"Eddy Merckx’s era was a different time" - Tadej Pogacar already "the best rider who has ever lived" says Adam Blythe

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.

For Rowe, the numbers are already staggering. “It is unbelievable. We say it every year that we are running out of superlatives. And I feel we actually have. 105 professional victories. And they are not just in small, mediocre races. They are in the biggest bike races in the world.”

That breadth is what sets Pogacar apart. While most riders are forced to specialise in one corner of the calendar, Pogacar continues to dominate across the board – chasing yellow in July, peaking for one-day monuments, and now winning back-to-back world road titles with audacious long-range attacks.

Blythe argued that Pogacar’s impact extends beyond his own palmares. “Everyone has had to be a lot better. It is not just in the Tour de France, it is not just in the Classics. It is everything. The level he was at two or three years ago, everyone is still trying to get to that. He has changed cycling massively. He is just a phenomenon. He is the best in the world, even without that jersey on. He is the standard everyone strives to be.”

Pogacar’s victory in Kigali was a case in point. Launching his move with over 100 kilometres to go, he whittled the field down to dust on Monte Kigali before holding off Remco Evenepoel to the line. With only 30 riders even making the finish, the Slovenian once again demonstrated a mix of panache, endurance and tactical boldness that leaves rivals scrambling in his wake.

Merckx remains the benchmark by sheer volume of wins, but Blythe and Rowe’s analysis highlights how cycling has changed. Today’s calendar is longer, deeper, and more specialised – yet Pogacar cuts across those boundaries to win everywhere.

Whether or not he will one day surpass Merckx numerically remains to be seen. What seems beyond doubt is that, in Kigali, Pogacar strengthened his case as the defining rider of his generation – and perhaps, as Blythe insists, the greatest of all time.