"He is the most gifted rider in decades" - Pierre Rolland blown away by Tadej Pogacar's greatness

Tadej Pogacar will only celebrate his 26th birthday this September, however it is not far-fetched to already consider him among the sport's greats. There are still three more stages to this year's Tour de France, but with a field record of 3 Grand tour GCs, 23 GT stages and 6 monuments, Pogacar's feats are already far beyond what any mortal could dream of. French expert and himself one of the best climbers of his era Pierre Rolland agrees that whatever happens in next years of his career, the Slovenian already deserves all the respect.

As long as a rider performs at an outstanding level, there'll always be doping conspiracies. "I don't want to get into this debate," Rolland evades giving his own opinion on the matter at Cyclism'Actu. On contrary, he tries to see things through pink glasses: "Since he was 19 and finished third at the Vuelta 2019, we know that he is a prodigy, as are Mathieu van der Poel or Remco Evenepoel."

The comparison of Tadej Pogacar to 'the Cannibal' Eddy Merckx may not be out of the place, as Rolland points out that the Slovenian has little to no weaknesses on top of being ridiculously good on pretty much all the terrains. "He is the most gifted rider in decades, he is strong everywhere, he has no shortcomings, it is extraordinary and quite impressive. The only small shortcoming he may have is that he is a little less efficient when it is above 35°C, that is his only weak point," analyzes Rolland.

Yet, his prediction of the final podium in Nice may be seen as quite surprising considering the current GC situation. "Pogacar in 1, Evenepoel in 2 for the show and Vingegaard in 3. It's really for the show because I see it more in the other direction anyway for the second and third places," concludes Pierre Rolland with a smile.