"What we are seeing, in my eyes, is the best cyclist ever" - British commentator on Tadej Pogacar; Mathieu van der Poel's dominance in cycling

2025 was the year of Tadej Pogacar and Mathieu van der Poel. The two have won all five monuments of cycling, both road and cyclocross world titles, and largely dominated every race they put their full intentions on, with dominating triumphs. That has often led to monotonous moments in some of the sport's most important events, which gives polarized opinions regarding the events.

“There are 36 World Tour events in the year, he's won eight of them. I covered a lot of these races, and I can totally understand that nobody likes dominance," commentator Brian Smith shared with CyclingWeekly. Not only have they won all five monuments, but seemingly no other rider was truly in discussion for them. Pogacar dominated Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Il Lombardia winning with a sole pre-planned attack; Paris-Roubaix saw the two well ahead of the competition; whilst both Tour of Flanders and Milano-Sanremo saw other contenders but it was very clear that on the climbs the two were above the rest of the field.

But Pogacar's dominance is different than that of the 2010's, where the Grand Tours and stage-races were dominated by a much more conservative Team Sky, who benefited from their strength in depth, constant-paced climbs and vastly superior time trial abilities which they used to make the difference on the competition. "Nobody likes what Team Sky did to the Tour de France in the overall – people weren't entertained. But I think they have been entertained.”

There is a strong argument to make that whilst riders such as Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome did not have much power to contest the one-day races outside of the long climbs and time trials; Tadej Pogacar can, and brings his climbing ability towards races that were ordinarily decided by sprinters or puncheurs. It has brought new race dynamics onto the spring classics and has motivated others to try and replicate it.

And with two monuments yet to be won, the Slovenian has good reason to try and continue improving his level. “The fire burning within Pogacar is the fact that he hasn't won Milano - Sanremo yet. He hasn't won the Vuelta yet. I say yet, because I believe that he can. What else has he got to prove? What else is he going to do?”

It is plausible to say that Paris-Roubaix is the race that motivates him the most, and it is a certain in his schedule next spring. He has already been testing material on the cobbles of northern France back in early December, and after a debut that saw him finish second this year, there are good reasons to believe he could win the 'Hell of the North' - a race that has become more predictable in recent years, with van der Poel now winning three consecutive editions.

Regarding Pogacar, Brian Smith puts him above the likes of Eddy Merckx and other historical figures. “You have to believe that. He's the complete athlete at the moment and what we are seeing, in my eyes, is the best cyclist ever.”

Meanwhile in cyclocross, the same could be argued for Mathieu van der Poel. Since the 22nd of January 2023, van der Poel has only been defeated on one occasion, the 2024 Benidorm World Cup - where he famously crashed. He's won 30 out of his last 31 races in cyclocross, against the very best in the world as well, not modest competitors.

He is also on the verge of making history, as it seems no-one has been able to remotely close the gap to him this winter, and a victory in Hulst in the space of one month would make him an eight-time World Champion in the discipline, above all others who have competed in cyclocross.

It can be argued that van der Poel's hold of men's cyclocross is even more monotonous, but Smith argues that in this case, there is very little tension and excitement involved: “It's a bit like watching Formula One. You watch the start and after that there are gaps everywhere – there's really no excitement.”