Eddy Merckx

[Ferocious]

rankings

Lance should go up a notch with yesterday's win.....but Merckx seems untouchable at first place.

 

[Blieb]

Does he have 6 TDF victories?

NO!

EOS!!!

 

[Anubis]

Originally posted by: Blieb
Does he have 6 TDF victories?

NO!

EOS!!!

 

[DougK62]

How are those rankings figured? I can't see Merckx being way far ahead like that...

 

[3chordcharlie]

I agree - Lance is an animal, but you can't be the best all-around cyclist ever by winning only one race, no matter how often you win it.

 

[ndee]

I'm all for Lance but there is some criticism about him, that he only prepares 12 month for the TdF and no other races, what do you guys think?

 

[Fausto]

Originally posted by: Blieb
Does he have 6 TDF victories?

NO!

EOS!!!

Trust me. Lance may have one more TdF victory than Eddy, but he can't touch him when you look at the rest of Merckx's record.

 

[DingDingDao]

Originally posted by: Blieb
Does he have 6 TDF victories?

NO!

EOS!!!

It's not end of story. Eddy Merckx won 4 titles in a row from 1969-1972, and a 5th in 1974. If you don't follow cycling, and all you know about it is Lance Armstrong, what you probably don't know is that in 1973, Eddy Merckx had the yellow jersey when a spectator ran out and punched him in the ribs, ending his run for a 5th straight. Had he won that TDF, which he probably would have, he would also have six straight titles.

 

[Fausto]

Originally posted by: DougK62
How are those rankings figured? I can't see Merckx being way far ahead like that...

Here's a list of Merckx's major victories.

5 times Tour de France winner (1969-72, 1974) and 35 stage wins. Wore yellow jersey for a record 96 days.

5 times Giro d'Italia winner (1968, 1970, 1972-74) and 25 stage wins.

Vuelta a Espana winner (1973)

World Champion (1967,1971,1974)

Hour record (49.431 km, 1972-84)

3 times Paris-Nice winner (1969-71)

Tour of Switzerland (1974)

7 times Milan-San Remo winner (1966-67, 1969, 1971-72, 1975-76)

Tour of Flanders (1969,1975)

Paris-Roubaix (1968, 1970, 1973)

Liege-Bastogne-Liege (1969, 1971-73, 1975)

Amstel Gold Race (1973,1975)

Tour of Lombardy (1971-72)

Het Volk (1971,1973)

Ghent-Wevelgem (1967, 1969-70, 1973)

Fleche-Wallonne (1967, 1970, 1972, 1975)

Paris-Brussels (1973)

Henninger Turm (1971)

Grand Prix des Nations (1973)

Edouard Louis Joseph Merckx was born on 17 June 1945 in the village of Meenzel-Kiezegem, Belgium, the eldest child of Jules Merckx and Jenny Pittomvils. In August 1946 they moved into a grocers shop in Sint-Pieters-Woluwe, a suburb of Brussels.
Merckx is almost unanimously considered the world's greatest cyclist with 445 professional victories. He won the world amateur championship in 1964. Three years later he was to hold the professional title.

Eddy Merckx was voted Belgian sportsman of the year six times and on three occasions he earned the title International Sportsman. On December 15 2000 Merckx was voted Belgian sportsman of the century.

In a career spanning 17 years he was the only cyclist to win the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia, Vuelta a Espana and Tour of Switzerland. He was one of only two cyclists, along with Stephen Roche, to win the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and world championship in the same year (1970). He was one of two cyclists (with Miguel Indurain) to take the Tour de France and the hour record in the same year. In 1969, Merckx won all three major classifications (overall, points, and King of the Mountains) of the Tour de France.

Make more sense now?

 

[BigSmooth]

Originally posted by: DingDingDao

Originally posted by: Blieb
Does he have 6 TDF victories?

NO!

EOS!!!

It's not end of story. Eddy Merckx won 4 titles in a row from 1969-1972, and a 5th in 1974. If you don't follow cycling, and all you know about it is Lance Armstrong, what you probably don't know is that in 1973, Eddy Merckx had the yellow jersey when a spectator ran out and punched him in the ribs, ending his run for a 5th straight. Had he won that TDF, which he probably would have, he would also have six straight titles.

Actually...

After consecutive wins from 1969 to 1972, Merckx sat out the 1973 edition to concentrate on and succeed a feat that Armstrong is unlikely to attempt - the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta d'Espagna double.

It was in '75 that he got attacked... and although it certainly affected him (both the pain & the medication), it did not even end his tour that year. He ended up in second place. http://www.letour.fr/legendeus/1975.html

 

[Mursilis]

As Fausto noted, Merckx won 11 grand tours, vs. Armstrong's 6; it's not even close. Plus, Armstrong has himself stated Merckx is still the greatest. Of course, there's also some validity to the argument that pro cycling was different in Merckx's time - there was less specialization, as more riders did more events, instead of just picking a few events on which to focus one's season. Still, I think Merckx's accomplishments surpass Armstrong's, and Armstrong would certainly agree.

 

[Excelsior]

Originally posted by: Mursilis
As Fausto noted, Merckx won 11 grand tours, vs. Armstrong's 6; it's not even close. Plus, Armstrong has himself stated Merckx is still the greatest. Of course, there's also some validity to the argument that pro cycling was different in Merckx's time - there was less specialization, as more riders did more events, instead of just picking a few events on which to focus one's season. Still, I think Merckx's accomplishments surpass Armstrong's, and Armstrong would certainly agree.

 

[Thraxen]

These sorts of ranking are pretty pointless. You can't really fairly compare athletes that were in their prime this many years apart.

 

[Fausto]

Originally posted by: Thraxen
These sorts of ranking are pretty pointless. You can't really fairly compare athletes that were in their prime this many years apart.

Actually, you can to some extent. Eddy set his hour record back before there were any kind of aero wheels/frames/helmets/etc. The UCI recently mandated that there will be two hour records: one with aero stuff (currently 56 km) and one without. Eddy's record was reinstated as the "without". Chris Boardman (one of the best time trialists in modern cycling) attempted to break it and succeeded by a mere 10 meters. I think it's safe to say that with modern training methods Eddy would have been even more dominant than he was in the 70's.

 

[notfred]

Originally posted by: Fausto

Originally posted by: Thraxen
These sorts of ranking are pretty pointless. You can't really fairly compare athletes that were in their prime this many years apart.

Actually, you can to some extent. Eddy set his hour record back before there were any kind of aero wheels/frames/helmets/etc. The UCI recently mandated that there will be two hour records: one with aero stuff (currently 56 km) and one without. Eddy's record was reinstated as the "without". Chris Boardman (one of the best time trialists in modern cycling) attempted to break it and succeeded by a mere 10 meters. I think it's safe to say that with modern training methods Eddy would have been even more dominant than he was in the 70's.

So what do they do with fully faired recumbent bikes?

 

[Fausto]

Originally posted by: notfred

Originally posted by: Fausto

Originally posted by: Thraxen
These sorts of ranking are pretty pointless. You can't really fairly compare athletes that were in their prime this many years apart.

Actually, you can to some extent. Eddy set his hour record back before there were any kind of aero wheels/frames/helmets/etc. The UCI recently mandated that there will be two hour records: one with aero stuff (currently 56 km) and one without. Eddy's record was reinstated as the "without". Chris Boardman (one of the best time trialists in modern cycling) attempted to break it and succeeded by a mere 10 meters. I think it's safe to say that with modern training methods Eddy would have been even more dominant than he was in the 70's.

So what do they do with fully faired recumbent bikes?

That's a separate record. The hour record is set on a velodrome using UCI-legal equipment only. The top speed record for a fully-faired bike is like 60-70 mph IIRC.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

It's important to understand the sheer domination Merckx exhibited, in addition to the raw number and array of races he won. He would routinely start, and win Tour stages with, solo breakaways, because he was so much stronger than his competitors (hence his nickname, "The Cannibal"). IIRC he won the yellow, green, and polka-dot jerseys in his first Tour, which will almost certainly never happen again.

 

[Fausto]

Originally posted by: DonVito
It's important to understand the sheer domination Merckx exhibited, in addition to the raw number and array of races he won. He would routinely start, and win Tour stages with, solo breakaways, because he was so much stronger than his competitors (hence his nickname, "The Cannibal"). IIRC he won the yellow, green, and polka-dot jerseys in his first Tour, which will almost certainly never happen again.

He actually won everything that year including the white jersey and the team prize. That'll definitely never happen again (although Lance could probably come close if he really wanted to).

 

[Homerboy]

Merckx is certainly better...

I'd take an Eddie Merckx frame over a Trek any day too

 

[Fausto]

Originally posted by: Homerboy
Merckx is certainly better...

I'd take an Eddie Merckx frame over a Trek any day too

Ditto.

I feel bad having all that mismatched crap on Eddy, but it's basically my backup bike these days.

 

[PanzerIV]

Fausto, so what kind of training regiment does a guy like Armstrong have to endure? It has to take tremendous dedication and hours upon hours of cycling everyday but in addition to that what do they do?

 

[Homerboy]

Ditto.

I feel bad having all that mismatched crap on Eddy, but it's basically my backup bike these days.

lovely.
But then again I'd rather have an (original pre-waterford/trek) Schwinn Waterford Paramount

 

[cyclistca]

Yes but will Lance take up smoking after he retires.

 

[booger711]

read this

Is he the greatest?
A major debate raging inside cycling is Armstrong's place in history. With the sixth win, he's accomplished what the founding members of the Tour's five-win club never could, but Armstrong's resume is weaker in other areas.

The Texan races only select events to hone his form for the Tour and then promptly ends his season within weeks after rolling off the Champs Elysées. Armstrong won a world title, but that was in 1993 before cancer transformed his body into that of a Tour contender.

Merckx, meanwhile, is considered the greatest cyclist ever and won with such ferocity that he was called "the Cannibal." The Belgian ruled in the late 1960s into the mid '70s and racked up more than 500 career victories, including five Giro d'Italias, dozens of one-day classics, the world hour record and three world titles to go with his five Tour titles.

"You cannot compare eras between the great champions," veteran Belgian director Patrick Lefevere said. "Racing was different in the days of Merckx -- racers had to race every day just to make money. If Merckx only raced the Tour, who knows how many he would have won."

Armstrong has often said he doesn't consider himself in the same league as cycling's legends.

"He's not the best of all time, but he's the best at the Tour," said Roger Legeay, a French team manager who led Greg Lemond to his third Tour win in 1990. "Armstrong is the best of his generation, just like Anquetil, Merckx, Hinault and Indurain were in theirs. Is he the best of all time? Well, let's see him win the Giro or some classics first."

How many more Tours?
Armstrong's faithful teammate George Hincapie said his captain is in his best shape ever.

"He can win 10 Tours if he wants," joked Hincapie, the only rider to be on all six of Armstrong's winning efforts. "This year he was his strongest, and he's not that old. These days, 34 is the strongest year for an athlete. I don't see anyone beating him."

That's troubling news for anyone hoping to derail Armstrong, who turns 33 in September.

Until this year, none of the previous five-time winners had won after the age of 31. But compared to the hard-knock days of previous generations, Armstrong takes better care of himself, races less, focuses only on the Tour and hasn't suffered a serious career-threatening injury or crash.

 

[LS20]

well, thats really no contest. merckx > all