"There's probably not been a cyclist since Merckx who has had such a long and successful career" - Not in Pogacar, but Jens Voigt does sees Merckx's heir in modern cycling
Cycling
In 2024, Tadej Pogacar put in one of the greatest individual seasons in cycling history. As such, the Slovenian has been drawing comparisons with the great Eddy Merckx of late. According to Jens Voigt though, not Pogacar but someone else stands out as Merckx heir in the peloton.
"The next person that comes to mind is Marianne Vos," explains the 43-year-old German in his reflections of the 2024 season for Eurosport. "If ever an athlete, or in this case a female athlete, deserved the attribute "GOAT" - alongside Babe Ruth, Michael Jordan or Eddy Merckx - then it is the Dutchwoman."
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Adding 7 victories to her palmares in 2024, including notable successes such as Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Dwars door Vlaanderen, Amstel Gold Race and two stages of the Vuelta a Espana, the 37-year-old's career victory tally now stands at the incredibly impressive number of 255 on the road alone. And with triumphs across multiple disciplines increasing her overall tally much higher, Voigt sees Vos as the true heir of Merckx in modern cycling.
"In the spring she won Dwars door Vlaanderen convincingly, which was her 250th victory (!) and there were a few more to come in the rest of the season. She is a two-time Olympic champion and fourteen-time world champion: on the road, on the track, in cross and in gravel," Voigt, himself a rider with 59 career victories, concludes. "There has probably not been a cyclist since Merckx who has had such a long and successful career, so one of my highlights this year was seeing Vos return to winning ways."
Excitingly, Vos might not yet be done in 2024. After nearly two years away from cyclocross, the eight-time world champion is set to return to the field on Sunday in Besancon, potentially working towards the Cyclocross World Championships in early 2025.
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- It goes without saying that all the readers on this website are keen cycling fans and cyclists. We may have differing opinions on Lance Armstrong, but that is coloured by our knowledge of cycling history. However, for all the non-cycling public, all they know is Lance Armstrong and his story of cheating. The vast majority of the world do not even remember Eddy Merckyx and many don't know who Pogacar and Vingegaard are. Therefore, it is the truth that Lance Armstrong has been very damaging for our beloved sport of cycling. It even makes us cycling fans question the current generation of cyclists, which is so sad that we don't get to truly enjoy the sport any more because there will always be some doubts in the back of our minds.Pogboom29-12-2024
- Yes it is, 7.6% average, about 13% max.awp28-12-2024
- Puy de Dome was pretty steepvappaxbipmv28-12-2024
- I would pick billionaires next time.
ChoppyWarburton28-12-2024 - It is so awesome that Voit called attention to Voss' accomplishments. It is simply the fact of her remarkable ability that puts her in the class of Merckx
TRjens28-12-2024 - On the steeper stuff Jonas is a bit more efficient. He's dropped Tadej going back to the 2021 Tour on one occasion.awp28-12-2024
- i don’t care when he started doping. i really don’t even care THAT he started doping. and i certainly don’t care that he lied about doping. the history of cycling is chock-full of dopers, from charly gaul to merckx to kelly to contador and blah blah blah. and they ALL lied about it. but i really DO CARE that he treated everyone like AT BEST like expendable cogs in his winning machine, and at WORST like mortal enemies to be DESTROYED. it’s all that business that makes me dislike him. and i may be a suspicious and untrusting soul, but i really don’t trust that he’s changed in that way. that said, I’M certainly no one to give advice about moral virtue or from whom to seek it.OCexile28-12-2024
- Well said ! Kudos to you for bringing this up!frieders328-12-2024
- If he avoids losing any time to his competitors he would win every single race.Sweep28-12-2024
- He did nothing well without cheating. He was doping long before he entered professional cycling.Sweep28-12-2024