Eddy Merckx on how he sees Tour de France unfold: "I think Pogacar will win the Tour, but Paris is still a long way off"

The first week has been the most attacked and perhaps most thrilling in modern Tour de France history. Although the battle for victory seems to be between only two riders, they feel - and are in time - very evenly matched. Eddy Merckx shares his opinion on who will take the title in Paris.

"I thought the Puy de Dôme suited him well, but apparently it was the other way around. Pogacar dealt a serious blow to Vingegaard. I think Pogacar will win the Tour, but Paris is still a long way off," Eddy Merckx told Het Laatste Nieuws. "The riders still have to face a lot of difficult climbs. In any case, Pogacar is the most complete rider in the peloton."

The 'Cannibal's opinion is that the Slovenian will have his revenge from last year's edition where he cracked on the Col du Granon and could not then recover. Shades of that day came on stage 5 where Jonas Vingegaard took over a minute on the competition, however the Slovenian has saved his race and has since taken significant time back on the Dane in the summit finishes at Cauterets and Puy de Dôme.

"A lot has already happened, but a lot can still happen," José de Cauwer told Sporza. "It's only at the end of the Tour that you can evaluate which decisions were important. After this long week of racing it is impossible to predict who will win." Into the second week of the race both riders come in and a single mistake can prove deadly with these gaps. After a few tricky stages in the Massif Central, the GC riders will go on the attack once more in the Alps.