"There has never been a rider like him" - Adam Blythe says Tadej Pogacar could win any race on the calendar
Cycling
In arguably the greatest performance of his storied career, Tadej Pogacar soloed for over 80km to an incredible Strade Bianche triumph. This leaves the question, is there anything the Slovenian can't do?
Reflecting post-race to Eurosport, ex-pro Adam Blythe expressed his belief that Pogacar could win any race on the calendar. "We might never have seen a rider like him – an explosive rider, a fast finisher, a climber, someone who can time trial amazingly, someone who can drop into the Tour of Flanders and win it on his debut," Blythe began.
"There is probably not a single rider in history that has got the capabilities that this man has got. It's bonkers," Blythe continues, lauding praise on to the UAE Team Emirates leader. "You go back to Eddy Merckx, these guys. I don't even think they were similar to Pogacar. He can do everything at the highest level – not well, the highest level."
With Pogacar attempting to make more history later this year as he targets a Giro d'Italia/Tour de France double, Blythe is in no doubt about his capabilities. "Throughout the history of cycling, I don't think you can compare him to anyone," he says. "There's not a rider who's been able to do what Pogacar can do to this level. He can win the Tour de France, he can win Flanders, he can win pretty much anything that he wants to win. There has never been a rider like him. He's just an absolute animal on the bike."
Whatever, he won’t achieve what Merckx did, assuming he stays at this level long (which is not sure given he reached this level so young), might do Blythe good to re-check what he’s up against.
In the Merckx era the quality of the fields was significantly worse. Tadej is a once in a lifetime rider.
Except that he’s come in an era with several lifetime riders ;-) Same as Messi/Ronaldo, too bad for both the other was around at the same time, although, don’t think Messi gives a hoot, only Ronaldo suffers from not being incontestably best but then, he also needs that to keep motivated I think.
Actually, not sure you’re right there, very difficult to compare different epochs with different situations but he had to battle Van Looy often in the beginning and without Merckx, de Vlaeminck would rightly be considered one of the GOATs too, the fact they had to share almost every trophy between them for years shows there was greater rivalry and competition then than now where riders are pretty good at avoiding each other for most of the year whereas back then these two were actively challenging each other. If Merckx had been allowed to participate at the Olympics that would be the nail in the argument coffin, I don’t think Pogaçar would get far on the track, nor in an hour record, but as I said, times have changed. But, thankfully times are very competitive again after the more boring 10 years before Covid where there were plenty capable of winning but racing (Tours) wasn’t exciting or fun to watch due to Strategy trumping rider initiatives.
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- Doesn't mean anything. In 2023 he was only 3rd at Paris-Nice but then won the toursomeeffingname17-03-2025
- MSR is the race that brings the Spring', proper for better or worse...
leedorney17-03-2025 - Not sure that’s the whole story otherwise babies would be a lit more susceptible to nose bacteria too. Obviously cyclist breathe far more than average humans which should help keep things cleaner, on the other hand if you don’t clean your nose well or use an infected finger … and then why bacteria and not viruses? I would prepare mentally for more testing if this doesn’t solve things. Teeth and gums are the most overlooked entry point for infectious agents. Ears and eyes can also be easily contaminated.Mistermaumau17-03-2025
- Yeah, sorry, some people forget a few facts like him being in a similar age category as Tadej, Jonas, Remco, Tom and that there are plenty of promising younger riders developing too so it’s really quite far-fetched based on current givens.Mistermaumau17-03-2025
- If they learnt from 2024 MVDP/JP strategy, yes, possibleMistermaumau17-03-2025
- Name another race with 20 different winners in the last 30 years. This is probably the single most influential fact that points towards Tadej, or will it be Mads, or a « newcomer »?Mistermaumau17-03-2025
- Nobody asked you and you have very little future prediction precedent. 20 years ago no-one predicted Slovenian cycling domination, Tadej, Trump, Manchester United replaced by City, the recent serial UK Tory leadership or the drastic demise of German Olympic performance. Unfortunately JJ probably won’t be around much longer so can’t be held « accountable » if wrong.Mistermaumau17-03-2025
- Also, note how fast a counter article appeared, either naturally or as part of a comm. strategyMistermaumau17-03-2025
- Not sure, remember where he is saying it and what this person did for him. Perhaps he was coaxed into saying something to stimulate US interest or provocative to improve you know who’s media significance.Mistermaumau17-03-2025