The Japan Times - How does Pogacar compare to other five-time Tour de France winners

The 27-year-old Slovenian made history on Sunday by joining an elite band of four other riders to have won the Grande Boucle five times.

So how does Pogacar compare to Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain?

Until Pogacar came along, there were few people involved in cycling who did not proclaim Merckx as the best ever.

Anquetil, Hinault and Indurain are much admired, but few would have claimed any of them were as great as Merckx.

When it comes to Pogacar, that is not the case -- the debate is feisty.

Evenepoel was even forced to nuance his previous claim when Belgian journalists grilled him for rating Pogacar above his idolised compatriot.

"I'm only racing against Tadej and I've never raced against Eddy Merckx," Evenepoel said during the Tour.

"From what I've felt and seen is that Tadej is one of the best ever, together with Eddy."

Two days later he again described Pogacar as the greatest!

It is a similar debate to the one in football between the nostalgic traditionalists pushing the case for the likes of Pele and Diego Maradona, and a new breed insisting that Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo's talent and achievements outstrip those of their predecessors.

A starting point for any such debate is to look at an athlete's achievements.

Of the five-time Tour winners, Pogacar has won the fewest Grand Tours in total -- six.

But he is the only one still competing.

The seven and eight Grand Tours of Indurain and Anquetil are comfortably within reach -- the 10 and 11 of Hinault and Merckx would take more time to match.

- More to come -

Where Pogacar outstrips all four is that he won his first at a younger age -- and his fifth, too, for that matter.

He has not completed the grand slam of Grand Tours having finished third in his only appearance at the Vuelta a Espana -- but that was as a 20-year-old.

Merckx, Anquetil and Hinault completed tha grand slam, but Indurain did not.

Such is Pogacar's dominance, that it is hard to imagine him not winning the Vuelta if he were to return to the Spanish Grand Tour in the next few years.

When it comes to levels of dominance, Pogacar and Indurain would seem to be behind the other three.

Merckx won one Tour by almost 18 minutes, Anquetil by almost 15 minutes and Hinault by more than 14 minutes.

Pogacar's 2026 margin of 6min 26sec was his largest yet, but apart from his first victory in 2020, there is no doubt that he has imposed total domination over his rivals in each of his other four successes -- as did Indurain in his five victories including one by just 3min 36sec.

The margin of victory does not always accurately reflect the manner.

One area in which Pogacar stands out more than everyone except Merckx is his all-terrain game -- able to win one-day cobbled classics as dominantly as he does Grand Tours or week-long mountainous stage races.

With 13 Monument victories, Pogacar is second only to Merckx on 19.

Hinault, who was a fine all-terrain rider, won five Monuments and several other major one-day races, but Anquetil won only one Monument and Indurain none at all.

Indurain, though, was both Olympic and world time-trial champion -- something none of the others achieved.

Merckx won the road race world title three times -- a feat Pogacar will attempt to match later this year -- while Hinault did so once.

One cobbled Monument that Pogacar is yet to tame, though, is Paris-Roubaix -- both Merckx and Hinault won there.

Comparisons can also be made in riding style.

While Anquetil and Indurain were known for their pure power, Pogacar is more similar to 'the Cannibal' Merckx and 'the Badger' Hinault in his attacking panache.

Analysing who was the best across vastly different generations is an impossible task.

But Pogacar deserves to be mentioned amongst cycling's greats -- and there is surely more to come.

Most cyclists do not reach their peak until their late 20s or even early 30s.

Pogacar may yet outstrip them all.

M.Fujitav--JT