Monuments

Merckx Backs Pogačar to Complete Monument Grand Slam at Paris-Roubaix — "It Is Now Clear He Has No Limits"

CYCLING LOOKOUT • 6 APRIL 2026

Eddy Merckx, the greatest cyclist in the history of the sport, has given his unequivocal endorsement to Tadej Pogačar's pursuit of a feat that only three men have ever achieved: winning all five of cycling's Monument classics. With Paris-Roubaix now the only Monument missing from the Slovenian's palmares, Merckx told reporters this week that he sees "no reason" why the UAE Team Emirates-XRG leader cannot complete the set on the cobblestones of northern France next Sunday.

"It is now clear that he has no limits," Merckx said, speaking after Pogačar's devastating solo victory at the Tour of Flanders on Easter Sunday. "What more does he still have to do? I think when you watch him race, you understand that he can win on any terrain, on any day. Paris-Roubaix is the most unpredictable race in cycling, but Tadej has shown that he can control even the uncontrollable." The endorsement from the man who holds the all-time record of 19 Monument victories carries extraordinary weight in a sport that reveres its history above almost everything else.

Pogačar's 2026 spring campaign has been nothing short of otherworldly. Three starts, three Monument or semi-classic victories: Strade Bianche, Milan-San Remo, and Tour of Flanders. His winning margin at Flanders — a 34-second gap forged on the Kwaremont with a 690-watt attack that shattered the peloton — was the largest since Philippe Gilbert's dominant 2017 victory. The Slovenian now has 12 Monument victories to his name, putting him third on the all-time list behind Merckx (19) and Roger De Vlaeminck (14). More significantly, he has won Milan-San Remo, Tour of Flanders, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, and Il Lombardia. Only Roubaix remains.

The exclusive club that Pogačar is attempting to join contains just three names: Rik Van Looy, who completed the set in the 1960s; Merckx himself, who dominated the Monuments throughout the 1970s; and Roger De Vlaeminck, the cobblestone specialist who won Paris-Roubaix four times. All three are Belgian — a detail that underscores just how extraordinary it would be for a Slovenian climber, a rider whose earliest career victories came on mountain summits, to join their ranks on the most brutal cobbled course in world cycling.

Pogačar's preparation for Roubaix has been meticulous. Last week, he completed a 210-kilometre reconnaissance ride over the key cobbled sectors, testing multiple tyre widths and switching to the Colnago Y1Rs aero frame that UAE's mechanics believe gives better vibration damping at high speed. "We tested everything," head mechanic David Fernandez confirmed. "Different pressures, different widths, different lines through the sectors. Tadej wanted to understand every centimetre of those cobbles." The attention to detail mirrors the approach that Mathieu van der Poel, the three-time defending champion, has brought to Roubaix in recent years — and it signals that Pogačar views this not as an opportunistic raid but as a genuine, all-in assault on the Hell of the North.

The question that hangs over the entire race is whether Pogačar's extraordinary climbing power can translate to the 30 cobbled sectors and 54.8 kilometres of pavé that define Paris-Roubaix. The 2026 route covers 258.3 kilometres from Compiègne, with route changes in the opening sectors creating what organisers have described as "an unmatched density of cobbles" between Troisvilles and Solesmes. It is a race that punishes poor positioning, mechanical failures, and momentary lapses of concentration more severely than any other event on the calendar. Even Merckx, at the height of his powers, lost Roubaix to riders who simply handled the chaos better on the day.

Van der Poel, who is chasing a record-equalling fourth consecutive victory, remains the overwhelming favourite for most observers. His mastery of the Roubaix cobbles is built on years of cyclocross experience, an innate feel for rough terrain, and a devastating turn of speed in the velodrome finish. Wout van Aert, Mads Pedersen, and Filippo Ganna all have legitimate claims to the podium as well. But Merckx, who knows better than anyone what it takes to win on the cobbles, believes the race is Pogačar's to lose. "When a rider is in this kind of form, the race comes to him," he said. "The cobbles do not care who you are. But Tadej has something that only the very greatest riders have had — the ability to make the race go exactly the way he wants."

If Pogačar wins in Roubaix on April 12, he will become the fourth member of the most exclusive club in cycling. He will also have won four Monuments in a single spring — a feat that has never been achieved in the modern era. The last rider to win three Monuments in one spring was Merckx himself, in 1971. That Pogačar is even in this conversation tells you everything about where he stands in the history of the sport. That Merckx himself is the one making the case tells you it is not hyperbole.

Merckx Backs Pogačar to Complete Monument Grand Slam at Paris-Roubaix — "It Is Now Clear He Has No Limits"

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