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Historic Overview Eddy Merckx

Rider

Overall Rank1
NameEddy MERCKX
Country
  Belgium
Date of birth17-Jun-1945 - Meensel Kiezegem (Brabant)
ContemporiesView Contemporary Ranking

Biography

Eddy Merckx

Édouard Louis Joseph, Baron Merckx (Dutch: [mɛr(ə)ks], French: [mɛʁks]; born 17 June 1945), 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 twice or more. 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.

source - Wikipedia

Badges

5 5 3 7 10 34 24 6 111 79 11 7 2 3 5 2 8 7 7 12 26 198

Major Victories

Tour de France 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974
Giro d'Italia 1968, 1970, 1972, 1973, 1974
Vuelta a España 1973
World Championships Road Race 1967, 1971, 1974
Milano - Sanremo 1966, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1975, 1976
Ronde van Vlaanderen 1969, 1975
Paris - Roubaix 1968, 1970, 1973
Liège - Bastogne - Liège 1969, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975
Giro di Lombardia 1971, 1972
Paris - Nice 1969, 1970, 1971
Dauphiné Libéré 1971
Amstel Gold Race 1973, 1975
Gent - Wevelgem 1967, 1970, 1973
La Flèche Wallonne 1967, 1970, 1972
Tour de Romandie 1968
Tour de Suisse 1974
Omloop Het Volk / Het Nieuwsblad 1971, 1973
Rund um den Henninger Turm 1971
Volta Ciclista a Catalunya 1968
Giro dell'Emilia 1972
Trofeo Laigueglia 1973, 1974
Tre Valli Varesine 1968
Giro del Piemonte 1972
Paris - Bruxelles 1973
G.P. des Nations 1973
Super Prestige Pernod 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975
Circuit du Morbihan 1966
Scheldeprijs - Schoten 1972
Sassari - Cagliari 1975
G.P. du Midi-Libre 1971
Paris - Luxembourg 1969
Brabantse Pijl 1972
G.P. de Lugano 1968
G.P. Pino Cerami 1966
Druivenkoers - Overijse 1966, 1975
G.P. de Fourmies 1973
Coppa Agostoni 1970
Setmana Catalana 1975, 1976
World Championships Amateurs/U23 Road Race 1964
Trofeo Baracchi 1966, 1967, 1972
G.P. Camaiore 1971
G.P. Union - Dortmund 1970, 1972
G.P. Baden-Baden 1971
Tour de France - stages 1969 (6), 1970 (8), 1971 (4), 1972 (6), 1974 (8), 1975 (2)
Giro d'Italia - stages 1967 (2), 1968 (3), 1969 (4), 1970 (3), 1972 (4), 1973 (6), 1974 (2)
Vuelta a España - stages 1973 (6)
Paris - Nice - stages 1967 (2), 1969 (3), 1970 (3), 1971 (3), 1972 (3), 1973 (1), 1974 (3), 1975 (2), 1977 (1)
Dauphiné Libéré - stages 1971 (2)
Tirreno - Adriatico - stages 1976 (1)
Tour de Romandie - stages 1968 (1), 1975 (2), 1976 (1)
Tour de Suisse - stages 1974 (3), 1975 (1), 1977 (1)
Volta Ciclista a Catalunya - stages 1968 (2)
Circuit du Morbihan - stages 1966 (2)
G.P. du Midi-Libre - stages 1966 (1), 1971 (2)
Paris - Luxembourg - stages 1967 (1), 1969 (1)
G.P. de Fourmies - stages 1973 (1)
Setmana Catalana - stages 1968 (1), 1975 (1), 1976 (2)
More results

Seasons

Eddy Merckx - Scores by Season

Year Team Score Rank
1. 1963 Individual 8 804
2. 1964 Individual 297 186
3. 1965 Solo - Superia 346 165
4. 1966 Peugeot - BP - Michelin 2213 8
5. 1967 Peugeot - BP - Michelin 3750 2
6. 1968 Faema 3959 2
7. 1969 Faema 5529 1
8. 1970 Faemino - Faema 6667 1
9. 1971 Molteni 6141 1
10. 1972 Molteni 7157 1
11. 1973 Molteni 6285 1
12. 1974 Molteni 5874 1
13. 1975 Molteni - RYC 5949 1
14. 1976 Molteni - Campagnolo 2761 6
15. 1977 Fiat France 2372 8
16. 1978 C&A 12 602
Overall: 59320 1