Roger De Vlaeminck is a man of many wars, one who is never shy about expressing his – often critical – opinion. With his heart on his sleeve he discusses cycling themes, from the past to the present. A recurring question is: ‘Who was the best ever?’
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Merckx > Pogacar
Since Tadej Pogacar’s phenomenal performances in recent seasons, many are convinced that the Slovenian has overtaken Eddy Merckx to claim that title. Confronted about this at Het Laatste Nieuws, De Vlaeminck is his clear self…
“Crazy! Pogacar hasn’t touched Merckx’s toes yet!”, he dismisses that discussion – which, according to De Vlaeminck, isn’t even one -. “Journalists who dare to make that comparison know nothing about it — write it down.”
De Vlaeminck is even convinced that he could compete with Pogacar: “If I were 22 years old today and rode in the peloton with Pogacar, he wouldn’t break away from me. Where was it recently – when he rode away from Evenepoel? In Lombardy. On not even a difficult mountain. Just as good as Merckx… Come on.”
Fighting the impossible
De Vlaeminck also invariably – and rightly – speaks about himself with full confidence, but realism was also an art for him: “There are people who have always claimed that I could have won the Tour de France, but that I did not believe in it. The latter is correct, but I was just realistic. I could not win the Tour de France against Eddy Merckx. I accepted that,” it sounds honest.
Although that did not mean that De Vlaeminck was able to simply accept his supremacy: “I admit that Merckx could get into my head. But that was healthy stress. Eddy brought out the best in me. I was not afraid of him. Eddy once came to ask me: ‘Would you like to ride in my team?’ I then replied: ‘I don’t want to ride with you, but against you.’”
