Only three riders in cycling history have claimed victories in all five of the sport’s prestigious Monuments: Belgium’s Rik van Looy, Eddy Merckx, and Roger De Vlaeminck. Among today’s top contenders, Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) stand out as the most likely to match that incredible feat. Winning all five Milan-Sanremo, Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, and the Tour of Lombardy is known as achieving the ‘Grand Slam’ of cycling. Pogacar still needs wins in Milan-Sanremo and Paris-Roubaix, while van der Poel is chasing Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Lombardy.
The latter two races are particularly challenging for riders who aren’t pure climbers, but Mathieu’s father, Adrie van der Poel, believes his son has the potential to win them. In a conversation with *Bici.Pro*, the former Liège-Bastogne-Liège winner (1988) said that success would require a strong performance and a bit of luck. While the other three Monuments align more closely with Mathieu’s strengths, Adrie acknowledges the growing difficulty of modern race routes, which often favor a smaller group of elite climbers.
“Lombardy is a beautiful but brutally hard race,” he said. “That eliminates many classic-style riders from contention.” Adrie also reflected on how cycling has changed over the years: “In my time, fifty riders could realistically win Lombardy. Now it’s down to just a few.”
Despite the challenges, Adrie remains hopeful. He believes the Monument races should be more accessible to a wider field and shaped in a way that allows for diverse strategies. He also sees room for improvement in Mathieu’s approach, including modifying his training and shedding weight much like he did before last year’s World Championships, where he podiumed in a tough course.
He suggests a program that includes racing the Vuelta and tackling more hilly races to build endurance for mountainous classics like Lombardy. Still, he concedes that Pogacar may have the upper hand. “It’s probably a bit easier for Tadej than for Mathieu,” he admits. “He came very close in Sanremo and Roubaix this year. Without Mathieu, he may have won both. Objectively, Pogacar is the most likely rider to complete the Grand Slam.”
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