Merckx and De Vlaeminck critical of modern cycling: "They wouldn’t have dropped me that easily"

De Vlaeminck visited Merckx for coffee before his 80th birthday (June 17, ed.). Merckx has previously said that he has a lot of respect for Pogacar, but the competition is not at the same level. "Who else did we see in the spring?" Merckx wonders aloud to Het Nieuwsblad. "Van der Poel. And Evenepoel when he's fit. In my day, you had Godefroot, Roger, Freddy Maertens, Demeyer... And in the Grand Tours, Gimondi, Motta, Ocana, and Fuente. Nowadays, it's all a bit less impressive in the Tours. Except for Vingegaard. And even he. Vingegaard races so little. And in Paris-Nice at the beginning of the year, he didn't make a good impression on me."

De Vlaeminck sees the Dane as a typical modern stage racer who chooses one moment to peak. "Vingegaard is certainly a good stage racer, but he doesn't ride. What are they paying him for all year? And I'm not going to knock Pogacar, but what opposition does he have? Like they let him ride 90 kilometers in the Strade Bianche. And the only one who tried anything was Pidcockske (Tom Pidcock, ed.). Come on, guys. They wouldn't have dropped me that easily there. On the sand, in the stones. I would have loved to have ridden that race."

The 77-year-old Belgian, who won 11 Monuments in his career, believes that the current generation of cyclists receives too much praise for a relatively limited CV. To reinforce his argument, he cites Mads Pedersen as an example. "They're hyping him up because he won a few stages in the Tour of Italy. But he can't win a time trial, and he can't win a mountain stage. To me, that doesn't make you a super rider. What has Pedersen won so far?"

Merckx then jumps to the defense of the 2019 world champion. "Careful. Gent-Wevelgem, three times. And if he doesn't crash at the wrong moment this year, I'd like to see him in Paris-Roubaix. And he was strong in the Giro." De Vlaeminck, however, doesn't want to hear any of it. "I won 22 stages in the Tour of Italy and still finished fourth overall."

The comparisons between Pogacar and Merckx are becoming excessive for the outspoken former rider. "I'm not going to talk about Eddy. How many times did he win the Giro? Five times? Pogacar will have to hurry. Eddy is braver than me. More cautious. A different character than me. He can't help it. I'm not saying Pedersen is a bad rider, but he's not a good one. And he's certainly not great. That's my honest opinion, and that's the truth."