Former Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich has heaped praise on the current title holder, Tadej Pogacar, following his fifth overall victory. “You could say he is the Eddy Merckx of our time, the best of the best. As long as he competes in the Tour de France and is determined to win it, it will be difficult for anyone else to win,” said Ullrich in an interview with ntv/RTL/Sky.
Pogacar has won the world’s most important cycle race in 2020, 2021, 2024, 2025 and 2026, thereby drawing level with the Belgian Merckx, Miguel Indurain of Spain and the two Frenchmen Bernard Hinault and Jacques Anquetil. “He’s still hungry,” noted Ullrich, himself the winner of the 1997 edition. According to Ullrich, the three major goals still remaining for Pogacar are Olympic gold, the Vuelta and Paris–Roubaix.
Armstrong: Pogacar would wipe the floor with Armstrong
Ullrich’s long-standing rival, Lance Armstrong, had also spoken enthusiastically about the 27-year-old Slovenian. “This lad is the greatest of all time. (...) People often want to talk to me about my career and the history of the Tour, and where I stand in all that. This bloke would wipe the floor with Lance Armstrong,” said Armstrong on his podcast ‘The Move’.
The American had secured seven overall victories in the Tour de France between 1999 and 2005, but these were stripped from him following his admission to doping. “He is the greatest of all time. I would even go so far as to say that he is the most dominant athlete in the whole world,” said Armstrong.
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