Eddy Merckx

Eddy Merckx
Merckx holding a bicycle. His shirt says "Molteni Arcore", and his hair is slicked back.
Merckx in 1971
Personal information
Full nameÉdouard Louis Joseph Merckx
NicknameLe Cannibale
De Kannibaal (The Cannibal)[1]
Born (1945-06-17) 17 June 1945 (age 79)
Meensel-Kiezegem, Belgium
Height1.82 m (5 ft 11+12 in)[2]
Weight74 kg (163 lb; 11 st 9 lb)[2]
Team information
Current teamRetired
DisciplineRoad and track
RoleRider
Rider typeAll-rounder
Amateur team
1961–1964Evere Kerkhoek Sportif
Professional teams
1965Solo–Superia
1966–1967Peugeot–BP–Michelin
1968–1970Faema
1971–1976Molteni
1977Fiat France
1978C&A
Major wins
Road

Grand Tours

Tour de France
General classification
(1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974)
Points classification (1969, 1971, 1972)
Mountains classification (1969, 1970)
Combination classification (1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974)
Combativity award (1969, 1970, 1974, 1975)
34 individual stages
(19691972, 1974, 1975)
Giro d'Italia
General classification
(1968, 1970, 1972, 1973, 1974)
Points classification (1968, 1973)
Mountains classification (1968)
24 individual stages
(19671970, 1972, 1973, 1974)
Vuelta a España
General classification (1973)
Points classification (1973)
Combination classification (1973)
6 individual stages (1973)

Stage races

Escalada a Montjuïc (1966, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1975)
À travers Lausanne (1968, 1970, 1972, 1973)
Giro di Sardegna (1968, 1971, 1973, 1975)
Tour de Romandie (1968)
Volta a Catalunya (1968)
Paris–Luxembourg (1969)
Paris–Nice (1969, 1970, 1971)
Vuelta a Levante (1969)
Tour of Belgium (1970, 1971)
Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré (1971)
Tour de Suisse (1974)
Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme (1975, 1976)

One-day races and Classics

World Road Race Championships (1967, 1971, 1974)
National Road Race Championships
(1970)
Milan–San Remo (1966, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1975, 1976)
Paris–Roubaix (1968, 1970, 1973)
Tour of Flanders (1969, 1975)
Liège–Bastogne–Liège (1969, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975)
Giro di Lombardia (1971, 1972)
La Flèche Wallonne (1967, 1970, 1972)
Gent–Wevelgem (1967, 1970, 1973)
Omloop Het Volk (1971, 1973)
Grand Prix du Midi Libre (1971)
Rund um den Henninger-Turm (1971)
Giro del Piemonte (1972)
Amstel Gold Race (1973, 1975)
Paris–Brussels (1973)
Giro dell'Emilia (1973)
Grand Prix de Fourmies (1973)
Trofeo Laigueglia (1973, 1974)
Other
Super Prestige Pernod International (1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975)
GP Baden–Baden (1971)
Hour Record (1972)
Grand Prix des Nations (1973)
Track
European Championships
Madison (1970, 1977)
Omnium (1975)
National Championships
Madison (1966, 1967, 1968, 1974, 1975, 1976)
Medal record
Representing  Belgium
Men's road bicycle racing
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 1964 Sallanches Amateurs' road race
Gold medal – first place 1967 Heerlen Professional road race
Gold medal – first place 1971 Mendrisio Professional road race
Gold medal – first place 1974 Montréal Professional road race
Men's track cycling
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 1970 Köln Madison
Gold medal – first place 1975 Grenoble Omnium
Gold medal – first place 1977 Copenhagen Madison
Silver medal – second place 1968 Gent Omnium
Silver medal – second place 1970 Gent Omnium

Édouard Louis Joseph, Baron Merckx (born 17 June 1945), known as Eddy Merckx (Dutch: [ˈɛdi ˈmɛr(ə)ks], French: [ɛdi mɛʁks]), is a Belgian former professional road and track cyclist racer who is the most successful rider in the history of competitive cycling. His victories include an unequalled eleven Grand Tours (five Tours de France, five Giros d'Italia, and a Vuelta a España), all five Monuments, setting the hour record, three World Championships, every major one-day race other than Paris–Tours, and extensive victories on the track.

Born in Meensel-Kiezegem, Brabant, Belgium, he grew up in Woluwe-Saint-Pierre where his parents ran a grocery store. He played several sports, but found his true passion in cycling. Merckx got his first bicycle at the age of three or four and competed in his first race in 1961. His first victory came at Petit-Enghien in October 1961.

After winning eighty races as an amateur racer, he turned professional on 29 April 1965 when he signed with Solo–Superia. His first major victory came in the Milan–San Remo a year later, after switching to Peugeot–BP–Michelin. After the 1967 season, Merckx moved to Faema, and won the Giro d'Italia, his first Grand Tour victory. Four times between 1970 and 1974 Merckx completed a Grand Tour double. His final double also coincided with winning the elite men's road race at the UCI Road World Championships to make him the first rider to accomplish cycling's Triple Crown. Merckx broke the hour record in October 1972, extending the record by almost 800 metres.

He acquired the nickname "The Cannibal", suggested by the daughter of a teammate upon being told by her father of how Merckx would not let anyone else win. Merckx achieved 525 victories over his eighteen-year career. He is one of only three riders to have won all five 'Monuments' (Milan–San Remo, Tour of Flanders, Paris–Roubaix, Liège–Bastogne–Liège, and the Giro di Lombardia) and the only one to have won them all at least twice. Merckx was successful on the road and also on the track, as well as in the large stage races and one-day races. He is almost universally regarded as the greatest and most successful rider in the history of cycling.

Since Merckx's retirement from the sport on 18 May 1978, he has remained active in the cycling world. He began his own bicycle brand, Eddy Merckx Cycles, in 1980 and its bicycles were used by several professional teams in the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s. Merckx coached the Belgian national cycling team for eleven years, stopping in 1996. He helped start and organize the Tour of Qatar from its start in 2002 until its final edition in 2016. He also assisted in running the Tour of Oman, before a disagreement with the organizers led him to step away in 2017.

  1. ^ Clemitson, Suze (4 April 2014). "Remembering how Eddy Merckx won at home in the 1969 Tour of Flanders". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 10 May 2015. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference sports-reference was invoked but never defined (see the help page).