Eddy Merckx

Édouard Louis Joseph, Baron Merckx, born 17 June 1945 in Meensel-Kiezegem, Brabant, is a Belgian former professional road and track cyclist widely considered the most accomplished in cycling history. Over an eighteen-year career, he amassed 525 victories, including an unmatched eleven Grand Tour wins—five Tours de France, five Giros d’Italia, and one Vuelta a España. He also won all five cycling Monuments (Milan–San Remo, Tour of Flanders, Paris–Roubaix, Liège–Bastogne–Liège, and Giro di Lombardia) at least twice, making him the only rider to achieve that feat. Merckx claimed three World Championships, set the hour record in October 1972 by extending it nearly 800 metres, and won every major one-day race except Paris–Tours. His success extended to the track as well.

Merckx grew up in Woluwe-Saint-Pierre, where his parents ran a grocery store. He was the first of three children, with twins Michel and Micheline born in 1948. As a hyperactive child, he played basketball, football, table tennis, and boxing, even winning local boxing tournaments, and played tennis for a junior team. He got his first bicycle at age three or four and rode to school daily from age eight.

His cycling idol was Stan Ockers, whom he imitated with friends. He bought his first racing license in summer 1961, placed sixth in his first official race a month after turning sixteen, and won his first race at Petit-Enghien on 1 October 1961. After winning the Belgian amateur road race title, he left school to focus on cycling, finishing his amateur career with 80 wins. He won the amateur road race at the 1964 UCI Road World Championships in Sallanches and placed twelfth in the Tokyo Olympics road race.

Merckx turned professional on 29 April 1965, signing with Rik Van Looy’s Belgian team. He won his first pro race in Vilvoorde, beating Emile Daems. After finishing second in the Belgian national championships, he qualified for the World Championships road race, where he placed 29th. During the event, Raphaël Géminiani of the Bic team offered him a contract, but it was invalid because Merckx was a minor.

Instead, his manager arranged a move to Peugeot–BP–Michelin for 20,000 francs a month. Merckx left his first team due to poor treatment by teammates, especially Van Looy, who mocked his eating habits and called him names. His first major victory came in Milan–San Remo a year later, after switching teams. After the 1967 season, he moved again and won the Giro d’Italia, his first Grand Tour.

Between 1970 and 1974, he completed a Grand Tour double four times. His final double coincided with winning the elite men’s road race at the UCI Road World Championships, making him the first rider to achieve cycling’s Triple Crown.

Merckx earned the nickname “the Cannibal,” coined by the daughter of a teammate who noted he would not let anyone else win. He retired on 18 May 1978 but remained active in cycling. In 1980, he launched Eddy Merckx Cycles, whose bikes were used by professional teams through the early 2000s. He coached the Belgian national team for eleven years until 1996, helped start and organize the Tour of Qatar from 2002 to 2016, and assisted with the Tour of Oman until a disagreement with organizers led him to step away in 2017.