Four times between and , Merckx completed a Grand Tour double. His final double also coincided with winning the 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 , extending the record by almost meters. Sign In. Edit Eddy Merckx. Showing all 19 items.
His son, Axel Merckx, is also a cyclist currently on the competitive circuit. Belgian cyclist known for his aggressive riding. The UCI eventually reverted to a "standard" bike classification, and with that new classification, Merckx's hour record was not bettered until , and then by Chris Boardman riding only 10 metres further.
Merckx was not without his detractors. He was criticized by other riders because he never let up, always riding to win, often not giving lesser riders a chance to shine a bit. And he tested positive for drugs three times, in an era in which the doping penalties were less stringent.
In retirement, though, he remains the all-time Belgian sporting legend, being voted Belgium's Sportsman of the 20th Century, and he was made a Baron by Albert II, King of Belgium in Merckx's son, Axel, later became a professional cyclist, though not with the success of his father, although he did win a bronze medal in the Olympic road race in Tre Valli Varesine. Volta Ciclista a Catalunya. Stage 6b. Paris - Tours. Trofeo Laigueglia. Stage 1a. Stage 7b. Amstel Gold Race. Stage 7. Tour de France.
Stage 8a. Stage 9. Stage 22b. Stage 8b. Stage 7a. Stage 11a. Stage 20b. Giro del Lazio. Giro dell'Emilia. Stage 2b. E3 - Harelbeke. Stage 5b. Stage 16a. Stage 12a. Stage 12b. Stage 19b. Stage 14a. Stage 14b. Stage 20a. Giro del Piemonte. Milano - Torino.
Stage 5a. Stage 15b. Stage 17b. Paris - Bruxelles. Stage 4b. Coppa Placci. He closed the season with over fifty victories to his credit.
The season saw Merckx fail to win a spring classic for the first time in his career, in part due to him suffering from various illnesses during the early months. Pneumonia forced him to quit racing for a month and forced him to enter the Giro d'Italia in poor form.
He lost time early in the race to Fuente, who took the race's first mountainous stage. Merckx gained time on Fuente in the race's only time trial. Merckx attacked from two hundred kilometers out two days later in a stage that was plagued by horrendous weather. Fuente lost ten minutes to Merckx, who became the race leader.
The twentieth stage had a summit finish to Tre Cime di Lavaredo. Fuente and Gianbattista Baronchelli attacked on the climb, while Merckx was unable to match their accelerations. He finished the stage only to see his lead shrink to twelve seconds over Baronchelli. He held on to that lead until the race's conclusion, winning his fifth Giro d'Italia. Three days following his victory at the Giro, Merckx started the Tour de Suisse.
He won the race's prologue and rode conservatively for the rest of the race. He took the final leg, an individual time trial, to seal his overall victory.
After finishing the race, Merckx had a sebaceous cyst removed on 22 June. Five days following the surgery, he was scheduled to begin the Tour de France. The wound was still slightly open when he began the Grand Tour and it bled throughout the race. He won the seventh stage of the race, and regained the lead, through attacking in the closing kilometers and holding off the chasing peloton.
He put five minutes into Poulidor, his main rival, after dropping him on the Col du Galibier. Merckx finished the Tour with eight stage wins and his fifth Tour de France victory, equaling the record of Anquetil. The route featured twenty-one laps of a circuit that contained two climbs. Merckx and Poulidor attacked with around seven kilometers to go, after catching the leading breakaway.
The two rode to the finish together where Merckx won the sprint to the line, establishing a two-second gap between himself and Poulidor. By winning the road race, Merckx became the first rider to win the Triple Crown of Cycling , which consists of winning the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia, and men's road race at the World Championships in one calendar year.
It was also his third world title, becoming the third rider to ever be world champion three times, after Binda and Rik Van Steenbergen. He launched an attacked with eighty kilometers to go, with only Frans Verbeeck being able to match his acceleration. Verbeeck was dropped as the race reached five kilometers remaining, allowing Merckx to take his third Tour of Flanders victory. In Paris—Roubaix, Merckx suffered a flat tire with around eighty kilometers left when a part of a leading group of four.
After chasing for three kilometers, he caught the three other riders and the group rode into the finish together; De Vlaeminck won the day. Merckx's attitude while racing had changed: riders expected him to chase down attacks, which angered him. Notably, in the Tour de Romandie he was riding with race leader Zoetemelk as an attack occurred.
Merckx refused to chase the break down, and the two lost fourteen minutes. Merckx contracted a cold and, later, tonsilitis while racing in the spring campaign. This caused him to be in poor form, forcing him to not participate in the Giro d'Italia. He placed second in the Tour de France 's prologue. In day's second leg, Merckx gained time on Zoetemelk.
He won the stage six individual time trial and gaining more time on Thevenet and Zoetemelk. He won the next time trial into Auch as well. During the race's eleventh stage, Merckx sent his team to set the pace early on in the stage. Reaching the final climb of the day, Merckx was on his own as his team had been used to set the pace throughout the day.
On the day's final climb to Pla d'Adet , he matched an acceleration by Zoetemelk. Thevenet then launched an attack, to which Merckx could not follow and saw him lose over two minutes. Merckx followed at his own pace and kept the two riders within a hundred meters. With about m remaining, Merckx was prepared to sprint to the line, but was punched in the back by a spectator, Nello Breton. He crossed the line thirty-four seconds behind Thevenet and proceeded to vomit after catching his breath.
The punch left him with a large bruise. During the rest day he was found to have an inflamed liver for which he was prescribed blood thinners. The stage following the rest day featured five climbs, Merckx felt a pain on the third climb in the area of the punch and had a teammate get him an analgesic.
Thevenet attacked several times on the climb of the Col des Champs , all of which Merckx countered. Merckx retaliated by speeding away on the descent. On the start of the next climb, Merckx had his Molteni teammates set the pace and he distanced himself from his competitors before the start of the final climb. However, as Merckx began the final climb he cracked. Thevenet caught and passed him with four kilometers left. Gimondi, Van Impe, and Zoetemelk passed Merckx, who finished fifth and one minute and twenty-six seconds down.
The following day, Merckx caught up with the leading breakaway and wanted to push ahead, but the riders chose not to participate in the pace making, leading Merckx to sit up and get caught. He lost two more minutes to Thevenet, who attacked on the Col d'Izoard.
He crashed in the next leg, breaking a cheekbone , and gained some time on Thevenet before the finish in Paris. He finished in second place, the first time he had lost a Tour in his six starts. He opened his season with his record seventh victory in Milan—San Remo. He followed with a victory in the Catalan Week, but suffered a crash in the final stage when a spectator's bag caught his handlebars, injuring his elbow.
This injury plagued his performance throughout the spring classic season. He entered the Giro d'Italia but failed to win a stage for the first time in his career.
He finished the race in eighth overall while battling a saddle boil throughout the race. Following the Giro's conclusion Merckx announced that he and his team Molteni would not take part in the Tour de France. He ended his season in October after racing for most of August. He failed to win the Super Prestige Pernod International , a competition where riders were awarded points for their placements in certain professional races, for the first time since In the first two months of his off-season, Merckx spent the majority of his time lying down.
Molteni ended their sponsorship at the end of the season. Merckx agreed to ride a light spring season in order to save himself for a chance at a sixth Tour victory. He took one stage at the Paris—Nice but had to withdraw from the race's final stage due to sinusitis.
He admitted his poor form and anxiety about aggravating previous injuries going into the Tour de France. He held on to second place overall for two weeks. As the race entered the Alps, Merckx began to lose more time; he lost thirteen minutes on the stage to Alpe d'Huez alone. In the time following the Tour, Merckx raced twenty-two races in a span of forty days before coming in thirty-third at the UCI Road World Championships 's men's road race. Merckx earned his final victory on the road on 17 September in a kermis race.
In late December, Fiat France chose to end their sponsorship of Merckx in favor of building a more French centered squad. His plan for the season was to race one last Tour de France and then ride several smaller races for appearances. He raced a total of five races in the calendar. His first road race came in the Grand Prix de Montauroux on 19 February. Merckx came to the front of the race and put in a large effort before swinging off and quitting the race.
His best finish came in the Tour de Haut , where he managed fifth. He dropped out of Omloop Het Volk due to colitis and completed his final race on 19 March, a kermis in Kemzeke. Following the race, Merckx went on a vacation to go skiing.
He returned from travel to train more, but by this point the team sponsor knew he was going to quit. Merckx announced his retirement from the sport on 18 May. He stated that the doctors advised him against racing. The initial workers that were hired for the factory were trained by Ugo De Rosa, a notable bike maker, before starting. The company almost went bankrupt at one point and was also caught up in a tax repayment controversy.
Merckx would spend time giving input on the models as they were being produced. Despite the financial problems the brand became highly regarded and successful, being used by several top-level cycling teams in the s and s. Merckx stepped down as CEO in and sold most of his shares, but still tests the bikes that are created and has some input. Cycling journalist Sam Dansie believed that the fact that Eddy Merckx Cycles has maintained a presence as an elite bicycle due to its adoption of new methods over time.
As of January , the business is still based in Belgium and distributes to over twenty-five countries. Merckx managed the Belgian national team world championships for eleven years, between and He acted as the race director for the Tour of Flanders for a brief period of time. He helped organize the Grand Prix Eddy Merckx , which started out as an invitation only individual time trial event, later becoming a two-man time trial event. The event folded after due to riders' lack of interest.
He played a pivotal role in getting the Tour of Qatar started in In Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani , the former Emir of Qatar , reached out to Merckx and told him of his interest in starting a bicycle race to show off his country. Following a successful inspection, Merckx contacted the Amaury Sport Organisation about working with him planning the race; they agreed in Merckx officially co-owns the race with Dirk De Pauw and still helps to organize the race.
In addition, Merckx also helped Qatar secure the right to host the UCI Road World Championships , as well as designing the race route for the road race.
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