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EDDY MERCKX
Date of birth: 17/06/1945
From: Meensel-Kiezegem, Belgium
Teams: Fiat (1977), Molteni (1971-1976), Faema-Faemina (1970), Faema (1968-1969), Peugeot (1966-1967)
Eddy Merckx career profile
Eddy Merckx was, is and will be the greatest cyclist of all time.
Quite apart from the staggering (if approximate, depending on if you count criteriums) total of 525 wins in his career - almost a third of all of the races he ever started - Merckx is the one rider in cycling history to defy all categories. He remains unclassifiable, unbeatable, a giant amongst giants.
A Grand Tour rider? Yes, but he also won all the major Classics, from Milan-San Remo to the Tour of Lombardy. And all the week-long stage races you could name. And pretty much everything inbetween. (That includes the Hour Record, by the way.)
Even the briefest of resumes will take up a lot of space, but here goes. Five Tours, five Giros, three World Championships; three World Championships (plus one as an amateur); seven Milan-San Remos; two Tours of Flanders; three Paris-Roubaix; Five Liege-Bastogne-Liege; two Amstels; three Ghent-Wevelgems; three Fleche Wallones; three Paris-Nices; two Tours of Lombardy; the Vuelta; two Het Volks, the Dauphine, the Tour of Switzerland, the Tour of Catalonia. The list is almost endless, although curiously enough he never won Paris-Tours.
Merckx had no weaknesses. He holds the record for most days in the Giro’s pink jersey - 78, and that of the Tour - 96. No other pro has ever won so many stage wins in the Tour - 35. Nor has any other pro ever won so many in a single Tour - eight, in 1970 and 1974. He’s won the Giro-Tour double three times. Perhaps his most remarkable achievement was to take the Tour’s mountain jersey, points jersey and overall all in one race - in 1969.
Twelve years a pro, Merckx retired on March 19th, 1978 after finishing twelfth at a race in St. Niklaas, Belgium. But it’s no cliche to say that his legend lives on.
Eddy Merckx major results
1964
Amateur World Road-Race Champion
1966
Milan-San Remo
1967
World Championships
Milan-San Remo
Fleche Wallone
Ghent-Wevelgem
Tour of Italy, two stages
1968
Tour of Italy (overall, mountains, points and four stages)
Paris-Roubaix
Tour of Romandie
Tour of Catalonia
1969
Tour de France, (overall, mountains, points and six stages)
Tour of Italy, four stages
Milan - San Remo
Tour of Flanders
Liege-Bastogne-Liege
Paris Nice (overall and four stages)
1970
Tour de France (overall, mountains and eight stages)
Tour of Italy (overall and three stages)
Paris-Roubaix
Fleche Wallone
Ghent-Wevelgem
Paris-Nice
1971
Tour de France (overall, points and four stages)
World Championships
Milan - San Remo
Liege-Bastogne-Liege
Tour of Lombardy
Het Volk
Paris-Nice
Dauphine Libere
Midi Libre
1972
Tour de France (overall, points and six stages)
Tour of Italy (overall and four stages)
Hour Record
Milan-San Remo
Liege-Bastogne-Liege
Tour of Lombardy
Fleche Wallone
1973
Tour of Italy (overall, points and six stages)
Tour of Spain (overall, points, and six stages)
Paris-Roubaix
Liege-Bastogne-Liege
Amstel Gold
Ghent-Wevelgem
GP Nations
Het Volk
1974
Tour de France (overall and eight stages)
Tour of Italy (overall and two stages)
World Championships
Tour of Switzerland (overall and three stages)
1975
Milan-San Remo
Tour of Flanders
Liege-Bastogne-Liege
Amstel Gold
Tour de France, two stages
Tour of Switzerland, stage
1976
Milan-San Remo
1977
Tour of Switzerland, stage
Eddy Merckx photos
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