"Tadej Pogacar is someone who loves this kind of challenge" - Philippe Gilbert confident Slovenian will win all five monuments during career

Can Tadej Pogacar win all five of cycling's monuments? It's a feat only achieved by three people, Rik Van Looy, Eddy Merckx, and Roger De Vlaeminck in the history of the sport but according to Philippe Gilbert, Pogacar could soon join that elite list.

"Pogacar is someone who loves this kind of challenge. He confirmed it this year: With his ever-growing list of achievements, he wants to become the best rider in history - and why shouldn't he try to surpass Eddy Merckx?" Gilbert, who himself won four of cycling's monuments, only missing out on the win at Milano-Sanremo, says in conversation with Eurosport.

So far, Pogacar already has a hat-trick of wins at Il Lombardia, and a sole triumph at the Tour of Flanders plus from Liege-Bastogne-Liege in 2021, although he may add to that this Sunday. All that remains for the Slovenian now, are Paris-Roubaix, a race he's yet to ride and Milano-Sanremo where he podiumed earlier this year.

"This shows how ambitious Tadej is. If he continues like this for another five years, he will have a sensational record," Gilbert continues. "Pogacar approaches things in the same order as I do: he won monuments and the most difficult races with the most elevation gain at a young age. You can twist and turn it however you want, but as you get older you get fuller and a little stronger. Even Alejandro Valverde probably weighed a kilo or two more at the end of his career than when he was younger. You can't change that, people change after their mid-30s. That's why I think Pogacar is doing things in the right order."