Merckx Backs Pogacar's Monument Grand Slam: 'It Is Now Clear He Has No Limits'
When the greatest cyclist in history tells you the current world champion has no limits, the sport pays attention. Eddy Merckx, speaking to Belgian media in the aftermath of Tadej Pogacar's record-equalling third Tour of Flanders victory, delivered the most emphatic endorsement yet of the Slovenian's bid to win all five Monuments in a single season. "It is now clear that he has no limits," the 80-year-old said. "What more does he still have to do?"
The quote carries extraordinary weight. Merckx is the only rider whose palmares can bear meaningful comparison to Pogacar's current trajectory — 19 Monument victories across a career that redefined what was possible in professional cycling. When Merckx says a rider has no limits, he is speaking from the only vantage point that matters: the summit itself. And his endorsement was not casual or diplomatic. Asked specifically whether Pogacar could win Paris-Roubaix to continue his grand slam quest, Merckx was unequivocal. "He made me speechless," the Belgian said of Pogacar's Milan-San Remo victory in March. "Did I expect him to win like that? Honestly, no. I think this can be considered one of his greatest performances."
Merckx's intervention matters because it reframes the debate. The dominant narrative around Pogacar's five-Monument quest has centred on whether it is physically and logistically possible — the cumulative fatigue of a long spring campaign, the unpredictability of Paris-Roubaix's cobbles, the risk of illness or injury across seven months of competition. Merckx's view cuts through that analysis with the simplicity of lived experience. He won 19 Monuments across 14 seasons. He understands the rhythms of peak performance better than anyone. And he sees no reason Pogacar cannot do in one year what took him more than a decade.
Not everyone shares Merckx's confidence. Cyrille Guimard, the French directeur sportif who guided Bernard Hinault and Laurent Fignon to Tour de France victories, offered a more dramatic assessment. "If he wins all five, he should stop right away," Guimard told Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad. "There would be nothing left to achieve." The remark, intended partly as a compliment, underlines the impossibility of what Pogacar is attempting. Even Guimard — a man who spent decades pushing riders to their absolute limits — struggles to comprehend what a five-Monument season would mean for the sport's hierarchy of greatness.
Mathieu van der Poel, the defending Paris-Roubaix champion who finished second behind Pogacar at Flanders, was characteristically blunt when asked about the grand slam. "He has to beat me first," the Dutchman said, before adding with a grin: "And at Roubaix, I don't lose." Van der Poel's three consecutive Roubaix victories — and his seemingly innate connection with the cobbles of northern France — represent the single biggest obstacle between Pogacar and history.
Roger De Vlaeminck, who along with Merckx and Rik Van Looy is one of only three riders to have won all five Monuments across a career, has watched Pogacar's spring with a mixture of admiration and disbelief. "Records are made to be broken," the 78-year-old told Het Nieuwsblad before Flanders. "Pogacar is a phenomenon we have never seen before. If anyone is going to pass me, I am glad it is him." De Vlaeminck's active-rider Monument record of 11 victories fell at Flanders on Sunday when Pogacar claimed his 12th career Monument.
The endorsement from cycling's greatest generation gives Pogacar something more valuable than any tactical advantage: the validation that what he is attempting sits within the boundaries of what the sport considers possible. When Merckx, De Vlaeminck and Guimard — men who defined the outer limits of cycling excellence for half a century — collectively acknowledge that a five-Monument season is conceivable, the conversation shifts from fantasy to probability. Pogacar himself has been careful to manage expectations. "I now have two out of five, so let's not rush things," he said after Flanders. "Motivation is high, pressure is low." Whether that composure holds as Paris-Roubaix approaches will determine whether the grand slam remains alive beyond April 12.