BRUSSELS (Belgium) – We return home after the first part of the North thinking about the Van der Poel's third consecutive Roubaix, 45 years after Moser's record. A truly long time has passed, and this demonstrates the exceptional nature of Trentino and how past records are more than just amusement park targets. We have exceptional champions behind us and it would be wrong to think that the new spectacular course will make them forgetIt's true, there have been moments that cycling could have done without, but before those there was such a rich and emotional history that Pogacar and Van der Poel will have to deal with for a long time and it's not a given that they will be able to match it.
Records that never fall
It seemed It was a given that Van der Poel would win the quarterfinals Flanders, but he found on his way the usual crazy Pogacar who forced it back down his throat. He'll probably succeed in the next few years, but it might never happen. Boonen also seemed to be heading for a poker, but after the third victory he found himself faced with an equally crazy Cancellara who in one way or another put an end to his desire for records. And Cancellara himself, having reached the hat trick, could have made a poker in 2016, his last year as a rider, but he had to bow to Sagan.
More Boonen stopped at four Roubaix, tying Roger De Vlaeminck's fantastic record. It seemed he would be able to surpass him, one way or another, but he in turn had to bow to Terpstra, Hayman, and Van Avermaet: who would have imagined it? And yet it happened.
It resists and will resist who knows for how long the record of five Tours, won by Anquetil, Merckx, Hinault and IndurainFroome stopped against that wall and who knows if Pogacar or Vingegaard will be able to catch up. Armstrong succeeded, reaching the number of seven, but here the discussion deserves a distinction. If we accept that in those years from 1999 to 2005 the entire group lived on par with the American, then the record remains. If, however, there was also a disparity in comparison with colleagues, then the record of 5 Tours is still firmly in place.Lance's seven victories exist only in the memories of those who lived them. Those are probably the years we could have done without, but there's no point crying over spilt milk. Cycling is doing well to move forward. in the name of other values.
The wisdom of Pogacar
Records are meant to be broken, some have indeed fallen and others will fall. In 2003 Cipollini won the 42nd stage of the Giro d'Italia, beating a record set by Alfredo Binda in 1933: exactly 70 years earlier. Last year, Cavendish beat with 35 stages Merckx's record win at the Tour established in 1975: 49 years earlier. Records are made to be broken, but one must not fall into the trap. it is foolish to think that with them the importance of those who held them can be erased. Because Binda, meanwhile, remaining within the Giro, won the general classification five times. And similarly, limiting ourselves to the Tour, Merckx won the yellow jersey five times.
In these days of prodigious feats, which seem stratospheric to us younger ones who have not lived through the years of Merckx and Gimondi, you often hear the name Pogacar associated with that of the Belgian CannibalIt's clear that in the era of easy social media, the comparison is considered acceptable, but are we sure that it is? Tadej will also be able to remember Merckx's hunger, but to achieve it, he would have to win Sanremo 7 times, the Giro 4 times, the Tour 2 times, the World Championship 2 times. Pogacar is probably more intelligent than the many who try to pin the star on his chest and has always refused any comparisonHe does well and it is precisely this modesty that makes him so loved. Also because it is enough a sneeze from Lady Luck because victories slip away, in years that are never the same.
A sport of giants
They also come to mind the words of Elisa Longo Borghini on the eve of Flanders. Speaking about the Milan-Sanremo, he paid a sacred tribute to the girls of yesterday. It seems that women's cycling was born with the WorldTour, forgetting great athletes like Jeannie Longo and Fabiana LuperiniWomen's cycling capable of repeatedly winning the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia when there were more days of racing than there are now.
We also tend to fall into the error of saying that today's performances are so superior that they annihilate the champions of the past. As if to say that today's soldiers are more courageous than those who went down to the battlefield with musket and bayonetIn reality, each historical period has had its own weapons, its own values, and its own technologies. Champions have always had access to the best of their time, even when they were racing on 15-kilo bikes on muddy roads. And thanks to what they had, they staged the crazy duels that made generations of fans fall in love, making cycling a sport of giantsBut do we really believe that the challenges between Coppi, Bartali, Anquetil, Magni, Koblet, Gimondi, Merckx, Poulidor, Hinault, Lemond, Fignon, Moser and the champions who have succeeded one another over the years were less exciting than the current ones?
