“Winning all five Monuments? For everyone else it’s impossible. For Tadej Pogacar, ‘just’ extremely difficult” – Italian ex-pro backs UAE leader to complete cycling holy grail

Winning all five Monuments across a career has only been achieved by a select group of all-time greats. Eddy Merckx, Roger De Vlaeminck and Rik Van Looy stand alone in cycling history for completing the full set.

For Italian ex-pro Moreno Moser, however, Tadej Pogacar may be the first rider of the modern era capable of joining that list.

Speaking in an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport, the former Strade Bianche winner and current Eurosport pundit suggested the UAE Team Emirates - XRG leader possesses a combination of physical range and mentality that places him outside conventional limits.

“For everyone else, it’s impossible,” Moser said. “For him, ‘just’ extremely difficult.”

Moser’s argument is not built on Pogacar’s palmares alone, but on how the Slovenian wins.

“He drops everyone? Fine. What interests me is when and how,” he said. “And his mental superiority over the others impresses me as well.”

That mental edge, in Moser’s view, is what separates Pogacar from recent dominant figures. Rather than following expected scripts, Pogacar consistently reshapes races around his own strengths, whether on cobbles, long climbs or rolling terrain.

“I believe he can manage at least another two or three seasons like this,” Moser added.

It is that sustained level, rather than a single peak year, that leads Moser to believe the full Monument set is not out of reach.

“For 2026, in fact, I would like to bet on one thing,” he said. “That he could win all five Monuments.”

Moser pointed to Milan Sanremo as a symbolic moment in modern racing, particularly in how Pogacar and his rivals reshaped the race far from the finish.

“How many years had we been waiting for the race to light up already on the Cipressa?” he said. “And until 500 metres from the finish we did not know whether Van der Poel, Ganna or Pogacar would win. Magnificent.”

For Moser, that unpredictability is precisely why Pogacar’s dominance does not dull the spectacle.

“Champions do not bore people,” he said. “And Pogacar is pure enjoyment.”

While Pogacar dominates the present, Moser also looked toward Italy’s future Grand Tour contenders, naming two riders he believes could eventually carry the flag.

“In the long term, without doubt Lorenzo Finn, because of his completeness,” he said. “Even if when he arrives in the World Tour from 2027 onwards he will find a completely different world.”

He also highlighted Giulio Pellizzari as a rider capable of going all the way in a three week race.

“A Giro d Italia, he could win one, yes,” Moser said.

For now, though, Moser’s focus remains on a rider he believes could bridge cycling’s past and present.

The full set of Monuments has only been completed by the sport’s immortals. In Moser’s eyes, Pogacar has placed himself within touching distance of that same conversation.