Only Merckx Left to Chase: Pogačar's Monument Record in Historical Context
When Tadej Pogačar crossed the finish line alone in Oudenaarde on Sunday, he did not merely win a bike race. He moved into a position in the all-time record books that only one name sits above: Eddy Merckx. The Slovenian's third Tour of Flanders victory took his career Monument tally to a number that has surpassed Roger De Vlaeminck, passed Fausto Coppi and Costante Girardengo, and left him chasing only the Belgian Cannibal's extraordinary record of 19 Monument victories. At 27 years old, Pogačar has time — and apparently limitless talent — on his side.
The statistics demand context. Merckx accumulated his 19 Monument wins across a career that spanned from 1965 to 1978, an era in which the professional calendar was vast and the Monuments held an even more central place in the sport's consciousness. He won Milan-San Remo seven times, the Tour of Flanders twice, Paris-Roubaix three times, Liège-Bastogne-Liège five times, and the Giro di Lombardia twice. The breadth was as remarkable as the depth — Merckx was competitive everywhere, all the time, for more than a decade. That is the benchmark Pogačar is measuring himself against.
What makes Pogačar's trajectory historically unusual is the speed of accumulation. He won his first Monument — Strade Bianche is not a Monument, but Il Lombardia was his first — and has been adding to the collection at a rate of roughly two to three per year since. His 2024 season produced Strade Bianche, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Il Lombardia. His 2025 spring added the Tour of Flanders and another Lombardia. This spring has already delivered Milan-San Remo and a third Flanders. No rider in the modern era has sustained this level of Monument-winning consistency across multiple years while simultaneously dominating Grand Tours.
The comparison with De Vlaeminck is instructive. The Belgian, known as the "Gypsy" of cycling's golden age, won 11 Monuments across his career — four Paris-Roubaix titles chief among them. He competed in an era when riders raced 150 or more days per year and the Monuments were fought over by dozens of credible contenders. De Vlaeminck's record stood as the second-highest in history for decades. Pogačar has now passed it in roughly half the racing seasons, a reality that speaks both to the Slovenian's extraordinary talent and to the way modern cycling concentrates dominance in fewer individuals.
There is, of course, a crucial piece missing from Pogačar's Monument collection: Paris-Roubaix. The Hell of the North remains the one classic that has eluded him — he finished a strong but beaten second behind Mathieu van der Poel in 2025, and his preparations for Sunday's 2026 edition have been forensically detailed. A Roubaix victory would not only add to the raw numbers but would confirm Pogačar as a rider capable of winning on cobblestones as brutal and specific as those in northern France — a terrain that has traditionally belonged to specialists rather than all-rounders. It would also keep alive the unprecedented prospect of winning all five Monuments in a single season.
Beyond Roubaix, the Ardennes Classics loom. Pogačar has already won Liège-Bastogne-Liège and has been competitive at Flèche Wallonne and Amstel Gold Race without yet winning either. If he can add victories in the Ardennes to his spring haul, the Monument tally could reach a number that makes the Merckx comparison not just theoretical but mathematical — a realistic target within the next two to three seasons. At 27, with his physical peak potentially still ahead of him, the arithmetic is startling.
The question that animates the debate is not really about numbers. It is about the nature of dominance itself. Merckx dominated a sport that was broader but shallower in terms of athletic preparation. Pogačar dominates a sport that is narrower in focus but vastly deeper in scientific optimisation, nutrition, aerodynamics and competition. Whether one era's dominance can be directly compared to another's is a philosophical question that statistics alone cannot answer. What the statistics can tell us is this: Tadej Pogačar is accumulating Monument victories faster than any rider in history, including Merckx. The record may not fall this year, or next. But the trajectory suggests it will fall eventually — and the cycling world is watching every pedal stroke of the chase.