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Belgian cyclist (born 1945) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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.
Edouard Louis Joseph Merckx was born in Meensel-Kiezegem,[3] Brabant, Belgium on 17 June 1945 to Jules Merckx and Jenny Pittomvils.[4][5] Merckx was the first-born of the family.[4][5] In September 1946, the family moved to Sint-Pieters-Woluwe, in Brussels, Belgium in order to take over a grocery store that had been up for lease.[6][7] In May 1948, Jenny gave birth to twins: a boy, Michel, and a girl, Micheline.[8] As a child Eddy was hyperactive and was always playing outside.[9]
Eddy was a competitive child and played several sports, including basketball, football, table tennis and boxing, the latter in which he won some local boxing tournaments.[10][11] He even played lawn tennis for the local junior team.[11] However, Merckx claimed he knew he wanted to be a cyclist at the age of four and that his first memory was a crash on his bike when he was the same age.[12] Merckx began riding a bike at the age of three or four and would ride to school every day, beginning at age eight.[13] Merckx would imitate his cycling idol Stan Ockers with his friends when they rode bikes together.[14]
In summer 1961, Merckx bought his first racing license and competed in his first official race a month after he turned sixteen, coming in sixth place.[15] He rode in twelve more races before winning his first, at Petit-Enghien, on 1 October 1961.[16][17][3] In the winter following his first victory, he trained with former racer Félicien Vervaecke at the local velodrome.[18] Merckx won his second victory on 11 March 1962 in a kermis race.[18] Merckx competed in 55 races during the 1962 calendar year; as he devoted more time to cycling, his grades at school began to decline.[19] After winning the Belgian amateur road race title, Merckx declined an offer from his school's headmaster to have his exams postponed, and dropped out of school.[20][21] He finished the season with 23 victories to his name.[21]
Merckx won the amateur road race at the 1964 UCI Road World Championships in Sallanches, France.[22][23] The following month, he came twelfth in the individual road race at the Tokyo Olympics.[24][2] Merckx remained an amateur until April 1965, and finished his amateur career with eighty wins to his credit.[25][26]
Merckx turned professional on 29 April 1965 when he signed with Rik Van Looy's Belgian team, Solo–Superia.[27] He won his first race in Vilvoorde, beating Emile Daems.[28][29] On 1 August,[28] Merckx finished second in the Belgian national championships, which qualified him for the men's road race at the UCI Road World Championships.[30] Raphaël Géminiani, the manager of the Bic cycling team, approached Merckx at the event and offered him 2,500 francs a month to join the team the following season.[31] Merckx chose to sign; however, since he was a minor the contract was invalid.[31]
After finishing the road race in 29th position,[32] Merckx returned to Belgium and discussed his plans for the next season with his manager Jean Van Buggenhout.[31] Van Buggenhout helped orchestrate a move that sent Merckx to the French-based Peugeot–BP–Michelin for 20,000 francs a month.[31] Merckx elected to leave Solo–Superia due to the way he was treated by his teammates, in particular Van Looy.[30] Van Looy and other teammates mocked Merckx for his various habits such as his eating, or called him names.[33] In addition, Merckx later stated that during his time with Van Looy's team he had not been taught anything.[29][30] While with Solo–Superia, he won nine races out of the nearly 70 races he entered.[31][34]
In March 1966, Merckx entered his first major stage race as a professional rider, the Paris–Nice.[35] He took the race lead for a single stage before losing it to Jacques Anquetil and eventually coming in fourth overall.[35] Milan–San Remo, his first participation in one of cycling's Monuments, was the next event on the calendar for Merckx. There, he succeeded in staying with the main field as the race entered the final climb of the Poggio.[36] He attacked on the climb and reduced the field to a group of eleven, himself included.[37] Merckx was advised by his manager to hold off on sprinting full-out to the finish line until as late as possible.[36] At the end of the race, three other riders approached the line with him, and Merckx beat them in the sprint.[36] In the following weeks, he raced the Tour of Flanders and Paris–Roubaix, the most important cobbled classics; in the former he crashed and in the latter he had a punctured tire.[38] At the 1966 UCI Road World Championships he finished twelfth in the road race after suffering a cramp in the closing kilometers.[38] He finished the 1966 season with a total of 20 wins, including his first stage race win at the Tour of Morbihan.[38]
Merckx opened the 1967 campaign with two stage victories at the Giro di Sardegna.[39] He followed these successes by entering Paris–Nice where he won the second stage and took the race lead.[39] Two stages later, a teammate, Tom Simpson, attacked with several other riders on a climb and was nearly 20 minutes ahead of Merckx, who remained in a group behind.[39] Merckx attacked two days later on a climb 70 km into the stage.[40] He was able to establish a firm advantage, but obeyed orders from his manager to wait for the chasing Simpson.[40] Merckx won the stage, while Simpson secured his overall victory.[40]
On 18 March,[41] Merckx started the Milan–San Remo and was seen as a 120–1 favorite to win the race.[40] He attacked on the Capo Berta and again on the Poggio, leaving only Gianni Motta with him.[42] The two slowed their pace and were joined by two more riders.[42] Merckx won the four-man sprint to the finish.[42] His next victory came in La Flèche Wallonne after he missed out on an early break, caught up to it, and attacked from it to win the race.[43] On 20 May, he started the Giro d'Italia, his first Grand Tour.[44] He won the twelfth and fourteenth stages en route to finishing ninth in the general classification.[45]
He signed with Faema on 2 September for ten years worth 400,000 Belgian francs.[46] He chose to switch over in order to be in complete control over the team he was racing for.[46] In addition, he would not have to pay for various expenses that came with racing such as wheels and tires.[47] The next day, Merckx started the men's road race at the 1967 UCI Road World Championships in Heerlen, Netherlands.[48] The course consisted of ten laps of a circuit.[47] Motta attacked on the first lap and was joined by Merckx and five other riders.[48] The group thinned to five as they reached the finish line where Merckx was able to out-sprint Jan Janssen for first place.[48][49] In doing so, he became the third rider to win the world road race amateur and professional titles.[48] By winning the race he earned the right to wear the rainbow jersey as world champion.[48][49]
Merckx's first victory with his new team came in a stage win at the Giro di Sardegna.[50] At Paris–Nice, he was forced to quit the race due to a knee injury he sustained during the event.[51] He failed to win his third consecutive Milan–San Remo and missed out at the Tour of Flanders the following weekend.[51] His next victory came at Paris–Roubaix when he bested
