. Riders can afford to not ride all the races. There's always been horses for courses in cycling. Just as true in Eddy's era. He also had to ride virtually every race as favorite. Not easy. I love that Tadej does want to ride and win everything but can't see him getting close to Eddy. He's young and will certainly win a lot more and I'll be watching :)

[@Nowayfrrrrrrr]

He wouldn’t be more successful, simply because a cheater like him would’ve been banned today.

[@yvesgysel9834]

For sure, Pogacar is the greatest rider in modern professional times. No doubt. You can not compare it with the era of Eddy Merx. In that era, cycling was not that professional. Nutrition, training, bikes, science... Eddy Merx had an advantage, cause he was in that era the only rider who could afford "the best vitamins", that's no secret. I am Belgian. Teams have much more budget, too, and last decade, it starts already at a very young age of the riders. So you can not keep your peak form for the entire season, which is needed to win, Nowadays. So Pogi is unbelievably great. Winning the TDF and classics. Wow. He needs to try to win the WC on the road. Then it will get even more crazy. He's still young, and he definitely can accomplish this. He's so likable as a person. I am a fan.❤

[@Nowayfrrrrrrr]

It’s not a secret he had the best nutrition, he literally got caught.

[@koopalibrary]

For now Eddy remains the standard, and it will be hard to knock him off his perch

[@Nowayfrrrrrrr]

Remains the standard for a doper who somehow still gets credits for something he only achieved due to cheating*.

[@koopalibrary]

@@Nowayfrrrrrrrplenty to argue about that. giro politics and what not. But even if he doped which admittedly he probably did. I personally believe everyone from that era was on something.( Listening to some anquetil and others their quotes. Knowing about Zoetemelk doping suspensions, ... .) What is certain is that doping was amateuristic back then. probably mostly steroids. not the performance enhancing stuff used from the 1990's and onwards. So yeah he remains the goat. Pantani and Frank Vandenbroucke for example were major knuckleheads but legends all the same.

[@Nowayfrrrrrrr]

@@koopalibrary At any time, there were substances that were banned. Using these substances is cheating and should absolutely get you and your records banned. No idea how a cheater can be in a discussion about being a good athlete. Maybe it’s because Belgium doesn’t have any other top athlete or sth. but a cheater will never be a good athlete. Eddy Merckx was successful, due to cheating. Nowhere near a good sportsman and athlete, actually the other side of the spectrum.

[@koopalibrary]

@@Nowayfrrrrrrr well, go and prove he cheated without a shadow of a doubt and get his records banned. Good luck with that, if you are so certain of your case. Merckx is the goat wether you like it or not.

[@Nowayfrrrrrrr]

@@koopalibrary Just type in “Eddy Merckx Doping” on Google, he got tested positive multiple times, it’s really not that hard, it doesn’t even take one minute. Just because it’s your idol, you don’t have to take away facts. He was a cheater, is a cheater and will always stay in the history books as a cheater. That’s just the way it is with someone like him who doped. If you consider someone who needs to use illegal substances to win as the greatest of all time, then i feel bad for you with your lack of morals.

[@JohnDoe-ch3qz]

For me anyone who hasn't been caught doping is better than anyone who has been aka many cycling legends of the past

[@oliverleigh9854]

Factos all professional athletes dope.

[@alaefarmestatesllc]

Just means they were on a better preventative protocol/timing

[@harryjohnson615]

The reason I’m not a known criminal is I’ve never been caught but I’m still a criminal 😅

[@nolimit7185]

Nice recap! Well done. Love the background song. What is the name of the song?

[@creedjm]

I love Tadej

[@pduronhamiltonarch]

He’s certainly on a path that rivals EM, but let’s have this discussion in 5 years

[@HeadPack]

Eddy is untouchable, but even aspiring to be the 2nd best rider of all time is incredible, given the greats this sport has seen.

[@HudoHudHudec]

I think the comparison of such different eras in any sport is "stupid". Things changed too much. Mercx might not be even top 20 in today's times and vice versa. Also... the amount of doping positives Mercx had.... well no comment there (not saying we for sure know who is doped today but, he was caught and could race the TdF 4 weeks after positive test).

[@Nowayfrrrrrrr]

How can you even consider a doper as a great athlete? He literally got caught for cheating.

[@JMcLeodKC711]

I hope he can pull off a Giro/Tour double. The problem is that if he wins the Giro and Jonas does not even ride the Giro, no way.

[@Sills71]

At 25 he has as many monuments as Hinault had in his career... More than Lemond who never won one... Coppi never won LBL or Flanders... Pog is already #2 and coming hard for Merckx..

[@Nowayfrrrrrrr]

Coming hard for a doper? Merckx isn’t in the goat debate, a cheater shouldn’t even keep his victories.

[@nhabben1]

But Reddit told me his season was a a failure because he got 2nd at the tour?

[@henriksylvestolsen4885]

He is really great, I dont think even Vingegaard would contest that. But then again I dont think he really cares - he has an agenda of his own - winning GTs - and this year seems to prove that the Tour and the Vuelta in the same year is a possibility.

[@emanuelesilano7350]

🐐🐐

[@tilmania361]

very difficult to compare, pogi faces vingegaard in GTs and WVA+MVDP in classics which is absurdly strong competition and theyre modern specialists (jonas never gonna win flanders and wva/mvdp never gonna win a GT). i dont want to discredit merckx achievements but while he did have some great competitors i think pogis competition is way harder so for me to be as good as merckx he does not have to match every achievement 1 for 1. when guys like fausto coppi win roubaix you know the competition is just not comparable to today

[@fleezy1579]

Tadej probably would have won this years tour the france as well had he not crash and break his hand 1-2 months before the race. Anyways, the future of cycling is looking good. Roglic at Bora, Vingegaard at Visma, Tadej at UAE and hopefully Remco transfers to Ineos. It will be competitive.

[@jernejkorosec441]

Remco is a joke

[@HolgerDanske874]

No, he wouldn't. He lost by 7 minutes. Vingegaard is clearly the better stage racer.

[@Gufolicious]

Tadej is the goat for me

[@ABPerlov]

I like LeMond but he never won any Monuments. It is hard to compare him to Merckx and Hinault who won everything.

[@81enri]

Not yet guys..he still needs to win more Gran Tours..at least One Giro and One Vuelta..then to become world Champion..and still missing Milano-Sanremo and Paris-Roubaix..maybe he s still some steps below E. Merckx, F.Coppi, B.Hinault..for me at the monent at the same level as Felice Gimondi and Louison Bobet even though they both got the world Championship, Roubaix, Sanremo and Gran tours..but he s Just 25

[@Jen-iy7lq]

The vid is just meant to highlight his trajectory but sure, a lot can happen in coming years to derail that.

[@81enri]

@@Jen-iy7lq potentially he can become the goat..no doubt about It..and i Wish him to win as much as possibile..he Is already in Cycling history by the way

[@noelconcepcion3060]

​@@Jen-iy7lq😢

[@rominoug3012]

You must be aLemond fan to put him on the third spot of the all time great, he win big races but not that much, no monuments. If he hadn't the war in the middle of his prime Coppi would be second behind Merckx and in front of Hinault. As for Tadej , he is on a rythm to be one of the greatest but for me Merckx can't be reached.

[@msemmahale4608]

Yeah I agree. LeMond being placed in there with the greats was puzzling. Lemond won 3 TdF, world champion but I don’t think he won any other GTs (although if he hadn’t been shot he may have won 5 TdF, but we’ll never know).

[@holmbjerg]

Truly puzzling choice. He is not Top 10 in my book.

[@msemmahale4608]

@@holmbjerg Curious about your response. Who would you rank ahead of Pogacar?

[@bigbendmarine]

Not saying Lance's behavior nor steroid use aren't blights on his true record... but... he rode in an era where almost every big rider tested positive (and without ALL of their wins being vacated), so to leave him out of the GOATs list seems wrong. He was the GOAT without question in his era.

[@JosesAmazingWorlds]

If I could get past the doping, I don't think Lance had great competition.

[@kamolhengkiatisak1527]

How could he be considered GOAT when he did not win a single monument? He did win WC as a tender age though.

[@michaelstephan421]

You cant compare who took what, people react very diff. on doping.. some get very much advanced and som very little..

[@RayAdamson]

I chat some shit, but this is next level 😂

[@holmbjerg]

Big fat NO. He could never have won those races without cheating. He had no natural talent for climbing, he only got that through doping.

[@frames_ap]

Dude is talking about pogacar loosing the tour because of jumbo as if Jonas didn't put his legs there

[@notreally2406]

If that title is a statement, then why did you make it a question?

[@thecyclingdane]

Its both ahahahahah

[@spacexander4239]

I still have LA as the goat with Pog a close second. If Pog keeps his form he will be the goat in a couple years. Jonas has a chance to compete with Pog for goat status if he wins the next 5 tours which should be possible with his VO2 max

[@JulAlxAU]

You speak as if he raced solo! Tour de France is all about teamwork and team tactics.

[@bigunitcyling]

Tadej Pogacar is the best cyclist 🚴 that ever clipped his cleats into a pair of pedals. This man was about to beat that Dominant selfish Dutch outfit at TDF without being in top form. 🐐🐐 You wait Pog will focus on TDF to destroy all his competition in 2024.

[@msemmahale4608]

That would be very cool. I’m def a Pogi fan. The guy has panache.

[@WegrennerX]

Vingo will blow him up in long climbes all day. He will only win if they prepare a special route for him. Like they made cancellara win the tour of swiss one time.

[@HolgerDanske874]

Deluded. Vingegaard will destroy Pogacar in the mountains. Vingegaard is a natural climber, a better climber. Pogacar is just more explosive.

[@bigunitcyling]

@@HolgerDanske874 You think 🤔 Jonas Salt and Vinegar will win 😝 Mark my words the dominance of that Selfish Dutch outfit is coming to an end. Don’t worry about Pogacar in the Mountains 🏔️

[@HolgerDanske874]

@@bigunitcyling Vigegaard will beat selfish Pogacar. Vingegaard gifted a Grand Tour win to his domestique, Vingegaard waited for Pogacar when he crashed on the downhill in Tour de France 2022. Selfish Pogacar attacked sympathetic Vingegaard on stage 5 in Tour de France 2022 on the cobbled stage when Vingegaard had a puncture. Good will defeat Evil.

[@richardmiddleton7770]

So WHY then?!

[@eugenefrizzell5784]

Two words: Eddie Merckx-duh!!!

[@ThisHandleIsAlreadyTaken839]

Bro forgot lance

[@HudoHudHudec]

I always hate it when somebody is looking for the best of all times or GOAT or whatever you want to call it. The times in sports have changes so much. More people are doing sports these days therefore the competition is much bigger then ever, so having somebody winning one day monuments and 3 week races in the same year is out of this world. Modern cycling began in 90s. So anything before that cannot be put in the same basket and compared. Tadej is the best cyclist in the last 30 years. Is Eddy better? Maybe in the number of wins etc. but would he be top 20 in today's world? Problably not. Some people are born at the right time. So stop doing this comparions with histroy. It is irrelevant.

[@justinexplainseverything1554]

I get what you are saying when you talk about how more athletes globally are competing today compared to 30 or 40 years ago, but I always find it odd when people draw a magical line in the sand and say starting around 1990 or whatever things changed lol. Cycling has been going on since back in the 1800's, so I could say that starting in 1950 or 1960, the sport started changing lol. I'm pretty sure when Eddy Merckx was dominating in the 60's and 70's, people were probably saying that his competition was much better than the competition from the 1800's or 1920's lol. In reality, it really doesn't matter when you were born, what matters is, how did you do against your fellow peers from your time?? In Cycling, it's pretty simple and straight forward, it's you, your bike, the road, and your competitors around you on the road. I saw an old video from the 1980's with Greg LeMond in it, and it killed me what he said, he said that Eddy Merckx basically had no competition and that it was easy for him lol. Even Greg LeMond is one of those same morons that only care about their generation.

[@512Riddler]

Haha Greg LeMond. That’s a good one. He doesn’t belong in this list.

[@DB-ez9ud]

Crazy to think Jonas probably won't even be considered the greatest of his generation!

[@HolgerDanske874]

Vingegaard will be considered the best Grand Tour rider of his generation. Pogacar isn't better. Van der Poel will probably be the best one day rider of this generation. Pogacar is just all around, not the best.

[@DB-ez9ud]

@@HolgerDanske874 spoken like a true Dane. Given how specialised modern cycling is, I politely disagree. Until MVDP is at the pointy of grand tours, or Jonas wins multiple classics in a season it’s Pogacar first and daylight second. I really like all three and enjoy all of them though.

[@HolgerDanske874]

@@DB-ez9ud Why would Vingegaard race classics? He is a stage racer and he is the best in the world at it. This is why I specifically wrote "best Grand Tour rider". He will win the biggest race of them all next year as well, Tour de France.

[@DB-ez9ud]

You are missing my point. JV will only ever race grand tours as that is his specialisation. I’m not saying he should, or would do one day races. He focuses solely on GT. The fact that Pogacar does both is what makes him so great. Do you honestly think if Pogacar focussed solely on tdf, Jonas would have won the last two tours as well. Possibly, but it would have been much closer still. I say this as a big fan of both btw.

[@DB-ez9ud]

To put another way, what classics did Froome and Le Mond win?

[@mariyankolev4427]

20 years old kids talking about Merxcks ... anyway Pogi is the greatest without doping!

[@drLuigigg]

In my era was and still is today only one cyclist and that’s Marco Pantani , In my opinion ,is the way a cyclist ride that give excitement and the way he ride that count .. Pantani used to do just that for me Can care less how many Giro TDF or vuelta someone win .. nowadays the routes are made easier some hard mountain stages are diverted and the bicycles are advanced and can not be compared to what used to be beck then ah no wait !!!now don’t start with the saga that he wasn’t clean .. no one is including Pogacar

[@robertcatuara5118]

63 wins vs 500+ is laughable.

[@MyFatAdaptedLife]

I think Evenepoel, Roglic & Vingegaard would disagree.

[@God1stForever]

He's not even close to Eddy Merckx, this is a joke, go check Eddy's Wikipedia page, also Eddy won Yellow, Green & Polka Dots in same TdF, which is much better than the white, which is clearly the least meaningful of the 4 jerseys. Also Eddy won 3 World Championships. Get back to me when he wins Paris Roubaix & World Championships multiple times. Plus Merckx never had another rider that dropped him with the frequency that Vingegaard has against Pogacar

[@cjkelly3691]

Tone it down,,, gee wiz , a little hero worshiping… he is average as all the other good riders. Wow get out of the basement and see the sunlight.

[@holmbjerg]

There is a long way to go. You need to win Giro/Tour double at least one time and win multiple Grand Tour's the same season for several years. And at least approaching 10 Grand Tour wins and at least five in the Tour de France. That's the requirement to be ALL TIME great and I have trouble seeing it happen.

[@lbride3738]

Best rider is Lance period. 🙂

[@ilovezsig]

no

[@jakethesnake2x]

Way way to early to call Tadej Pogacar the GOAT especially given the fact that he has probadly peaked and is going to most likely decline from now on. Also the resistance i just going to get tougher with Roglic at Bora and no merge between Visma and Soudal. This means there will be at least three seriøse contenders to fight him there, and if he can't beat Jonas Vingegaard in GT where they are both the sole captain, then I just don't think you can ever consider a GOAT.

[@Jen-iy7lq]

Think before you can issue a video like this you'll have to explain, like we're 8-yr olds (or Americans), why any race other than TDF and its associated prep races exists, along with their variable merits, before you can add value to Tadej's non-TDF accomplishments. Or just define versatility as a criterion for establishing 'true legends'.

[@MDP1702]

I don't see the point. If you are a cycling fan, you'll know why these other races matter. If you aren't a cycling fan, it shouldn't really matter.

[@Queen-be6md]

@@MDP1702 true, i bet paris roubaix is any other race for most of the audience.

[@lordbachus]

Compare his results to Eddy Mercks, and you know why he will never beat Eddy.

[@teddansonLA]

Compare Merckx's competition to Pogacar's, and you'll be less impressed with the record of Eddy Merckx. Merckx: best of his era, of course, but best of any era? Not at all clear.

[@Queen-be6md]

@@teddansonLA He was fighting the likes of de vlaemink gimondi, francesco moser, luis ocaña, the competition was very fierce at the classics, obviously it is too easy to talk if you don't know too much about the past. Please do some research, it is a bit disrespectful to merckx. You can argue as well that pogacar had "less" competition during the period he won the 2 tour de france and the 1 week stage races. The difference however is that riders don't race that often these days, that's the biggest factor. The competitiion has always been there.

[@lordbachus]

@@teddansonLA what do you know about the riders of that era? Where you even born back then? Did they even know pro cycling back then in the US?

[@teddansonLA]

@@Queen-be6md _Please do some research_ About what? I know all about his career, who he raced, and how good they were. When Merckx raced, the teams were 10 men strong, and only around 15 teams competed in a typical Tour de France. The winners of any big race were almost always European, and usually from about 4 major countries - a smaller talent pool, with fewer professionals means less competition. _it is a bit disrespectful to merckx_ When was I disrespectful? All you have done is look at the lengths of various rider's records on wikipedia, stripped of all context. Your own argument is disrespectful to modern riders. How about you "do some research"?

[@teddansonLA]

@@lordbachus _Did they even know pro cycling back then in the US?_ (a) I'm not from the US, (b) if the US had been a hot bed of cycling talent in the 70s, then at least the talent pool for cycling would be 50-100% larger than it was in 1965-1978, and therefore it may have been deep enough to be considered as good as the mid-late 1980s, but never as strong as today.

[@RELENTLESSSJC]

Lance won 7 tours.

[@dutchreagan3676]

and a World Championship!

[@umutaymakoglu4418]

Lance who?

[@candacereynolds1723]

Eddie DID NOT have the same LEVEL of competition as today's riders...Pagcar will NOT break that record...FANBOY...(-: :-)

[@Queen-be6md]

And if you are so knowledgeable can you talk about Eddy's rivals? Perhaps roger de vlaemink was a nobody, luis ocaña, gimondi... There is also the factor of racing days, nowaday's programs are much more sophisticated and riders don't have that many race days that they used to have before. Sources say that merckx averaged about 150 to 200 race days per season during his peak. Since Eddy was as talented it is very obvious he could milk an insane amount of victories per year, do you think if tadej raced let's say 150 days a year he wouldn't get many more victories that he does today? Think of the context.

[@jademermaidmusic]

How can he be becoming the greatest of all time if he can’t be the best GC rider of his current generation?

[@lencekk]

Mate, I love Jonas, but Tadej is a better cyclist overall. There's more about cycling than just one grand tour. He's been racing all the classics and winning them, while Jonas was specifically training the entire year solely for the Tour. Not to mention that this year Pogacar was injured for a couple months right before the Tour. Also, he does have two Tour wins under his name, so there's that. Let's see who wins next year and just enjoy this era of amazing competition. I hope to see Jonas, Tadej, Primoz and Remco battling it out till the end!

[@LeeLee-fi7mx]

Too bad Jonas was put on a leash at the Vuelta. What a year it could have been if he dominated the TDF and won the Vuelta.

[@HolgerDanske874]

@@lencekk Who cares about the best over all rider. Vingegaard is a stage racer and he is the best in the world at it. Van Der Poel is the best one day racer in the world.

[@HolgerDanske874]

He will never be the greatest of all time... ever head about Eddy Merckx???

[@ExpertYouTubeCommentator]

im a big tadej fan but being hampered by Jonas is the reason he is not the greatest rider of this era....

[@markosajn5776]

Because they still didn't figured out what kind of juice he is taking. Or they don't want to

[@tristansmeets6086]

he cant even beat vingegaard

[@Queen-be6md]

And so what, Eddy merckx also got beaten several times in several races? You're talking as if Tadej has already given up. He has years to fight, let us see the battle before rushed up conclusions.

[@tristansmeets6086]

@@Queen-be6md its 2-0 there is no battle

[@Queen-be6md]

@@tristansmeets6086 What is your point? If I can remember correctly Tadej also has 2 TDF, they are both as impressive with the addition that Tadej has several monuments under his bell.

[@teddansonLA]

@@tristansmeets6086 Can't be 2-0, since in 2021 the podium was Pogacar 1st, Vingegaard 2nd. So 2-1 in head to head battles at the Tour de France.

[@HolgerDanske874]

@@teddansonLA Vingegaard came as a domestique, he even waited for Roglic when he crashed, losing minutes. 2-0 for Vingegaard, the better stage racer.

[@CHRoOMAX]

So the 'greatest' cyclist is one who always played second fiddle in Grand Tours? Yeah, no. Definitely the most "complete" cyclist or the best "all-rounder" cyclist in the making, but not the greatest, unless Grand Tours are to be relegated beneath monuments, which would be ridiculous. Of course you're free, like any other cycling youtuber, to milk the sh*t out of this situation and get all the Pogi fans on your hype train, but imo the greatest cyclist of all time should be closely linked to the winningest Grand Tour cyclist ever, with the Tour de France being the most important.

[@nelly-gu2qq]

He literally won TDF twice already..so I don't know about what second fiddle are you talking about😂😂😂

[@CHRoOMAX]

@@nelly-gu2qq Go watch the previous 2 years of TdF and the next 3-4 years. If you still don't know, watch them again.

[@Pipe_JL]

Sean Kelly don't have any TDF or GDI and is second in the all-time standings.

[@Queen-be6md]

You're flawed, he already won 2 TDF just because he's got 2nd twice in a row doens't make him any less, argue why his wins at the classics are "less" prestigious according to you. I mean assuming that the classics mean anything to you or perhaps the tdf is the only race in the calendar.@@CHRoOMAX

[@HolgerDanske874]

@@nelly-gu2qq And now he was surpassed by a better stage racer. In fact, Pogacar isn't even the best one day racer. Van Der Poel is better. As the author of the first commen said, Pogacar is just the best all arounder. That's it.

[@Hugo_Furst-x]

No. He lost the Tour the last two years. So, no matter how many races he won this year, he is the second best rider in the world, at best. Vingegaard is the best rider in the world right now. If he wins the Tour three more times, we can talk. He isn't even the best rider now, much less all time.

[@ninnak-ve5ko]

Jonas is no where near being the best 😂😂😂😂

[@nelly-gu2qq]

When Jones starts doing the races the whole year..than start talking😂

[@tobiasdencker853]

​@@nelly-gu2qqvingegaard has 15 wins this season

[@Hugo_Furst-x]

Jonas dropped Tadej on Stage 17 on the Col de la Loze, and beat him in the time trial. Tadej never dropped Jonas this year. Vingo won the tour by 8 minutes. So who's better? I would trade 2 monuments for the tour all day long. The tour is the the race that matters. @@ninnak-ve5ko

[@ninnak-ve5ko]

Many ridders have that much wins in this year 😂

[@thecyclingdanegaming6194]

First!