50 Fun Facts About Eddy Merckx

By what nickname is Eddy Merckx best known?

In Italy he was il mostro, 'the Monster'; the Badger was Bernard Hinault.

Who actually coined his famous man-eating nickname?

Christian Raymond complained that Merckx let nobody else win; his daughter said he was a cannibal, and Raymond passed it to the press.

How many Grand Tours did Merckx win, still a record?

Five Tours de France, five Giri d'Italia and one Vuelta a Espana; he also holds the record for Grand Tour stage wins with 64.

How many professional road races did Merckx win in his career?

He entered more than 1,800 races in total; in 1971 alone he won 54 of the 120 he started, still a single-season record.

In which Belgian village was Merckx born on 17 June 1945?

The family moved to Sint-Pieters-Woluwe in Brussels the next year to run a grocery shop; a statue was unveiled in his birthplace in 2015.

What business did Merckx's parents run in the capital's Woluwe-Saint-Pierre district?

Young Eddy tried boxing, football, basketball and table tennis before settling on cycling; his idol was Stan Ockers.

How many races did Merckx win as an amateur before turning professional in 1965?

He won the amateur world road race in Sallanches in 1964 and finished twelfth in the Tokyo Olympics road race the following month.

Which Belgian star led the Solo-Superia team Merckx joined as a professional in 1965?

Merckx left after one season, saying Van Looy and his teammates mocked his eating habits and taught him nothing.

Which Monument gave Merckx his first major professional victory, in 1966?

He attacked on the Poggio and won a four-man sprint; he would win the race a record seven times.

How many times did Merckx win the Italian Monument that opens the classics season, still the record?

His wins came in 1966, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1975 and 1976, the last of them his final Monument.

Which was the only major one-day classic Merckx never won?

His best there was sixth in 1973; Noel van Tyghem, who won it in 1972, joked that between them he and Merckx had won every classic going.

Which Grand Tour was Merckx's first, won in 1968 with the Faema team?

He took the pink jersey on the Tre Cime di Lavaredo stage and became the only rider ever to win the Giro's general, points and mountains classifications together.

Which substance did Merckx test positive for at the 1969 Giro, getting him expelled while leading?

The result was announced to the press before Merckx knew; the UCI lifted his suspension within weeks on the 'benefit of the doubt'.

On which climb did Merckx launch his legendary solo attack during stage 17 of the 1969 Tour de France?

He crossed the summit 45 seconds clear, ignored orders to wait, and finished eight minutes up despite hypoglycaemia in the last 50 km.

Which unique feat did Merckx achieve at the 1969 Tour de France?

He also took the combination classification, six stages and the most-aggressive-rider award; nobody has repeated the treble at the Tour.

What happened to Merckx at a derny-paced omnium in Blois on 9 September 1969?

His pacer Fernand Wambst died of a fractured skull; Merckx suffered a displaced pelvis and later said he 'was never the same again'.

By what margin did Merckx win the 1970 Paris-Roubaix, still the biggest in the race's history?

He was fighting a cold, the race started in heavy rain, and he attacked 31 km from the finish.

How many stages did Merckx win at the 1970 Tour de France, equalling the record for a single Tour?

He was given oxygen at the summit of Mont Ventoux and won overall by more than twelve minutes.

Which Italian team did Merckx ride for from 1971 to 1976 after Faema folded?

The team's doctor later prescribed the cough medicine behind his 1973 Lombardia positive.

Which Spanish rider's crash on the Col de Mente while leading the 1971 Tour made Merckx refuse yellow?

Merckx had lost eight minutes to him days earlier with stomach trouble; the crash came in a thunderstorm on a left-hand bend.

Which Monument did Merckx finally win in 1971 to complete the set of all five?

He attacked on the descent of the Intelvi Pass; he remains the only rider to win all five Monuments at least twice.

Where did Merckx set the world hour record on 25 October 1972?

The altitude reduced air resistance; he covered 49.431 km and described the pain afterwards as 'very, very, very significant'.

What distance did Merckx cover in his 1972 hour record?

He went out too fast, was 28 seconds ahead of record pace after 10 km, faded, then recovered to add almost 800 metres to the old mark.

In 1973 Merckx skipped the Tour de France to win which two Grand Tours back to back?

He was the first to do that double, and led the Giro from start to finish, a feat previously managed only by Binda and Girardengo.

How many times did Merckx win the Vuelta a Espana?

His single win came in 1973 with six stage victories, despite Luis Ocana's best efforts.

Merckx became the first rider to complete cycling's Triple Crown in 1974. What does it consist of?

Only Stephen Roche in 1987 and Tadej Pogacar in 2024 have matched it.

How many times was Merckx world road race champion?

1967 in Heerlen, 1971 in Mendrisio and 1974 in Montreal, where he outsprinted Raymond Poulidor.

What did a spectator named Nello Breton do to Merckx on the Puy-de-Dome during the 1975 Tour de France?

Merckx vomited after the finish and was later found to have an inflamed liver; he lost that Tour to Bernard Thevenet, his first defeat in six starts.

Who beat Merckx to win the 1975 Tour de France, the only Tour he finished without winning?

Merckx cracked on the final climb the day after the punch, then broke a cheekbone in a crash but still rode to Paris in second.

How many Tour de France stages did Merckx win in his career?

Only Mark Cavendish, with 35, has more; Merckx also holds the record of 96 days in the yellow jersey.

How many days did Merckx spend in the Tour de France yellow jersey, a record?

He also spent a record 78 days in the Giro's pink jersey.

How many races did Merckx win in 1971, the most any cyclist has won in a season?

He started 120 races that year; between 1967 and 1977 he raced between 111 and 151 times every season.

Which two other riders share with Merckx the distinction of winning all five Monuments?

Merckx's 19 Monument wins are eight more than the next best rider.

How many times did Merckx win Liege-Bastogne-Liege, a record?

1969, 1971, 1972, 1973 and 1975; in 1972 he won it and La Fleche Wallonne in the same weekend.

On what date did Merckx announce his retirement from racing?

His last win had been a track omnium in Zurich with Patrick Sercu that February; doctors advised him to stop.

Which department store sponsored Merckx's final team in 1978?

The owner met Merckx at a football game; Merckx rode only five races that year before quitting.

Which Italian frame builder trained Eddy Merckx Cycles' first workers when it opened in 1980?

The company nearly went bankrupt and hit a tax row, but its bikes were ridden by top teams through the 1980s and 1990s.

Which Middle Eastern stage race did Merckx help found in 2002 and co-own until its last edition in 2016?

The Emir contacted him in 2001; Merckx also designed the road-race course for the 2016 world championships in Doha.

What title did King Albert II grant Merckx in 1996?

His motto is Post Proelia Praemia; France also made him a Commander of the Legion of Honour in 2011.

Which of Merckx's children also became a professional cyclist?

Merckx skipped a team training camp to be present for daughter Sabrina's birth in 1970.

In which comic book adventure does Merckx appear as a speedy messenger?

Donald Duck also once raced against a champion called 'Dydy Berkxz'.

Which city hosted the 2019 Tour de France start, 50 years after Merckx's first Tour win?

A metro station in the city has carried his name since 2003.

Which surrealist painter did Merckx name as his favourite artist?

Dali is another favourite; Merckx is also an ambassador for the Damien The Leper Society.

What French phrase describes Merckx's attacking style and titled a 1974 documentary about him?

It means 'the race in the lead' but doubles as 'the race in your head'; Merckx said attacking was the best form of defence.

Which Kevin Costner cycling film features a Merckx cameo?

He also turned up in a 2005 episode of Space Goofs, pedalling a stationary bike to power the Earth's core.

Which heart condition was diagnosed in Merckx during the 1968 Giro?

The non-obstructive form never troubled him while racing, he said; he was fitted with a pacemaker as a precaution in 2013.

Which Dutch rival said 'First there was Merckx, and then another classification began behind him'?

Phil Liggett wrote that when Merckx started, most riders knew they were racing for second.

Where did Merckx finish in the road race at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics?

A month earlier he had won the amateur road race at the World Championships in Sallanches, France.

What was the profession of Claudine Acou, whom Merckx married in December 1967?

Her father trained the Belgian national amateur team, and she often handled the press for her shy husband.

In what position did Merckx finish his final Tour de France in 1977?

He held second overall for two weeks before losing thirteen minutes on the Alpe d'Huez stage alone.