"Mathieu van der Poel reminds me of Eddy Merckx" - Bernard Thevenet sees similarities between two of cycling's greats

A legendary figure in French cycling, Bernard Thevenet raced against many of the greats during his time in the peloton, including Eddy Merckx and Raymond Poulidor, the grandfather of current world champion, Mathieu van der Poel.

In van der Poel, Thevenet actually sees more resemblance of Merckx than Poulidor. "He's not at all the image of his grandfather, he would never have dared to attack with 60 kilometres to go," the two-time Tour de France winner analyses of van der Poel's incredible victory at Paris-Roubaix last weekend, in conversation with Eurosport. "Raymond Poulidor was more of a wait-and-see attitude."

"Mathieu van der Poel reminds me of Eddy Merckx," Thevenet insists. "At Paris-Roubaix, he started to be active 150 miles from the finish, to stretch the peloton, he made his team, which was very good around him, play, and then he did not hesitate to attack from 60 kilometres from the line. Like the great Merckx."

With victory in the velodrome marking van der Poel's second monument win in just five race days this season, Thevenet is incredibly impressed with the legs the Dutchman is showing. "He is in dazzling form at the moment," the Frenchman says. "He's 29, it's an age where we know ourselves really well, we know what we're capable of. We have the sensations, we know if the legs are good. He is in the fullness of his means."

Much as like with Merckx however, the dominance of one does take something away from the brilliance of his challengers. "There is the same uncertainty as with Merckx. When he was at the start of a race, he wasn't sure of winning, but if you bet on him, you still had a good chance of winning," Thevenet concludes. "If we just look at the race like that, it might be less interesting, that's for sure. But there is also the fight behind for second place. There is always something interesting to follow in a race."