"Merckx and Pogacar? They are good company” - Stephen Roche backs Slovenian to join elite list of Triple Crown winners in Zurich

In the illustrious history of the sport of road cycling, just two riders have ever managed to complete the fabled 'Triple Crown' of Giro d'Italia, Tour de France and World Championships road race in the same calendar year. This weekend in Zurich, Tadej Pogacar attempts to join Eddy Merckx and Stephen Roche.

The latter achieved his feat back in 1987 and spoke to Velo recently about the prospect of Pogacar matching him in 2024. “It’s never won before the finish, because they could fall off in the first lap, or be on a bad day. There are so many things that can happen that you can’t say it’s done deal,” the Irishman warns ominously. “But if I’m there between Merckx and Pogacar, I’m okay. Let’s say they are good company.”

“Tadej is absolutely amazing. What he’s doing is kind of extra terrestrial. He’s a little bit out of this world, really,” the 64-year-old continues, full of praise for his potential emulator. “He’s dominating one day, races, time trials, mountain stages, sprints. Tadej is quite capable of doing any terrain, really. I just hope riders, when they go to the start, don’t start riding for second place, because he is very, very, very impressive all right. He is quite capable of winning the worlds, especially with the terrain that’s there this year.”

More than most, Roche knows the struggles of attempting to peak three times in a season. As such, the Irishman doesn't believe Pogacar is as nailed on as some other experts consider. “I was very, very tired after my double and the whole season, and so I couldn’t really perform if it had been very, very hot,” he recalls. “But because it was very bad weather and it was raining, it was like giving me a bottle of oxygen. Tactically I said, OK, I will wear two raincoats and whatever needs to keep warm and keep dry for the first half and save my energy, and then the second half see what happens. I just had incredible legs that day.”

“I can’t explain the sensation,” he continues. “It was amazing. I didn’t win many one day races, they were all stage races. But, winning the world championships after winning what I had done, even independently of what I had done with the Giro and the Tour, going out and winning the world championships for me was an incredible feat."

Although he does think it'll be difficult, Roche still believes Pogacar is the Rainbow Jersey in waiting. “This year everything is aligned for Pogacar," the Irish legend concludes. "He didn’t have to dig really deep in the Giro, without taking anything away from his victory. The Tour was OK, but once again he was way above everybody else. And he’s had a long time recover, and we saw him winning in Montreal. Amazing. I think definitely he’s going to be hard to beat. I’ll be there myself and if he does win it, I can give him the key to the house.”