Relative to population increase globally, I'd say so, yes. Look, back in Mercckx's day Europe was the "world of cycling", from which the only serious talent came. So saying global cycling is more impressive today lacks context. Merckx, then, faced the same scope of talent as Tadei does now. The only difference currently is that more countries are involved, however, in Europe today the pool is smaller, as modern sensiblities toward riding on the rode have changed and parents think twice about having their kids ride seriously. In fact, there are fewer racing now than at the time. I know this, because of how many historical amateur races no longer exist due to a decline in cycling's importance in the grand scheme of sport and it's dangers. In Europe cycling was still a working class sport in the 60s and 70s. Now it has become a dangerous activity only accessible to an élites that can afford 14,000 euro bikes. Sad but true, the market has taken over, which is the big elephant in the room nobody wants to see.