During his extraordinary career, Eddy Merckx won Paris-Nice three times (1969, 1970 and 1971). The edition in 1969 was one of those few times, when he had the chance to compete against Jacques Anquetil, who rode his last Paris-Nice that year. Merckx became 1st, Anquetil 3rd, and it’s quite symbolic, that the thord man on … Read more
Eddy Merckx leads the list of cyclists with the most Milano-Sanremo victories with seven occasions. Fun fact: at the time of Merckx’s big triumphs Cipressa was not introduced to the race yet . (It happened only in 1982.) Eddy Merckx (BEL) 1966, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1975, 1976 Costante Girardengo (ITA) 1918, 1921, 1923, 1925, … Read more
Fausto Coppi was the first rider to win the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France in the same year (1949) The list of the riders Fausto Coppi (ITA) 1949 Fausto Coppi (ITA) 1952 Jacques Anquetil (FRA) 1964 Eddy Merckx (BEL) 1970 Eddy Merckx (BEL) 1972 Bernard Hinault (FRA) 1982 Bernard Hinault (FRA) 1985 Miguel … Read more
There are only three riders, who managed to win at least a stage in all the three specialities (sprint and mountain stages and individual time trial) during a Tour de France: Eddy Merckx 1974 Bernard Hinault 1979 Wout van Aert 2021 MORE CYCLING FUN FACT ON PELOTONTALES
It’s not only the early days of road cycling, but sometimes unique moments with animals could (and can) happen in more modern times during a cycling event. Like this one from (most likely )the Tour de France in 1975, when a horse was eager to run alongside with Eddy Merckx and co. MORE UNIQUE VINTAGE … Read more
Eddy Merckx rode Vuelta a España only once during his extremely successful carreer, in 1973. He won the race, managed to achieve the first ever Vuelta-Giro double in the history of road cycling races, also became the third cyclist after Jacques Anquetil and Felice Gimondi, who has won all the three grand tours at least … Read more
As La Vuelta ciclista a España (19 August-11 September 2022), the last three-week race of of the season is nearing, let’s talk about the cyclists who won all the three grand tours at least one time. Jacques Anquetil was the first rider to achieve this, when he finally won the Vuelta in 1963. At that … Read more
Before the 17th stage of Tour de France 1969 Eddy Merckx’s first overall victory was almost secured. He led the general classification with more than 8 minutes. The 214, 5 km long stage between Luchon and Mourenx included the “big four” ascents of the Pyrenees: Peyresourde, Aspin, Tourmalet, Aubisque. Eddy Merckx (Faema) attacked right before … Read more
Eddy Merckx won the Giro d’Italia five times (1968, 1970, 1972, 1973, 1974) during his extraordinary career. The 51st Giro d’Italia was held between the 20th May and 12th June 1968. This was Merckx’s second participation. A year earlier, he finished 9th in the general classification. During the Giro d’Italia in 1968, Merckx won a … Read more
The picture was taken on a training ride before Paris-Roubaix in 1970. Eddy Merckx earned his first Paris-Roubaix victory in 1968. Next year he became second. The 68th edition of the “Hell of the North” on the 12th April in 1970 witnessed his second triumph. Merckx also won the race in 1973.