Édouard Louis Joseph, Baron Merckx, is a Belgian former professional road and track cyclist racer who is the most successful rider in the history of competitive cycling. His victories include an unequalled eleven Grand Tours, all five Monuments, setting the hour record, three World Championships, every major one-day race other than Paris–Tours, and extensive victories on the track.
Merckx in 1971
Merckx finished in twelfth position in the men's road race at the 1966 UCI Road World Championships.
At the 1967 Giro d'Italia Merckx won his first Grand Tour stages on the way to finishing ninth overall.
During the twelfth stage of the 1968 Giro d'Italia, Merckx caught the leading group, passed them, and rode solo to the stage finish atop the Tre Cime di Lavaredo (pictured) in poor weather to win the stage and take the race lead.
In road bicycle racing, a Grand Tour is one of the three major European professional cycling stage races: Giro d'Italia, Tour de France, and Vuelta a España. Collectively they are termed the Grand Tours, and all three races are similar in format, being three-week races with daily stages. They have a special status in the UCI regulations: more points for the UCI World Tour are distributed in Grand Tours than in other races, and they are the only stage races allowed to last longer than 14 days, and these differ from major stage races more than one week in duration.
Image: Jacques Anquetil 1966
Image: Felice Gimondi 1966
Image: Eddy Merckx Molteni 1973
Image: Bernard Hinault 1978 (cropped)
