How does Pogacar compare to other five time Tour de France winners

Tadej Pogacar’s main rivals Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel have both described the five-time Tour de France winner as the greatest cyclist of all time.

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.