De Vlaeminck refuses to call Van der Poel the greatest cyclo-cross rider ever: “I can’t enjoy watching this”

De Vlaeminck says he enjoys watching Thibau Nys more than Van der Poel. “He’s good,” he explained to Het Nieuwsblad. “Not the best, but good. I like watching him. He always holds his own. I think that’s great to see. If you can stay on Mathieu van der Poel’s wheel for three, four laps, then you’re not bad. Nys can do that. I’m a supporter.”

Van der Poel has not been beaten since Benidorm 2024—more than two years ago. Every cyclo-cross he has started since then has ended in victory for the Dutchman. This winter was no different, especially in the last few weeks. At the World Championships, he rode away from his rivals with apparent ease—but De Vlaeminck sees that dominance as a problem when it comes to the legacy of the Alpecin-Premier Tech star.

He does not see Van der Poel as the best cyclo-cross rider of all time. “Bloody hell, no. Not by a long way,” he said. “With Erik, it was over when he was 28—worn out by his own foolishness. How many more titles could he have won? And let me list them: Renato Longo, Rolf Wolfshohl, Albert Van Damme, Peter Frischknecht, Erik, me. Those were different men to the ones now.”

According to the 11-time Monument winner, the competition behind Van der Poel simply is not strong enough. Riders like Nys, Tibor Del Grosso, Toon Aerts and the rest, in his view, do not come close to the level of the generation he raced against. “Just be honest about today’s professionals—honest, yeah. Who comes behind Mathieu van der Poel?”

Still, De Vlaeminck insists he is genuinely a fan of Van der Poel. But he believes Van der Poel is too much of a specialist to be compared directly to the greats of earlier eras. “Of course he’s good—one of the best. I’ve got huge respect for him. But can he time trial? Can he win a Grand Tour? I didn’t do that either, fair enough, but I did win Tirreno-Adriatico.”

De Vlaeminck has never hidden that modern cycling does little for him. Tadej Pogacar and Remco Evenepoel also get their share. “Of course Van der Poel, Evenepoel and Pogacar are good riders, but when I watch them, I can’t enjoy it. I want to be racing with them—going head-to-head. Beating them like I could sometimes beat Merckx.”

Eddy Merckx is widely regarded as the greatest rider of all time, and his compatriot De Vlaeminck points to him as the perfect example of how the sport has changed. “Merckx, mate—he was such a powerful human being. Do you know I was sometimes scared of him? It hurt just to sit on his wheel. And still I won 512 races. 512, yeah. Shall I list them all?”