Merckx unhappy with Van der Poel leaving Tour, says he won't ever win race

Mathieu van der Poel had a fantastic opening week at the Tour, winning stage 2 in spectacular fashion and holding yellow for a week. However, Eddy Merckx says Van der Poel's early departure from the race was not good for cycling (Photo: Pauline Ballet)

Eddy Merckx has said Mathieu van der Poel’s decision to abandon the Tour de
France, just after losing the yellow jersey, was a bad development for cycling,
adding he did not think the Alpecin Fenix rider could ever win the race
outright.

"What he did on the Mûr-de-Bretagne was magnificent. Grab the bonus
seconds on the first passage and the victory on the second passage, then you
have to be really strong," he told Sporza.

"I went to dinner with Mathieu van der Poel and his grandfather
Poulidor. Pou-Pou was convinced that Mathieu could win the Tour. Unfortunately,
I have to say that that is not possible."

And on the issue of Van der Poel leaving the Tour after a week, in order to prepare for the MTB race at the Olympics, five-time Tour winner Merckx said it was not something he would have ever done.

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Eddy Merckx believes Pogacar is an exception champion and that Evenepoel will need a few years to catch up on him (Photo: Cor Vos)

"I couldn't do it. If you start a stage race, it's not to get out.
Otherwise you have to prepare for the Games in a different way. That does not
benefit cycling," he said, adding nobody was asking Van der Poel to have
so many goals in a season.

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"Van der Poel himself is asking for such a full schedule. Nobody
forces him to do all that. The Tour de France is the biggest race of the year
and in cycling, I think it's a pity."

Merckx also described the comeback of Mark Cavendish as a “miracle”. Cavendish, now riding for Deceuninck-QuickStep, has won three stages on this year’s Tour and taken his career tally to 33 Tour stage victories. He needs just one more to equal Merckx’s record of 34.

"If he comes closer, he has earned it," says Merckx of Cavendish
possibly getting closer to his record.

"Of course they are all bunch sprints. I won 34 stages in all areas,
including uphill. But it won't change anything, I won't start again.”

Merckx also believed current Tour leader, and defending champion, Tadej Pogačar (UAE-Team Emirates), was “an exceptional champion”. Belgian hope Remco Evenepoel (Deceuninck-QuickStep) “will need a few more years to get to the level of Pogacar,” including improving his bike handling skills.

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