His countrymen might be building him up following a historic four wins in succession, but Philippe Gilbert is keeping his feet on the ground in terms of comparison to cycling’s most successful rider. The Belgian has – correctly – stated that he is not the new Merckx, recognising that thus far, he has won only a fraction of what his compatriot did three decades ago.
“Eddy Merckx was unique. There was one Eddy Merckx, and there will never be another Eddy Merckx. He was just the best athlete in the last century, so he is unique,” Gilbert told Feltet.dk.
The younger Belgian’s dominance of the Ardennes Classic may have evoked memories of the triple world champion, in terms of the way he won those races, but it is unlikely that he will ever approach the same palmares. Merckx won practically every Classic, five Tours, five Giri d’Italia, one Vuelta and those three world titles.
Gilbert has taken two Giri di Lombardia, two Amstel Gold Races, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Flèche Wallonne, as well as other major one day races such as Paris-Tours, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and the Giro del Piemonte, each of which he won twice, as well as Brabantse Pijl.
He has set himself the career target of winning each of the five monuments. With Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the Giro di Lombardia ticked off, he will target Milan-Sanremo, the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix in the years ahead.
His goals this season include targeting the chance to wear the yellow jersey in the Tour de France, plus a stage win, as well as the world championships. He has admitted that this year’s course may be too flat, though, and believes the 2012 and 2013 worlds are a better fit for his swashbuckling style.
Gilbert’s playing down of the Merckx comparisons is reassuring in that it indicates he’s keeping things in perspective. His countryman Frank Vandenbroucke got swept along with the hype, famously calling Merckx prior to the 1999 world championships to predict he was going to win, based on his form in the Vuelta a España. The Belgian crashed in the race and fractured bones in his wrists, limping home seventh behind Oscar Freire.
Gilbert is currently taking a break from racing before building back up for the Tour de France.