The great cyclist Eddy Merckx gave a scathing assessment of Jumbo-Visma's strategy in the Tour de France.

Speaking to L'Equipe, Merckx told the French newspaper that Jumbo-Visma played with fire by keeping Tadej Pogachar close to the overall lead until late in the race, allowing the young Slovenian to pounce in the final time trial.

Pogachar was 57 seconds ahead of Roglic before Saturday's dramatic time trial.

Asked by L'Equipe if he was surprised by the developments in the Vosges mountains 24 hours before the race arrived in Paris, Merckx replied: "Not at all. If you ask my wife and the people closest to me, they have been saying for days that Logrich's 50 seconds were not enough to convince me of victory." [He said he could see Pogachar coming a mile away and that his only solution was to wait for TT.

"He's only 21 and much fresher than Roglic. He is only 21. He knew he didn't have to attack because Jumbo was stronger. He just needed to stay under the radar a little bit before the time trial."

In addition, Merckx claimed that Jumbo Visma "ran the stupidest race of all. For the last three weeks they gave it their all and nothing happened, and then they forgot this young athlete in 50 seconds (57 seconds - editor's note).

"They went looking for this loss. It was obvious that Pogachar would not attack. But they should have tried to drop Pogachar earlier. It was a good lesson in cycling."

Merckx claimed to L'Equipe that Jumbo Visma "may have forgotten what the 2019 Vuelta looks like" - with Pogachar finishing third and winning three stages.

Merckx was also somewhat dismissive as to whether Pogachar is part of a new generation of racers alongside the likes of Remco Evenpole (Detunink-Quick Step) and Eoghan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers).

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves about Lemko. He talks a lot, but I am waiting to see the rest. I don't know if Pogachar's win is good news for him.

"Bernal hasn't been very good this year, so we'll have to see what happens when he gets back to the front line to see if he can be Pogachar's rival down the road."