Bold Pogacar statements by De Vlaeminck "nonsense, but it's also very refreshing that there's someone doing it"

Roger De Vlaeminck is not necessarily known for his modesty when it comes to expressing his opinions, but recently the former rider caused a stir with a remarkable interview. In it, the 78-year-old Belgian lashed out at Tadej Pogacar. The Slovenian was severely criticized, although the world champion got support from Italy. Now there is also a reaction from Denmark, in the person of Brian Holm.

Surely it came a bit out of the blue, because out of nowhere, the was De Vlaeminck, who in an interview last week lashed out at the Slovenian world champion. "Pogacar as good as Merckx? Madness! Pogacar doesn’t even come close to Merckx! Journalists who dare make that comparison don’t know a thing — write it down" the Belgian began extremely critically.

De Vlaeminck continued. "Make me 22 today and put me in the bunch with Pogacar, and he wouldn’t drop me. Where was it recently — when he rode away from Evenepoel? At Lombardy. On not even a difficult climb. As good as Merckx… come on.," the Belgian former rider concluded.

Those words were met with astonishment in Italy. Ex-rider Ricardo Magrini, who cycled with De Vlaeminck for years in the peloton, absolutely disagreed with the Belgian. "Maybe De Vlaeminck just got too old. When you get older, you tend to think only about what you yourself have done," he too was critical.

"His statement about Pogacar is completely misplaced," the 70-year-old Italian continued. "It is absurd to compare eras. Merckx was Merckx, Hinault was Hinault, Pogacar is Pogacar. Period. I don't understand who says he has no opponents or that he makes races boring. Cycling today is full of phenomena."

"I really don't understand De Vlaeminck's statement," Magrini added. "It's like asking how Maradona would perform today against modern defences. Roger was a champion and he would have been in any era, I'm sure, but it makes no sense to ask if he could follow an attack of Pogacar."

Holm, also a former rider, also felt the need to respond to De Vlaeminck's statements. "I don't think those comments really suit him. If he compares the 70s with now, it's terrible nonsense," Ekstra Bladet managed to note from the 63-year-old former rider.

De Vlaeminck is not exactly known for his modesty. The Belgian does not mince his words when expressing his opinion, and Holm says that is actually not such a bad thing. "It is also very refreshing that there is someone who does it. Someone who just goes off and takes all of Belgium in hand," said the Dane.

"He shows up a few times a year," Holm continued about De Vlaeminck, who also expressed himself quite vehemently about Mathieu van der Poel and Remco Evenepoel in the remarkable interview. For that reason, Holm believes that today's generation is not a fan of De Vlaeminck. "He is not popular with the young riders," the Danish former rider concluded.