I recently did some research into Eddy Merckx for a build project and thought I'd share it here. Feel free to correct mistakes and add pictures and stories of your own bikes. (It will run as a series over the next week and cover his whole career.) 1 - Eddy Merckx - Introduction Eddy Merckx is widely credited as the overall most successful rider in the history of bicycle racing. His victories include eleven Grand Tours (5 Tours de France, 5 Giros d’Italia, 1 Vuelta Espana), all 5 the Monuments of Cycling (Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix, Liege-Bastogne-Liege, Giro de Lombardia), 3 World Championships, a 1 hour record, and all the major European 1 day races except one. He also won numerous time trials, track races, kermesse and criteriums. From 1961 to 1965 he won 80 races as an amateur before turning professional in 1965. His appetite for winning quickly gained him the nickname "The Cannibal". Merckx achieved 525 victories over his 18 year professional career. However, sadly, he was caught in three separate doping incidents during his career. In 1978 Eddy Merckx retired from racing and in 1980 started his own bicycle factory. His bicycles quickly built a reputation for excellence and were used by several successful professional racing teams in the 1980s and 1990s. He stayed involved in cycling as a coach and an ambassador for the sport.
