Eddy Merckx

Eddy Merckx

Merckx in 1973
Personal information
Full name	Edouard Louis Joseph Merckx
Nickname	The Cannibal
Born	(1945-06-17) 17 June 1945 Meensel-Kiezegem, Brabant, Belgium[1]
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight	74 kg (163 lb; 11.7 st)
Team information
Current team	Retired
Discipline	Road and track
Role	Rider
Rider type	All-rounder
Amateur team(s)
1961–1964	Evere Kerkhoek Sportif
Professional team(s)
1965	Solo-Superia
1966–1967	Peugeot-BP-Michelin
1968–1970	Faema
1971–1976	Molteni
1977	Fiat
1978	C&A
Major wins
Grand Tours Tour de France General classification (1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974) Points classification (1969, 1971, 1972) Mountains classification (1969, 1970) Combativity award (1969, 1970, 1974, 1975) Combination classification (1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974) 34 individual stages (1969–1975) Giro d'Italia General classification (1968, 1970, 1972, 1973, 1974) Points classification (1968, 1973) Mountains classification (1968) 24 individual stages (1968–1974) Vuelta a España General classification (1973) Points classification (1973) Combination classification (1973) 6 individual stages (1973) Stage races Paris–Nice: (1969, 1970, 1971) Tour de Suisse: (1974) One-day races and Classics Milan – San Remo (1966, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1975, 1976) Tour of Flanders (1969, 1975) Paris–Roubaix (1968, 1970, 1973) Liège–Bastogne–Liège (1969, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975) Giro di Lombardia (1971, 1972) Super Prestige Pernod International (1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975) National Road Race Championships (1970)
Medal record Competitor for  Belgium Road bicycle racing World Championships Gold 1964 Sallanches Amateur's road race Gold 1967 Heerlen Professional road race Gold 1971 Mendrisio Professional road race Gold 1974 Montréal Professional road race

Edouard Louis Joseph, Baron Merckx (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈmɛrks]) (born 17 June 1945), better known as Eddy Merckx, is a Belgian former professional road and track bicycle racer, considered to be the greatest cyclist ever. Merckx was caught doping three times.^[2]

The French magazine Vélo described Merckx as "the most accomplished rider that cycling has ever known,"^[3] while VeloNews of the United States declared him to be the greatest and most successful cyclist of all time.^[4]

He dominated men's cycling in his era. Merckx, who turned professional in 1965, won the World Championship thrice, the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia five times each, and the Vuelta a España once. He also won all of professional cycling's classic "monument" races at least twice each (with 19 Classics victories in all).^[3] Merckx was World Champion once as an amateur and three times as a professional, and he broke the world hour record before retiring in 1978.

Since then, Merckx has remained active in professional cycling through various commercial and sporting projects, most notably by manufacturing and selling his own line of bicycles, Eddy Merckx Cycles.^[5]

Early life and amateur career

Eddy Merckx is one of three children born to a couple who ran a grocery in the middle-class area of Sint-Pieters-Woluwe, near Brussels, Belgium.^[6] His brother and sister are twins.^[7] The family moved to the suburb when he was young.^[7]

He acquired his first racing bike, second-hand, when he was eight. His hero was Stan Ockers, who died in a fall on an Antwerp track in 1956.^[7]

Merckx rode his first race at Laeken^[2] on 16 July 1961,^[8] riding for the Evere Kerkhoek Sportif club.^[9] He rode 12 races before winning his first, at Petit-Enghien, on 1 October 1961.^[3] Merckx moved from the youth to the senior amateur class two months early.^[10] Patrick Sercu rode with him in newcomers' and junior races on the track at the Palais des Sports in Brussels. Merckx could not beat him on the track but Sercu said that when he saw Merckx on the road he believed he was looking at a future winner of the Tour de France.^[10]

Professional career

Early years

In 1964 he rode the road race at the 1964 Summer Olympics and finished 12th.^{[11][n 1]} In the same year, he became world amateur champion at Sallanches, France. He said his victory was tainted by the long list of riders who had won the amateur championship and done nothing afterwards.^[10]

He turned professional on 29 April 1965,^[1] after 80 wins as an amateur.^[8] He joined Solo-Superia under Rik van Looy. One of the other riders was Jean van Buggenhout, who became his manager.^[3] His first win was at Vilvoorde on 11 May. He came second to Walter Godefroot in the national championship and was picked for the national team for the world championship near San Sebastian, Spain. The race was won by Tom Simpson. Simpson rode normally for Peugeot and Merckx moved there the following year after nine wins with Solo.^[1] There he won the first of seven editions of Milan – San Remo^[12] still aged 20.

In 1967 he repeated his 1966 Milan – San Remo success and also won La Flèche Wallonne. His first grand tour was the 1967 Giro d'Italia, in which he won two stages and finished ninth. Later that year he out-sprinted Jan Janssen and the Spaniard Ramon Saez to become world professional champion at Heerlen, Netherlands.^[12][13] Merckx was earning 125,000 Belgian francs a year when he won the championship (approx €25,000 at 2012 values). He didn't buy his first car until he had been a professional for three years.^[10]

Move to Italy

At Peugeot, Merckx had to pay for his wheels and tyres.^[10] In 1968 he moved to the Italian Faema team.^[1][14] The Italian coffee machine company had returned to sponsorship, having backed teams led by van Looy and others in the past.^[14] Coca-Cola offered Merckx a million Belgian francs (US$20,000 not adjusted for inflation) to ride in 1968, van Buggenhout urged him to accept, but Merckx refused believing himself not strong enough to ride both the Giro – which was important to Faema – and the Tour – which wasn't.^{[15][n 2]}

Merckx won Paris–Roubaix and started his domination of the grands tours by becoming the first Belgian to win the Giro d'Italia in 1968.^[16] He did this another four times, equalling the record of five by Alfredo Binda and Fausto Coppi.

In 1969, he first won Paris–Nice. In the time trial, he overtook the five-time Tour de France winner, Jacques Anquetil,^[17] who for 15 years had been the world's best time-triallist. Merckx won Milan–San Remo, the Tour of Flanders and Liège–Bastogne–Liège.

During the 1969 Giro d'Italia, he was found to have used drugs and was disqualified.^[8] (See below – Doping)

Tour de France

1969 Tour de France

The 1969 Tour de France was the first which Merckx won,^[12] even though he was almost deprived of it by a doctor in Lille who found abnormalities in his heart rhythm.^[18] Merckx was cleared to start after medical colleagues said the hearts of endurance athletes were often unusual.

Merckx won the 17th stage, over four cols from Luchon to Mourenx^{[n 3]} by eight minutes after riding alone for 140 km.^[12] He climbed the col du Tourmalet in a small group including Roger Pingeon and Raymond Poulidor, having dropped Felice Gimondi. On the final bend to the summit, Merckx attacked and opened a few seconds. By the foot of the col d'Aubisque he had more than a minute and by the top eight minutes. He maintained the pace for the remaining 70 km to Mourenx, an industrial town near Pau.

He won the general classification (yellow jersey), points classification (green jersey) and the mountains classification. No other rider has achieved this triple in the Tour de France, and only Tony Rominger and Laurent Jalabert have matched it in any grand tour.^{[n 4]} Merckx also won the combination classification and the combativity award. Merckx led the race from stage six to twenty-two. His 17-minute 54 second margin of victory over second-placed Roger Pingeon has never been matched since. It was the first time a Belgian had won the Tour since Sylvère Maes 30 years earlier, and Merckx became a national hero.

1970 Tour de France

In the 1970 Tour de France, Merckx took the yellow jersey in the prologue, thrashing his bike. As the previous year he let the yellow jersey pass to a teammate, this time Italo Zilioli, taking it back after seven stages at Valenciennes. He won the prologue, in road stages, the final time trial and on Mont Ventoux. There he pushed himself so hard that he collapsed while talking to journalists, saying "No, it's impossible!"^[19] He was carried to an ambulance for oxygen.^[12] His eight stages equalled the record set in 1930 by Charles Pélissier.^[20] He won the mountains classification and finished second in the sprinter's classification. He won by 12m 41s over Joop Zoetemelk.

1971 Tour de France

Merckx chose a different preparation for his third Tour de France in 1971. In order to arrive fresher and as well to be in better condition in the autumn, Merckx chose not to defend his title at the Tour of Italy and instead rode two-week-long stage races, the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré and the Grand Prix du Midi Libre, both of which he won the first stage and held on to the lead of both races until the end. Merckx arrived at the start of the Tour which began that year in Mulhouse to the pre-Tour hype which was summed up by former winner Jacques Anquetil who, speaking on French television program Les Dossiers de l'Ecran the day before the race began, said he wished that Merckx would be defeated.^[21] The only rider of the period to shake Merckx was the Spaniard, Luis Ocaña, who lived near Mont-de-Marsan in south-west France. Ocaña cared little for Merckx's reputation and attacked him on the Puy de Dôme, dropping him but not taking the yellow jersey. Three days later, Ocaña attacked when the race reached the Alps. By Orcières-Merlette he had taken 8m 41s out of the Belgian. By then resentment had built at the way Merckx was winning everything.^[22] Chany wrote, "There was a feeling that it would be good for cycling if he lost."^[23]

The title on the front page of Paris-Match was: "Is Merckx going to kill the Tour?" A rider at the Grand Prix du Midi Libre was quoted as saying: "When you know how much Merckx is earning, you sometimes lose the will to make an effort if you're paid in loose change [rabais]."^[23] The resentment left Merckx to chase Ocaña without help. One rider, Celestino Vercelli, said:

Merckx never let anybody break away. But that day... we don't know.... The start was on an upgrade and he wasn't that brilliant in the beginning. Maybe he was still warming up and his adversaries, Luis Ocaña, Joaquim Agostinho, Joop Zoetemelk, noticed that and decided to break away immediately. It cost him dearly because the stage was long and very hard and there were four or five climbs. He took it badly, because it had never happened to him to be behind and lose so much time. Usually he was the one who was nine minutes in front the others!^[24]

A rest day followed and then a stage from Orcières-Merlette to Marseille. It started with 20 km downhill, followed by 280 km along a valley. Merckx and his team attacked from the start, led by Rini Wagtmans, immediately gaining several minutes. But the speed downhill and the heavier braking needed for bends led rims to overheat, melting the glue that held tyres to the rim. It happened to several riders and Merckx lost some of his teammates as a result.^[24]

Merckx got to Marseille half an hour faster than the fastest expected time. The entire Kas team finished outside the time limit but were reinstated.^[25] Only 1,000 spectators were at the finish early enough. Among those too late was the mayor of the city, Gaston Deferre,^{[n 5]} who decided to see the finish at the last moment but arrived after the riders had left for the showers and the officials for their hotels. He forbade the Tour to return to the city for the rest of his career.^[22] It next stopped in Marseille in 1989, three years after his death. Despite a stage that averaged 45.4 km/h, Merckx cut Ocaña's lead only to 7m 32s. He waited for the Pyrenees. There, on the col de Mente, hail and rain flooded the road. Unable to shake off Ocaña on the way up, Merckx tried to do so on the way down. The storm broke at the summit. Merckx missed a bend, hit a low wall and fell. He got up straight away but two spectators had gone to help him. Ocaña ran into them, crashed heavily and was hit by Zoetemelk and then two other riders who had been following by a few seconds. Merckx who was descending the mountain fell a further two times before hearing what had happened behind him.^[21] Ocaña's fall had taken him out of the race and gave the yellow jersey to Merckx, although he declined to wear it next morning in respect for the Spaniard.^[22][26] Merckx won the Tour by 9m 51s over Zoetemelk and 11m 6s over Lucien Van Impe. After the Tour, the Belgian Cycling Federation named the team for the world championships and despite his wish to have several trade teammates on the team, Merckx would only have one trade teammate. In response, Merckx re-arranged his post-Tour schedule and trained with complete resolution to win. On a challenging circuit in Mendrisio, Switzerland Merckx attacked several times and broke away with Felice Gimondi whom he beat in the sprint to take his second rainbow jersey.^[21]

1972 Tour de France

In 1972, there was anticipation of a rematch between Merckx and Ocaña.^[27] Merckx won the prologue at Angers but lost the yellow jersey when Cyrille Guimard won the following day at St-Brieuc. Guimard held the lead for seven stages, despite growing knee pain. Merckx won the stage at Luchon on day eight and with it the lead. He kept the yellow jersey to the end, winning the sprint competition and coming second to Van Impe in the mountains. The battle with Ocaña fizzled out when the Spaniard crashed in the Pyrenees again,^[27] falling on the Aubisque, and dropping out with a lung infection on the 15th day.^[28]

With four wins, Merckx was approaching Jacques Anquetil's record of five, and the French public was becoming hostile. He had already been whistled at the finish in Vincennes after winning in 1970.^[29] For that reason, the Tour organisers asked Merckx not to start in 1973; instead he won the Vuelta a España, where he beat Luis Ocaña and Bernard Thévenet, and he won the Giro.

1974 Tour de France

By 1974, "the wear and tear was beginning to show," Merckx acknowledged.^[30] Yet he still won the Giro, the Tour de Suisse and the Tour de France, including its closing stage in Paris, within eight weeks. Far from challenging Merckx, Ocaña rode the Vuelta with bronchitis, started the Midi-Libre but dropped out, then broke a bone in the Tour de l'Aude. His sponsor, the pen and lighter company, Bic, fired him.^{[31][n 6]}

The novelty of the Tour was its first excursion to England, for a criterium up and down an unopened bypass near Plymouth. By the ninth stage, the race looked over. Patrick Sercu had the sprinters' jersey after winning three stages, and Merckx was in yellow. The Dutchman, Gerben Karstens, challenged both by collecting repeated bonuses in the intermediate sprints each day but lost his chance in a war of words as well as wheels^[32] when Sercu and Merckx joined forces as rivals against a common enemy. The race then settled in to ride round France in a heatwave. And then, said Chany, came a remarkable attack on the Mont du Chat, above Lac du Bourget.

Poulidor's tentative attack didn't succeed and next day he lost five minutes. But he twice more bettered Merckx in the Pyrenees, at St-Lary and on the Tourmalet. Merckx won the Tour 8m 4s ahead of Poulidor and a further three in front of Vicente Lopez-Carril. It left journalists divided about whether they had seen a remarkable comeback by Poulidor or the first signs of vulnerability in Merckx.^[33] Michel Pollentier, "at the price of unbelievable contortions [on his bike]",^[31] beat Merckx by 10 seconds in the time trial at Orléans just before Paris.

Victory gave Merckx five wins in the Tour, equalling Anquetil. Over the next 25 years, only Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain were able to equal him.

1975 Tour de France

Merckx's domination in the grands tours ended in 1975. The race started well – he held the yellow jersey for eight days, raising his total to 96 – but ended in disappointment.

The finishing climb on the Puy de Dôme (12 km, 7% gradient) was the beginning of the end for Merckx. The legendary giant of the Massif Central has provided the Tour with great drama over the years. This year's battle would write another chapter in Tour history. Just over 4 kilometers up the finishing climb, Thevenet charged off the front with Van Impe in tow. The two slowly pulled away from Merckx and Zoetemelk. The race leader, trying to limit his time loss, was forced to do all the work in pursuit of the breakaway. As Merckx tried to close the gap near the top of the climb he was punched by a spectator. Review of French TV film shows the man standing alongside the road with his hands at his side. As Merckx passes him the man punches him in the lower right abdomen (not a kidney punch as has been claimed in the past) with as much force as he probably could from launching the punch from a hip position. Most of the force was pushed away as the man's arm was thrown back from the momentum of the movement of Merckx up the hill. Merckx grabbed his side for a second. But, a second later, he had both hands back on the handlebar and was moving at the same speed as he was before the spectator hit him. The image of the spectator is very clear in the film. He was identified and charged with assault on Merckx that day and fined with symbolic one franc. The exhausted Merckx couldn't close the gap. But, he did hold on to finish third, 34 seconds behind Thevenet who was second and, Van Impe who was first. But, the Frenchman had landed a fatal blow that cut into the overall lead and trailed Merckx by only 58 seconds as the Tour headed into the Alps .

After a rest day in Nice, the Tour continued with a 5-climb stage. On the Col des Champs, the third climb of the day, Thevenet repeatedly attacked in an effort to crack the race leader. Gamely Merckx was able to cover all of Thevenet's moves and launched an attack of his own on the descent. Thevenet managed to catch Merckx in the valley just before the Col d'Allos. The always-aggressive Merckx, searching for weakness, attacked again on the Allos. Over the top with a lead, he plunged down the descent. On the narrow bumpy road, Merckx took all the risks necessary to gain time. He sailed through the bottom of the descent with over a minute lead on the Thevenet led chasers. The Cannibal then set his sights on the final climb to the top of Pra Loup. He had a 2-minute lead on the chasers as the road turned upward.

Merckx was 6 km from putting the race out of reach. However, the long breakaway effort had taken its toll and Merckx began to slow. Gimondi was the first to catch the leader, then Thevenet, then Van Impe and Zoetemelk. The Frenchman sensed a weakness and sprinted by the tired race leader. Thevenet took the stage win by 1m 58s over Merckx and gained the race lead.

Inspired by the yellow jersey, Thevenet attacked on the next stage and rode away from the Merckx group on the classic climb of the Col d'Izoard. He rode alone to win his second stage in a row. Thevenet's win and time gain widened the gap to the now second-place Merckx to 3m 20s. There was still one climbing stage remaining in the Alps and Merckx needed time gains.

Eddy Merckx had one intention at the start of stage 17 in Valloire, get back the yellow jersey. Merckx launched an all-out attack from the starting line, 225 km from the finish at the top of the Col d'Avoriaz. Misfortune struck early when Merckx slid and crashed heavily. Although injured, he quickly remounted his bicycle and continued the race. His injuries include a bruised hip and knee, as well as a broken jaw, but he continued to ride hard. Although struggling to breathe, he refused treatment. By the end of the stage, the injured Cannibal finished third, 2 seconds ahead of Thevenet. The "never say die" Belgian was fighting all adversities to the end.

Gamely, Merckx gained another 15 seconds on the final ITT in Chatel, but the finish in Paris was only four flat stages away. When the Tour reached the final stage, Thevenet had an insurmountable 2m 47s lead on Merckx and cruised down the Champs Elysees for his first Tour de France victory. Gracious in defeat the second-place Merckx said, "I tried everything and it didn't work. It's always the strongest that wins, and the strongest is Thevenet." The winner returned the compliment saying, "Tell me who was second to you and I will tell you the value of your victory."

He said riding the 1975 Tour did not in itself shorten his career, but...

...the fact that I continued in the 1975 Tour de France after I crashed definitely did shorten it. My build-up to that race had already been problematical, and actually I wasn't in the best of health when I started it. But after the crash, in which I fractured my cheekbone, I suffered like you cannot imagine possible. I could not take in anything but liquids. I had to race on empty. I had to continue for the sake of the race, for honour and for my teammates. They depended on my prize money. Remember that I still finished second. What I should have done, looking back, was pay my riders what I would have earned out of my own pocket and left the race. Then maybe with my strength rebuilt I could have been competitive in 1976.^[7]

1976 Tour de France

Merckx began 1976 by winning his seventh Milan – San Remo^[34] but missed winning the Tour of Flanders after falling on the Koppenberg and walking to the top because it was too steep to get back in the saddle.^[34] A saddle sore still troubled him and his doctor told him not to ride the Tour.^[35]

1977 Tour de France

The 1977 Tour was one too many for Merckx.^[34] He suffered on the col de la Madeleine and lost 13 seconds to Hennie Kuiper on Alpe d'Huez. Didi Thurau, a 22-year-old German, beat him in the Pyrenees and bettered him by 50 seconds in the time trial. With Géminiani, his manager in the Fiat team, he had agreed to ride a light start to the season with the aim of a sixth win.^[36] But having been outridden by both Thurau and Thévenet, he fell ill. Chany wrote:

By St-Étienne, Merckx had risen to sixth place and began talking of riding the Tour again in 1978, "stupifying those who heard him and splitting his team," according to Chany. The 1977 Tour collapsed into a doping scandal when Zoetemelk was found guilty. Rumours abounded about others. Thévenet won for the second time and four months later said he had succeeded by taking cortisone.^[37] Merckx finished sixth, 12m 38s behind. He never did ride in 1978, the year which produced the first victory by Bernard Hinault, the next to win the Tour de France five times.

Giro d'Italia

Merckx won the Giro d'Italia in 1968, 1970, 1972, 1973 and 1974. Following his 1968 win, he said he knew he could win the Tour de France. He won 24 Giro stages in his career. His final victory came in a battle with the Italians Gianbattista Baronchelli, whom he beat by 12 seconds, and Felice Gimondi, who lost by 33 seconds.^[38]

World championship victories

Merckx also won the world championship in 1974 for the third time, which only Alfredo Binda and Rik van Steenbergen had done before him, and only Óscar Freire would do after him. Because of his victories in the three most important races of the year, the 1974 Tour de France, the 1974 Giro d'Italia and the 1974 world championship, Merckx won the Triple Crown of Cycling. Since then, only Stephen Roche has been able to do that, in 1987.

Classics victories

Merckx had an impressive list of victories in one-day races, the Classic cycle races, (See Significant victories by race). Among highlights are a record seven victories in Milan – San Remo (absolute record in one classic), two in the Tour of Flanders, three in Paris–Roubaix, five in Liège–Bastogne–Liège (record), and two in the Giro di Lombardia, a total of 19 victories. He also won the world road championship a record three times in 1967, 1971 and 1974, and most of the major classic races, a notable exception being Paris–Tours.

The only rider to have won all the classics is Rik van Looy, Merckx having missed Paris–Tours. A lesser Belgian rider, Noël van Tyghem, won Paris–Tours in 1972^[39] and said: "Between us, I and Eddy Merckx have won every classic that can be won. I won Paris–Tours, Merckx won all the rest."^[40]

Hour record

Merckx set the hour record in 1972. On 25 October, after he had raced a full road season winning the Tour, Giro and four classics, Merckx covered 49.431 km at high altitude in Mexico City.^[41][42]Merckx used a Colnago bicycle to break the record, which had been lightened to a weight of 5.75 kg - lighter than bicycles used in subsequent hour record attempts by Francesco Moser, Graeme Obree and Chris Boardman. Merckx described his ride for the hour record as “the longest of my career”.^[43]

The record remained untouched until 1984, when Francesco Moser broke it using a specially designed bicycle, meticulous improvements in streamlining and medical advice from Francesco Conconi. Over 15 years, various racers improved the record to more than 56 km. However, because of the increasingly exotic design of the bikes and position of the rider, these performances were no longer reasonably comparable to Merckx's achievement. In response, the UCI in 2000 required a "traditional" bike to be used. When time trial specialist Chris Boardman, who had retired from road racing and had prepared himself specifically for beating the record, had another go at Merckx's distance 28 years later, he beat it by slightly more than 10 meters (at sea level). To date, only Boardman and Ondřej Sosenka have improved on Merckx's record using traditional equipment.

Track crash

In 1969 Merckx crashed in a derny race in the Blois velodrome towards the end of the season. A pacer and a cyclist fell in front of Merckx's pacer, Fernand Wambst. Wambst died instantly, and Merckx was knocked unconscious. He cracked a vertebra and twisted his pelvis. He said his riding was never the same after the injuries.^[8] He frequently adjusted his saddle while riding – including coming down the col de la Faucille on the way to Divonne-les-Bains – and was often in pain, especially while climbing.^[7]

Doping

Merckx has condemned doping but he tested positive three times.^[2] The first time was in the 1969 Giro d'Italia^[8] where he tested positive for the stimulant fencamfamine (Reactivan) at Savona, after leading the race through 16 stages. He was expelled from the Giro. The controversy began to swirl when his test results were not handled in the correct manner; they were released to the press before all parties involved (Merckx and team officials) were notified.^[44] Merckx was very upset, and to this day, protests his innocence.^[8] He argued there were no counter-experts nor counter-analysis. He said the stage during which he was allegedly using drugs was easy so there was no need. He said:

At the time, the controls weren't reliable and I wasn't able to defend myself. They had started on the analysis and the counter-analysis during the night, without anyone from my team's being present. They had, they said, tried to get my manager, Vincenzo Giacotto, by phone, but he hadn't left his room all evening. The following morning, I was in my racing clothes, ready to leave, when they came to tell me I was positive and therefore excluded from the Giro.^[8]

"I've never seen sporting opinion so inflamed," wrote Marcel De Leener from Belgium. "Even members of parliament have got themselves involved in the affair; the Opposition has questioned the minister of public health in the Lower Chamber, the Cabinet is in an uproar, the Foreign Minister has questioned his opposite number in Italy. In the streets, in factories, in offices, in public transport, they talk of little else."^[45] The Italian federation stuck by its findings but the Belgians refused to agree and it took four hours of debate in Brussels for the professional section of the Union Cycliste Internationale to quash his sentence. The president of the Fédération Internationale du Cyclisme Professional was Félix Lévitan, organiser of the Tour de France. It was diplomacy and, "let us be frank, hypocrisy too", reported Cycling.^[46] The hearing praised the Italians and accepted their evidence; however, Merckx was cleared to ride the Tour.

Prince Albert of Belgium sent a plane to bring him to Belgium.

Merckx was also found positive after winning the Giro di Lombardia in 1973.^[8] He had taken Mucantil (Iodinated glycerol).^[47]

It was Dr Cavalli, of Molteni, who prescribed it to me a bit lightly [un peu légèrement]. And he admitted his error publicly. Looking back, I can't see why they could disqualify me for such a ridiculous and inoffensive product as norephedrine."^[8]

Then he was caught after taking Stimul (pemoline) in the 1977 Flèche Wallonne. Merckx said:

"That, I can't deny. I was positive along with around 15 others. I was wrong to trust a doctor."^[8]

In 1974, a Belgian biochemist, Professor Michel Debackere, perfected a test for a group of piperidine stimulant drugs (Lidepran, Meratran, and Ritalin) which were used by pro cyclists. Since they were now detectable, this group of drugs fell out of favor within the pro peloton, and some riders instead used pemoline, another amphetamine-like drug. Then in 1977, Debackere once again developed a new drug test, which could detect pemoline. This test caught three of the biggest names in Belgium: Merckx, Freddy Maertens and Michel Pollentier.^[48]

The World Anti-Doping Agency removed norephedrine, phenylpropanolamine, from the list of banned drugs in 2004;^[8] however, this drug is currently on the WADA list of banned substances and therefore would garner a suspension of current riders.^[49] Merckx said in 2007 that he wanted the Union Cycliste Internationale to give him back his victory: "I was disqualified for taking a syrup which had been taken off the list of forbidden products." At the time, 1973, banned drugs were listed individually; they were later classed by category.

Because of his doping record, the organisers of the 2007 World Championships in Stuttgart asked Merckx to stay away. The decision was criticized in the press and by the UCI.^[50] When he confirms his stance against doping, Merckx points out that cycling is unfairly treated compared to other sports.

In the 1990s, he became a friend of Lance Armstrong, and supported him when Armstrong was accused of drug use, stating he rather "believed what Lance told him than what appeared in newspapers". Dr. Michele Ferrari claimed that Merckx introduced him to Armstrong in 1995.^[51]

Retirement

Merckx's last victory was an omnium at Zürich on 10 February 1978 with Patrick Sercu, in preparation for the 1978 road season and after a successful yet demanding Six Days saison, winning five out of seven participations, cramped into a period two and a half months, and winning the European Championship Madison in November, all with Sercu as his racing partner in these events. His last race was the Omloop van het Waasland, at Kemzeke on 19 March 1978. He finished 12th. He had already abandoned the Omloop Het Volk, exhausted. His sponsor, the clothing chain, C&A, had supported his team only after long and difficult negotiations^[52] and did not intend to continue next season. Merckx told his soigneur, Pierrot De Wit, during their journey home that he had ridden his last race. De Wit argued but Merckx announced his decision at a press conference in Brussels on 18 May 1978. Merckx said:

I am living the most difficult day of my life. I can no longer prepare myself for the Tour de France, which I wanted to ride for a final time as a farewell [apothéose]. After consulting my doctors, I've decided to stop racing.^[52]

Bicycle company

On 28 March 1980, Merckx opened a bicycle factory in Brussels, Belgium, called Eddy Merckx Cycles. It quickly gained prominence in the cycling world, and today still is considered one of the most prestigious brands in the world of cycling.^[5][53]

Other activities

Merckx is a race commentator on RTBF television.^[2] He was coach of the Belgian national cycling team during the mid-90s, and part of the Belgian Olympic Committee. Merckx is still asked to comment as an authority. As such, he was advisor for the Tour of Qatar in 2002. He lives in Meise, Vlaams-Brabant.

Personal life

In December 1967 Merckx married Claudine Acou, a 21-year-old teacher, daughter of Lucien Acou, trainer of the national amateur team.^[54][55] The couple married at the town hall in Anderlecht, a suburb of Brussels. The mayor said: "Sometimes I am envious of cycling champions. When they win, there is always a pretty girl to give them a kiss. For my part, no one kisses me when I have a good win, so I'm going to profit from this occasion by kissing the bride now."^[54] The witnesses to the marriage were Merckx's manager, Jean van Buggenhout, and a cabinet-maker from Etterbeek, who taught Merckx to ride a bike. The religious service which followed was in Merckx's local church rather than his bride's. Merckx's mother asked the priest, Father Fabien, to celebrate the ceremony in French, a choice that ended up being a contentious issue in Belgium.^{[n 7]} The priest said: "You are now started on a tandem race; believe me, it will not be easy."^[54] The couple have two children: a daughter (Sabrina) and a son, Axel, who also became a professional cyclist.^[8]

In 1996 Albert II of Belgium King of the Belgians, gave him the title of baron.^[2] In 2000 he was chosen Belgian "Sports Figure of the Century". In March 2000 he was received by the Pope in the Vatican.^[30]

Merckx is known as a quiet and modest person. Three of his former riders have worked in his bicycle factory and join him during recreational bike tours.^[7] Merckx has become an ambassador for the Damien The Leper Society, a foundation named after a Catholic priest, which battles leprosy and other diseases in developing countries. Merckx is an art lover; his favourite artist is René Magritte; a Belgian surrealist.^[7]

In May 2004, he had an esophagus operation to cure stomach ache suffered since he was young. He lost almost 30 kg and took up recreational cycling again. In March 2013, Merckx had surgery to add a pacemaker to correct the problem with his heart's rhythm.^[56]

Friends and rivals

Because Merckx was so dominant, very few fellow riders wanted to help him to win races, the rivalry was especially strong with other Belgian riders. But Merckx was able to get a few loyal team mates to help him, such as Joseph Bruyere. A star of the winter Six-Day track circuit Patrick Sercu was one of the very few riders that could match Merckx for status, and together they made a very formidable racing partnership, winning several Six-Day races. Merckx was often treated like a royal VIP wherever he went, which sometimes upset other riders, who felt they deserved more respect. Even after his retirement, many subsequent stars still feel over-shadowed by his fame and race results. Merckx befriended Fiorenzo Magni when he began racing for an Italian team.^[57]

Career achievements

Grand Tour general classification and World Championship results timeline

Grand Tour	1965	1966	1967	1968	1969	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977
Vuelta a España	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-
Giro d'Italia	-	-	9	1	Dsq	1	-	1	1	1	-	8	-
Tour de France	-	-	-	-	1	1	1	1	-	1	2	-	6
World Championship	29	12	1	8	Abn	29	1	4	4	1	8	5	33

Dsq : disqualified for doping
Abn : abandoned

See also

• Cycling records
• Yellow jersey statistics
• Pink jersey statistics
• List of Grand Tour general classification winners
• List of Tour de France general classification winners
• List of Tour de France secondary classification winners
• List of Giro d'Italia general classification winners
• List of Vuelta a España general classification winners
• List of Vuelta a España classification winners
• List of noble families in Belgium
• List of Belgians

Notes

Citations

References

Further reading

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Eddy Merckx.

• Eddy Merckx profile at Cycling Archives

Records
Preceded by Ole Ritter	UCI hour record (49.431 km) 25 October 1972 – 27 October 2000	Succeeded by Chris Boardman

Sporting positions and awards UCI Road World Champions – Men's road race 1927 Binda 1928 Ronsse 1929 Ronsse 1930 Binda 1931 Guerra 1932 Binda 1933 Speicher 1934 Kaers 1935 Aerts 1936 Magne 1937 Meulenberg 1938 Kint 1946 Knecht 1947 Middelkamp 1948 Schotte 1949 Van Steenbergen 1950 Schotte 1951 Kübler 1952 Müller 1953 Coppi 1954 Bobet 1955 Ockers 1956 Van Steenbergen 1957 Van Steenbergen 1958 Baldini 1959 Darrigade 1960 Van Looy 1961 Van Looy 1962 Stablinski 1963 Beheyt 1964 Janssen 1965 Simpson 1966 Altig 1967 E. Merckx 1968 Adorni 1969 Ottenbros 1970 Monseré 1971 E. Merckx 1972 M. Basso 1973 Gimondi 1974 E. Merckx 1975 Kuiper 1976 Maertens 1977 F. Moser 1978 Knetemann 1979 Raas 1980 B. Hinault 1981 Maertens 1982 Saronni 1983 LeMond 1984 Criquielion 1985 Zoetemelk 1986 Argentin 1987 S. Roche 1988 Fondriest 1989 LeMond 1990 Dhaenens 1991 Bugno 1992 Bugno 1993 Armstrong 1994 Leblanc 1995 Olano 1996 Museeuw 1997 Brochard 1998 Camenzind 1999 Freire 2000 Vainšteins 2001 Freire 2002 Cipollini 2003 Astarloa 2004 Freire 2005 Boonen 2006 Bettini 2007 Bettini 2008 Ballan 2009 Evans 2010 Hushovd 2011 Cavendish 2012 Gilbert 2013 Costa 2014 Kwiatkowski Tour de France winners of the General classification 1903–1919 1903: Maurice Garin 1904: Henri Cornet 1905: Louis Trousselier 1906: René Pottier 1907–08: Lucien Petit-Breton 1909: François Faber 1910: Octave Lapize 1911: Gustave Garrigou 1912: Odile Defraye 1913–14: Philippe Thys 1915–18: World War I 1919: Firmin Lambot 1920–1939 1920: Philippe Thys 1921: Léon Scieur 1922: Firmin Lambot 1923: Henri Pélissier 1924–25: Ottavio Bottecchia 1926: Lucien Buysse 1927–28: Nicolas Frantz 1929: Maurice De Waele 1930: André Leducq 1931: Antonin Magne 1932: André Leducq 1933: Georges Speicher 1934: Antonin Magne 1935: Romain Maes 1936: Sylvère Maes 1937: Roger Lapébie 1938: Gino Bartali 1939: Sylvère Maes 1940–1959 1940–46: World War II 1947: Jean Robic 1948: Gino Bartali 1949: Fausto Coppi 1950: Ferdinand Kübler 1951: Hugo Koblet 1952: Fausto Coppi 1953–55: Louison Bobet 1956: Roger Walkowiak 1957: Jacques Anquetil 1958: Charly Gaul 1959: Federico Bahamontes 1960–1979 1960: Gastone Nencini 1961–64: Jacques Anquetil 1965: Felice Gimondi 1966: Lucien Aimar 1967: Roger Pingeon 1968: Jan Janssen 1969–72: Eddy Merckx 1973: Luis Ocaña 1974: Eddy Merckx 1975: Bernard Thévenet 1976: Lucien Van Impe 1977: Bernard Thévenet 1978–79: Bernard Hinault 1980–1998 1980: Joop Zoetemelk 1981–82: Bernard Hinault 1983–84: Laurent Fignon 1985: Bernard Hinault 1986: Greg LeMond 1987: Stephen Roche 1988: Pedro Delgado 1989–90: Greg LeMond 1991–95: Miguel Indurain 1996: Bjarne Riis 1997: Jan Ullrich 1998: Marco Pantani 2006–present 1999–2005: results vacated because of doping 2006: Óscar Pereiro 2007: Alberto Contador 2008: Carlos Sastre 2009: Alberto Contador 2010: Andy Schleck 2011: Cadel Evans 2012: Bradley Wiggins 2013: Chris Froome 2014: Vincenzo Nibali Tour de France winners of the Points classification 1953 Fritz Schär 1954 Ferdinand Kübler 1955–1956 Stan Ockers 1957 Jean Forestier 1958 Jean Graczyk 1959 André Darrigade 1960 Jean Graczyk 1961 André Darrigade 1962 Rudi Altig 1963 Rik Van Looy 1964–1965 Jan Janssen 1966 Willy Planckaert 1967 Jan Janssen 1968 Franco Bitossi 1969 Eddy Merckx 1970 Walter Godefroot 1971–1972 Eddy Merckx 1973 Herman van Springel 1974 Patrick Sercu 1975 Rik Van Linden 1976 Freddy Maertens 1977 Jacques Esclassan 1978 Freddy Maertens 1979 Bernard Hinault 1980 Rudy Pevenage 1981 Freddy Maertens 1982–1983 Sean Kelly 1984 Frank Hoste 1985 Sean Kelly 1986 Eric Vanderaerden 1987 Jean-Paul van Poppel 1988 Eddy Planckaert 1989 Sean Kelly 1990 Olaf Ludwig 1991 Djamolidine Abdoujaparov 1992 Laurent Jalabert 1993–1994 Djamolidine Abdoujaparov 1995 Laurent Jalabert 1996–2001 Erik Zabel 2002 Robbie McEwen 2003 Baden Cooke 2004 Robbie McEwen 2005 Thor Hushovd 2006 Robbie McEwen 2007 Tom Boonen 2008 Óscar Freire 2009 Thor Hushovd 2010 Alessandro Petacchi 2011 Mark Cavendish 2012–2014 Peter Sagan Tour de France winners of the Mountains classification 1933 Vicente Trueba 1934 René Vietto 1935 Félicien Vervaecke 1936 Julián Berrendero 1937 Félicien Vervaecke 1938 Gino Bartali 1939 Sylvère Maes 1947 Pierre Brambilla 1948 Gino Bartali 1949 Fausto Coppi 1950 Louison Bobet 1951 Raphaël Géminiani 1952 Fausto Coppi 1953 Jesús Loroño 1954 Federico Bahamontes 1955–1956 Charly Gaul 1957 Gastone Nencini 1958–1959 Federico Bahamontes 1960–1961 Imerio Massignan 1962–1964 Federico Bahamontes 1965–1967 Julio Jiménez 1968 Aurelio González Puente 1969–1970 Eddy Merckx 1971–1972 Lucien Van Impe 1973 Pedro Torres 1974 Domingo Perurena 1975 Lucien Van Impe 1976 Giancarlo Bellini 1977 Lucien Van Impe 1978 Mariano Martínez 1979 Giovanni Battaglin 1980 Raymond Martin 1981 Lucien Van Impe 1982 Bernard Vallet 1983 Lucien Van Impe 1984 Robert Millar 1985 Luis Herrera 1986 Bernard Hinault 1987 Luis Herrera 1988 Steven Rooks 1989 Gert-Jan Theunisse 1990 Thierry Claveyrolat 1991–1992 Claudio Chiappucci 1993 Tony Rominger 1994–1997 Richard Virenque 1998 Christophe Rinero 1999 Richard Virenque 2000 Santiago Botero 2001–2002 Laurent Jalabert 2003–2004 Richard Virenque 2005–2006 Michael Rasmussen 2007 Mauricio Soler 2008 Bernhard Kohl 2009 Franco Pellizotti 2010 Anthony Charteau 2011 Samuel Sánchez 2012 Thomas Voeckler 2013 Nairo Quintana 2014 Rafał Majka Tour de France winners of the Combativity award 1956 André Darrigade 1957 Nicolas Barone 1958 Federico Bahamontes 1959 Gérard Saint 1960 Jean Graczyk 1961 Team West-Southwest 1962 Eddy Pauwels 1963 Rik Van Looy 1964 Henry Anglade 1965 Felice Gimondi 1966 Rudi Altig 1967 Désiré Letort 1968 Roger Pingeon 1969–1970 Eddy Merckx 1971 Luis Ocaña 1972 Cyrille Guimard 1973 Luis Ocaña 1974–1975 Eddy Merckx 1976 Raymond Delisle 1977 Gerrie Knetemann 1978 Paul Wellens 1979 Hennie Kuiper 1980 Christian Levavasseur 1981 Bernard Hinault 1982 Régis Clère 1983 Serge Demierre 1984 Bernard Hinault 1985 Maarten Ducrot 1986 Bernard Hinault 1987 Régis Clère 1988 Jérôme Simon 1989 Laurent Fignon 1990 Eduardo Chozas 1991–1992 Claudio Chiappucci 1993 Massimo Ghirotto 1994 Eros Poli 1995 Hernán Buenahora 1996–1997 Richard Virenque 1998–1999 Jacky Durand 2000 Erik Dekker 2001–2002 Laurent Jalabert 2003 Alexander Vinokourov 2004 Richard Virenque 2005 Óscar Pereiro 2006 David de la Fuente 2007 Amets Txurruka 2008 Sylvain Chavanel 2009 None 2010 Sylvain Chavanel 2011 Jérémy Roy 2012 Chris Anker Sørensen 2013 Christophe Riblon 2014 Alessandro De Marchi Tour de France winners of the Combination classification 1968 Franco Bitossi 1969–1972 Eddy Merckx 1973 Joop Zoetemelk 1974 Eddy Merckx 1980 Ludo Peeters 1981–1982 Bernard Hinault 1985–1986 Greg LeMond 1987 Jean-François Bernard 1988–1989 Steven Rooks Giro d'Italia winners of the General classification 1909 Luigi Ganna 1910–11 Carlo Galetti 1912* Team Atala (Carlo Galetti, Giovanni Micheletto, Eberardo Pavesi) 1913 Carlo Oriani 1914 Alfonso Calzolari 1915–18 World War I 1919 Costante Girardengo 1920 Gaetano Belloni 1921–22 Giovanni Brunero 1923 Costante Girardengo 1924 Giuseppe Enrici 1925 Alfredo Binda 1926 Giovanni Brunero 1927–29 Alfredo Binda 1930 Luigi Marchisio 1931 Francesco Camusso 1932 Antonio Pesenti 1933 Alfredo Binda 1934 Learco Guerra 1935 Vasco Bergamaschi 1936–37 Gino Bartali 1938–39 Giovanni Valetti 1940 Fausto Coppi 1941–45 World War II 1946 Gino Bartali 1947 Fausto Coppi 1948 Fiorenzo Magni 1949 Fausto Coppi 1950 Hugo Koblet 1951 Fiorenzo Magni 1952–53 Fausto Coppi 1954 Carlo Clerici 1955 Fiorenzo Magni 1956 Charly Gaul 1957 Gastone Nencini 1958 Ercole Baldini 1959 Charly Gaul 1960 Jacques Anquetil 1961 Arnaldo Pambianco 1962–63 Franco Balmamion 1964 Jacques Anquetil 1965 Vittorio Adorni 1966 Gianni Motta 1967 Felice Gimondi 1968 Eddy Merckx 1969 Felice Gimondi 1970 Eddy Merckx 1971 Gösta Pettersson 1972–74 Eddy Merckx 1975 Fausto Bertoglio 1976 Felice Gimondi 1977 Michel Pollentier 1978 Johan de Muynck 1979 Giuseppe Saronni 1980 Bernard Hinault 1981 Giovanni Battaglin 1982 Bernard Hinault 1983 Giuseppe Saronni 1984 Francesco Moser 1985 Bernard Hinault 1986 Roberto Visentini 1987 Stephen Roche 1988 Andy Hampsten 1989 Laurent Fignon 1990 Gianni Bugno 1991 Franco Chioccioli 1992–93 Miguel Indurain 1994 Evgeni Berzin 1995 Tony Rominger 1996 Pavel Tonkov 1997 Ivan Gotti 1998 Marco Pantani 1999 Ivan Gotti 2000 Stefano Garzelli 2001 Gilberto Simoni 2002 Paolo Savoldelli 2003 Gilberto Simoni 2004 Damiano Cunego 2005 Paolo Savoldelli 2006 Ivan Basso 2007 Danilo Di Luca 2008 Alberto Contador 2009 Denis Menchov 2010 Ivan Basso 2011 Michele Scarponi 2012 Ryder Hesjedal 2013 Vincenzo Nibali 2014 Nairo Quintana *In 1912, Giro was contested solely by teams, with no individual classification Giro d'Italia winners of the Points classification 1966 Gianni Motta 1967 Dino Zandegù 1968 Eddy Merckx 1969–70 Franco Bitossi 1971 Marino Basso 1972 Roger De Vlaeminck 1973 Eddy Merckx 1974–75 Roger De Vlaeminck 1976–1978 Francesco Moser 1979 Giuseppe Saronni 1980–1981 Giuseppe Saronni 1982 Francesco Moser 1983 Giuseppe Saronni 1984 Urs Freuler 1985 Johan Van der Velde 1986 Guido Bontempi 1987–1988 Johan Van der Velde 1989 Giovanni Fidanza 1990 Gianni Bugno 1991 Claudio Chiappucci 1992 Mario Cipollini 1993 Adriano Baffi 1994 Djamolidine Abdoujaparov 1995 Tony Rominger 1996 Fabrizio Guidi 1997 Mario Cipollini 1998 Mariano Piccoli 1999 Laurent Jalabert 2000 Dimitri Konyshev 2001 Massimo Strazzer 2002 Mario Cipollini 2003 Gilberto Simoni 2004 Alessandro Petacchi 2005–2006 Paolo Bettini 2007 Danilo Di Luca 2008 Daniele Bennati 2009 Denis Menchov 2010 Cadel Evans 2011 Michele Scarponi 2012 Joaquim Rodríguez 2013 Mark Cavendish 2014 Nacer Bouhanni Giro d'Italia winners of the Mountains classification 1933 Alfredo Binda 1934 Remo Bertoni 1935–37 Gino Bartali 1938 Giovanni Valetti 1939–40 Gino Bartali 1946–47 Gino Bartali 1948–49 Fausto Coppi 1950 Hugo Koblet 1951 Louison Bobet 1952 Raphael Geminiani 1953 Pasquale Fornara 1954 Fausto Coppi 1955 Gastone Nencini 1956 Charly Gaul Federico Bahamontes 1957 Raphael Geminiani 1958 Jean Brankart 1959 Charly Gaul 1960 Rik Van Looy 1961 Vito Taccone 1962 Angelino Soler 1963 Vito Taccone 1964–66 Franco Bitossi 1967 Aurelio González Puente 1968 Eddy Merckx 1969 Claudio Michelotto 1970 Martin Van Den Bossche 1971–74 José Manuel Fuente 1975 Andrés Oliva Francisco Galdós 1976 Andrés Oliva 1977 Faustino Fernández Ovies 1978 Ueli Sutter 1979–81 Claudio Bortolotto 1982–83 Lucien Van Impe 1984 Laurent Fignon 1985 José Luis Navarro 1986 Pedro Muñoz 1987 Robert Millar 1988 Andy Hampsten 1989 Luis Herrera 1990 Claudio Chiappucci 1991 Inaki Gaston 1992–93 Claudio Chiappucci 1994 Pascal Richard 1995–96 Mariano Piccoli 1997 Chepe González 1998 Marco Pantani 1999 Chepe González 2000 Francesco Casagrande 2001 Fredy González 2002 Julio Alberto Pérez 2003 Fredy González 2004 Fabian Wegmann 2005 José Rujano 2006 Juan Manuel Gárate 2007 Leonardo Piepoli 2008 Emanuele Sella 2009 Stefano Garzelli 2010 Matthew Lloyd 2011 Stefano Garzelli 2012 Matteo Rabottini 2013 Stefano Pirazzi 2014 Julián Arredondo Vuelta a España winners of the General classification 1935–36 Gustaaf Deloor 1937–40 Spanish Civil War 1941–42 Julián Berrendero 1943–44 World War II 1945 Delio Rodríguez 1946 Dalmacio Langarica 1947 Edward Van Dijck 1948 Bernardo Ruiz 1949 Race not held 1950 Emilio Rodríguez 1951–54 Race not held 1955 Jean Dotto 1956 Angelo Conterno 1957 Jesús Loroño 1958 Jean Stablinski 1959 Antonio Suárez 1960 Frans De Mulder 1961 Angelino Soler 1962 Rudi Altig 1963 Jacques Anquetil 1964 Raymond Poulidor 1965 Rolf Wolfshohl 1966 Francisco Gabica 1967 Jan Janssen 1968 Felice Gimondi 1969 Roger Pingeon 1970 Luis Ocaña 1971 Ferdinand Bracke 1972 José Manuel Fuente 1973 Eddy Merckx 1974 José Manuel Fuente 1975 Agustín Tamames 1976 José Pesarrodona 1977 Freddy Maertens 1978 Bernard Hinault 1979 Joop Zoetemelk 1980 Faustino Ruperez 1981 Giovanni Battaglin 1982 Marino Lejarreta 1983 Bernard Hinault 1984 Éric Caritoux 1985 Pedro Delgado 1986 Álvaro Pino 1987 Luis Herrera 1988 Sean Kelly 1989 Pedro Delgado 1990 Marco Giovannetti 1991 Melcior Mauri 1992–93–94 Tony Rominger 1995 Laurent Jalabert 1996–97 Alex Zülle 1998 Abraham Olano 1999 Jan Ullrich 2000 Roberto Heras 2001 Ángel Casero 2002 Aitor González 2003–04 Roberto Heras 2005 Denis Menchov 2006 Alexander Vinokourov 2007 Denis Menchov 2008 Alberto Contador 2009 Alejandro Valverde 2010 Vincenzo Nibali 2011 Juan José Cobo 2012 Alberto Contador 2013 Chris Horner 2014 Alberto Contador Vuelta a España winners of the Points classification 1945 Delio Rodríguez 1955 Fiorenzo Magni 1956 Rik Van Steenbergen 1957 Vicente Iturat 1958 Salvador Botella 1959 Rik van Looy 1960 Arthur Decabooter 1961 Antonio Suárez 1962 Rudi Altig 1963 Bas Maliepaard 1964 José Pérez-Francés 1965 Rik van Looy 1966 Jos van der Vleuten 1967–68 Jan Janssen 1969 Raymond Steegmans 1970 Guido Reybrouck 1971 Cyrille Guimard 1972 Domingo Perurena 1973 Eddy Merckx 1974 Domingo Perurena 1975 Miguel María Lasa 1976 Dietrich Thurau 1977 Freddy Maertens 1978 Ferdi Van Den Haute 1979 Fons De Wolf 1980 Sean Kelly 1981 Francisco Javier Cedena 1982 Stefan Mutter 1983 Marino Lejarreta 1984 Guido Van Calster 1985–86 Sean Kelly 1987 Alfonso Gutierrez 1988 Sean Kelly 1989 Malcolm Elliott 1990–91 Uwe Raab 1992 Djamolidine Abdoujaparov 1993 Tony Rominger 1994–97 Laurent Jalabert 1998 Fabrizio Guidi 1999 Frank Vandenbroucke 2000 Roberto Heras 2001 José María Jiménez 2002–04 Erik Zabel 2005 Alessandro Petacchi 2006 Thor Hushovd 2007 Daniele Bennati 2008 Greg Van Avermaet 2009 André Greipel 2010 Mark Cavendish 2011 Bauke Mollema 2012–13 Alejandro Valverde 2014 John Degenkolb Vuelta a España winners of the Combination classification 1970: Guido Reybrouck 1971: Cyrille Guimard 1972: José Manuel Fuente 1973: Eddy Merckx 1974: José Luis Abilleira 1986: Sean Kelly 1987: Laurent Fignon 1988: Sean Kelly 1989: Óscar Vargas 1990–1991: Federico Echave 1992: Tony Rominger 1993: Jesús Montoya 2002: Roberto Heras 2003: Alejandro Valverde 2004: Roberto Heras 2005: Denis Menchov 2006: Alexander Vinokourov 2007: Denis Menchov 2008: Alberto Contador 2009: Alejandro Valverde 2010: Vincenzo Nibali 2011: Juan José Cobo 2012: Alejandro Valverde 2013: Chris Horner 2014: Alberto Contador Belgian National Road Race Champion (men) 1894 Houa 1895-1896 Luyten 1897-1898 Bertrand 1899 Degeetere 1900 Quoidbach 1901 Burger 1902 Defrance 1903 Vanderstuyft 1904 Sales 1905 Jamar 1906 Not held 1907-1908 Verstraeten 1909 Van Hauwaert 1910 Hanlet 1911 Defraye 1912 Verschoore 1913 Van Daele 1914 Dethier 1915-1918 Not held 1919 Rossius 1920-1921 Vanhevel 1922 Vermandel 1923 Sellier 1924 Vermandel 1925 Debaets 1926 Sellier 1927 Mortelmans 1928 Dervaes 1929-1930 Wauters 1931 Schepers 1932 Lemaire 1933 Duerloo 1934 Roels 1935 Danneels 1936 Aerts 1937 Kaers 1938 Van Theemsche 1939 Kint 1940 Van Den Meersschaut 1941 Defoort 1942 Maelbrancke 1943 Van Steenbergen 1944 Not held 1945 Van Steenbergen 1946-1947 Masson 1948 Buysse 1949 Ollivier 1950 Ramon 1951 Anthonis 1952 Schils 1953 Vansteenkiste 1954 Van Steenbergen 1955 Van Cauter 1956-1957 Vlayen 1958 Van Looy 1959 Oellibrandt 1960 De Mulder 1961 Van Aerde 1962 Planckaert 1963 Van Looy 1964 Sels 1965 Godefroot 1966 Reybrouck 1967 Boons 1968 Stevens 1969 De Vlaeminck 1970 E. Merckx 1971 Van Springel 1972 Godefroot 1973 Verbeeck 1974 Swerts 1975 Teirlinck 1976 Maertens 1977-1978 Pollentier 1979 Verlinden 1980 Jacobs 1981 De Vlaeminck 1982 Hoste 1983 Van Impe 1984 Vanderaerden 1985 Haghedooren 1986 Sergeant 1987 Van Den Haute 1988 De Wilde 1989 Bomans 1990 Criquielion 1991 Van Itterbeeck 1992 Museeuw 1993 Van Den Bossche 1994-1995 Nelissen 1996 Museeuw 1997-1998 Steels 1999 Dierckxsens 2000 A. Merckx 2001 Capelle 2002 Steels 2003 Omloop 2004 Steels 2005 Baguet 2006 Eeckhout 2007 Devolder 2008 Roelandts 2009 Boonen 2010 Devolder 2011 Gilbert 2012 Boonen 2013 Devolder 2014 Debusschere Belgian Sportsperson of the Year Men 1967 Ferdinand Bracke 1968 Serge Reding 1969–1974 Eddy Merckx 1975 Bruno Brokken 1976 Ivo Van Damme 1977 Michel Pollentier 1978 Raymond Ceulemans 1979–1980 Robert Van de Walle 1981 Freddy Maertens 1982 Jacky Ickx 1983 Eddy Annys 1984 Claude Criquielion 1985 Gaston Rahier & Vincent Rousseau 1986 William Van Dijck 1987 Georges Jobé 1988 Eric Geboers 1989 Thierry Boutsen 1990 Rudy Dhaenens 1991 Jean-Michel Saive 1992 Georges Jobé 1993 Vincent Rousseau 1994 Jean-Michel Saive 1995–1996 Fred Deburghgraeve 1997 Luc Van Lierde 1998 Fred Deburghgraeve 1999 Luc Van Lierde 2000 Joël Smets 2001–2004 Stefan Everts 2005 Tom Boonen 2006 Stefan Everts 2007 Tom Boonen 2008 Sven Nys 2009–2011 Philippe Gilbert 2012 Tom Boonen 2013 Frederik Van Lierde 2014 Thibaut Courtois Women 1975 Carine Verbauwen 1976–1977 Anne-Marie Pira 1978–1979 Carine Verbauwen 1980 Ingrid Berghmans 1981 Annie Lambrechts 1982–1986 Ingrid Berghmans 1987 Ingrid Lempereur 1988–1989 Ingrid Berghmans 1990–1991 Sabine Appelmans 1992 Annelies Bredael 1993 Gella Vandecaveye 1994–1995 Brigitte Becue 1996 Ulla Werbrouck 1997 Gella Vandecaveye 1998 Dominique Monami 1999–2002 Kim Clijsters 2003–2004 Justine Henin-Hardenne 2005 Kim Clijsters 2006–2007 Justine Henin-Hardenne 2008 Tia Hellebaut 2009–2011 Kim Clijsters 2012 Evi Van Acker 2013 Kirsten Flipkens 2014 Nafissatou Thiam Team 1997 Noliko Maaseik 1998 Belgian Motorcross team 1999 Davis Cup team 2000 Anderlecht 2001 Fed Cup team 2002 La Villette 2003 Belgian Motorcross team 2004 Women's 4×100 metres relay 2005 Under-21 football team 2006 Fed Cup team 2007–2008 Women's 4×100 metres relay 2009–2011 Men's 4×400 metres relay 2012 Field hockey team 2013–2014 Football team Talent 1998 Kim Clijsters 1999 Bart Wellens 2000 Bart Aernouts 2001 Jurgen Van Den Broeck 2002 Thomas Buffel 2003 Kirsten Flipkens 2004 Aagje Vanwalleghem 2005 Niels Albert 2006 Yoris Grandjean 2007 Dominique Cornu 2008 Elise Matthysen 2009 Romelu Lukaku 2010 Luca Brecel 2011 Thomas van der Plaetsen 2012 Kimmer Coppejans 2013 Nafissatou Thiam 2014 Divock Origi Paralympic 2010 Sven Decaesstecker 2011 Wim Decleir 2012 Marieke Vervoort 2013 Joachim Gérard 2014 Michèle George Coach 2011–2012 Jacques Borlée 2013–2014 Marc Wilmots Paris–Roubaix winners 1880–1899 Josef Fischer (1896) Maurice Garin (1897–1898) Albert Champion (1899) 1900–1919 Émile Bouhours (1900) Lucien Lesna (1901–1902) Hippolyte Aucouturier (1903–1904) Louis Trousselier (1905) Henri Cornet (1906) Georges Passerieu (1907) Cyrille van Hauwaert (1908) Octave Lapize (1909–1911) Charles Crupelandt (1912) François Faber (1913) Charles Crupelandt (1914) (1915–1918, not held) Henri Pélissier (1919) 1920–1939 Paul Deman (1920) Henri Pélissier (1921) Albert Dejonghe (1922) Heiri Suter (1923) Jules Vanhevel (1924) Félix Sellier (1925) Julien Delbecque (1926) Georges Ronsse (1927) André Leducq (1928) Charles Meunier (1929) Julien Vervaecke (1930) Gaston Rebry (1931) Romain Gijssels (1932) Sylvère Maes (1933) Gaston Rebry (1934–1935) Georges Speicher (1936) Jules Rossi (1937) Lucien Storme (1938) Émile Masson Jr. (1939) 1940–1959 (1940–1942, not held) Marcel Kint (1943) Maurice Desimpelaere (1944) Paul Maye (1945) Georges Claes (1946–1947) Rik Van Steenbergen (1948) André Mahé, Serse Coppi (1949) Fausto Coppi (1950) Antonio Bevilacqua (1951) Rik Van Steenbergen (1952) Germain Derycke (1953) Raymond Impanis (1954) Jean Forestier (1955) Louison Bobet (1956) Fred De Bruyne (1957) Leon Vandaele (1958) Noël Foré (1959) 1960–1979 Pino Cerami (1960) Rik Van Looy (1961–1962) Emile Daems (1963) Peter Post (1964) Rik Van Looy (1965) Felice Gimondi (1966) Jan Janssen (1967) Eddy Merckx (1968) Walter Godefroot (1969) Eddy Merckx (1970) Roger Rosiers (1971) Roger De Vlaeminck (1972) Eddy Merckx (1973) Roger De Vlaeminck (1974–1975) Marc Demeyer (1976) Roger De Vlaeminck (1977) Francesco Moser (1978–1979) 1980–1999 Francesco Moser (1980) Bernard Hinault (1981) Jan Raas (1982) Hennie Kuiper (1983) Sean Kelly (1984) Marc Madiot (1985) Sean Kelly (1986) Eric Vanderaerden (1987) Dirk Demol (1988) Jean-Marie Wampers (1989) Eddy Planckaert (1990) Marc Madiot (1991) Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle (1992–1993) Andrei Tchmil (1994) Franco Ballerini (1995) Johan Museeuw (1996) Frédéric Guesdon (1997) Franco Ballerini (1998) Andrea Tafi (1999) 2000–2019 Johan Museeuw (2000) Servais Knaven (2001) Johan Museeuw (2002) Peter Van Petegem (2003) Magnus Bäckstedt (2004) Tom Boonen (2005) Fabian Cancellara (2006) Stuart O'Grady (2007) Tom Boonen (2008–2009) Fabian Cancellara (2010) Johan Vansummeren (2011) Tom Boonen (2012) Fabian Cancellara (2013) Niki Terpstra (2014) John Degenkolb (2015)

Authority control WorldCat VIAF: 79031259 LCCN: n79089200 ISNI: 0000 0001 1461 9128 GND: 118937561 SUDOC: 027023842 BNF: cb119156467 (data)