Who is Cycling’s Best One-Day Racer?

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GENT, Belgium (Velo) — Mathieu van der Poel is making the claim as the best one-day racer of today’s generation, and the stats prove it.

With his second victory at Milan-San Remo, “MVDP” now has barnstormed to seven career wins among cycling’s revered monuments.

Only arch-rival Tadej Pogačar — also with seven monuments on his resumé — comes close.

Sunday’s clash at the Tour of Flanders will revive cycling’s biggest rivalry and push the monument chase to new levels.

After De Ronde, things will go into overdrive following Pogačar’s stunning decision to race Paris-Roubaix for the first time.

But who’s the best one-day racer?

Since his first monument trophy at the Tour of Flanders in 2020, Van der Poel has steadily racked up a standout palmarès in the sport’s most iconic races.

He’s won Flanders three times (2020, 2022, 2024), Milan-San Remo twice (2023, 2025), and Paris-Roubaix twice (2023, 2024).

That tally of seven wins now places him alongside some of cycling’s all-time GOATs and ties him with Pogačar as the winningest among active riders in the peloton in the monument tally.

Tom Boonen, Fabian Cancellara, and Gino Bartali also boast seven monuments. Not bad company.

So who’s the best one-day racer? Let’s dive in.

How many more monuments?

If the monuments are the first measuring stick of the best one-day race, only six riders in history have won more.

Among those ahead of MVDP and Pogi are legends like Sean Kelly, Fausto Coppi, and Roger De Vlaeminck. At the very top sits Eddy Merckx, with an astonishing 19 monument victories, a record that may never be touched.

And Merckx, De Vlaeminck, and Rik Van Looy remain the only riders in history to have won all five of the monuments.

As the all-time list reveals (see chart below), Van der Poel and Pogačar are neck-and-neck in the monument chase.

#DomestiqueStars for #RVV25 by @Eritropoetina

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Van der Poel
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Pogačar
⭐️⭐️⭐️ van Aert, Pedersen
⭐️⭐️ Benoot, Jorgenson, Powless, Van Eetvelt
⭐️ Ganna, Stuyven, Van Baarle, Sheffield, F. Vermeersch pic.twitter.com/tYFQosifgV

— Domestique (@Domestique___) April 4, 2025

Both have world titles, and both can win every one-day race they start. The monuments — six-hour sufferfests that push the riders to the edge — are the best measure of one-day racing greatness.

Van der Poel will have chances in April to make it nine if he can repeat his Flanders-Roubaix double from last year.

Il Lombardia isn’t on his radar, and he won’t be returning to Liège-Bastogne-Liège this year despite two recent attempts, including third last year. His final classics race before the Tour de France will be the “Hell of the North.”

Pogačar is more ambitious than ever, confirming last week that he will race Paris-Roubaix for the first time.

Adding more wins across Flanders, Liège and Il Lombardia are likely for the unstoppable Pogačar this season, and perhaps even Roubaix.

More W’s would quickly catapult him higher up the all-time win list and make the case that Pogačar — not Van der Poel — is the best one-day racer in the peloton right now.

And we’re not even looking at stage racing. Pogačar is in a class of his own right now.

So who’s better?

So who’s the top-dog in the one-days?

That kind of depends on how you rank the races.

Some consider races like Flanders and Roubaix as the most prestigious due to their difficulty, prestige, and pure racing emotion.

In that count, Van der Poel boasts five compared to Pogačar’s one at Flanders.

With the exception of Flanders, all of Pogačar’s monument wins have been earned on the hillier one-day races, with four at Il Lombardia and two at Liège.

In terms of pure climbing prowess, those races are too hard for Van der Poel, but somewhat “easier” for the superior climbing legs that Pogačar can pack.

So do those climber-friendly monuments carry less weight? In my book, yes.

Fair? Probably not. A monument is a monument, and they’re both entering this classics season looking to pad their respective tallies.

Who’s the more complete racer?

So who is the most complete cyclist?

That, too, depends on how you define “complete.”

Van der Poel is, without question, a better rider across multiple disciplines. He’s a world champion in cyclocross, road, and gravel, making him the only men’s world champion across three disciplines. Mountain biking could fall later this summer.

Pogačar, on the other hand, is redefining what a modern grand tour rider can be.

After what he did last season to rewrite the script, with his Giro-Tour double and adding only men’s cycling’s third “Triple Crown,” now he dares to take on Paris-Roubaix.

Both are once-in-a-generation athletes, and each brings an aura of invincibility.

When it comes to one-days, the stats tilt toward Van der Poel.

In head-to-head racing in one-day races — when one of the pair has won — Van der Poel is ahead with seven wins to Pogačar’s three. With these two, the only time they face off is at major races, like Strade Bianche, the monuments, or the worlds.

Of course, in stage racing, Van der Poel is no rival to Pogačar. Somewhat surprisingly, they’ve only raced together in stage races on a few occasions, mainly at the Tour de France from 2021 through 2024, and again at the 2021 Tirreno-Adriatico.

Both have laser-like schedules, but in stage racing, Van der Poel reverts to a stage-hunter, whereas Pogačar is hoovering up stage wins plus chasing GC glory in every stage race he starts.

Pogačar also has seven TT wins to Van der Poel’s zero. Now that’s a complete rider.

In pure number of road wins, Pogačar is also miles ahead, with 92 compared to MVDP’s 53. The Slovenian’s won 17 GC titles and 22 one-days, while Van der Poel’s won 25 one-days and even five GC races.

For me, it’s clear-cut: Van der Poel is the greatest one-day racer across any discipline, and Pogačar is the most complete all-rounder the road has ever seen.

Both are genre-busting superheroes delivering superlatives that today’s fans have never seen.

Van der Poel shines on the flats and Pogačar flies in the hills. That’s what makes De Ronde the purest intersection of the best of their strengths.

Van der Poel, the purest one-day racer of his generation, squaring off against Pogačar, the most complete rider the road has seen in decades.

Both are at their peak, both only wanting to win.

That’s why these precious few afternoons each spring are so special. When Pogačar and Van der Poel clash, it transcends the sport.

All-time monument wins

Legend:
MSR = Milan–San Remo | FLA = Tour of Flanders |
PR = Paris–Roubaix | LBL = Liège–Bastogne–Liège |
LOM = Il Lombardia

* winners of all five monuments