Book description
'The whole point of a race is to find a winner... I chose to race,
so I chose to win.'
For 14 years between 1965 and 1978, cyclist Edouard Louis Joseph
Merckx simply devoured his rivals, their hopes and their careers. His
legacy resides as much in the careers he ruined as the 445 victories -
including five Tour de France wins and all the monument races - he
amassed in his own right. So dominant had Merckx become by 1973 that
he was ordered to stay away from the Tour for the good of the event.
Stage 17 of the 1969 Tour de France perfectly illustrates his
untouchable brilliance. Already wearing the yellow jersey on the col
du Tourmalet, the Tour's most famous peak, Merckx powered clear and
rode the last 140 kilometres to the finish-line in jaw-dropping
solitude, eight minutes ahead of his nearest competitor.
Merckx's era has been called cycling's Golden Age. It was full of
memorable characters who, at any other time, would all have gone on to
become legends. Yet Merckx's phenomenal career overshadowed them all.
How did he achieve such incredible success? And how did his rivals
really feel about him? Merckx failed drug tests three times in his
career - were they really stitch ups as he claimed? And what of the
crash at a track meet in Blois, France that killed Merckx's pacer
Fernand Wambst, which Merckx claimed deeply affected him
psychologically and physically? Or the attack by a spectator in 1975?
Despite his unique achievements, we know little about the Cannibal
beyond his victories. This will be the first comprehensive biography
of Merckx in English, and will finally expose the truth behind this
legendary man.
Daniel Friebe is one of Britain's leading cycling journalists and, at
30, a youthful veteran of nine Tours de France. Daniel is the Features
Editor of
Procycling Magazine
, widely regarded as the world's most authoritative English-language
cycling magazine. His feature-writing and news reporting on a range of
subjects - including the controversial topic of doping - has earned him
an enviable reputation, reflected in his frequent appearances on
international radio and television as a cycling expert. Daniel also
collaborated with Mark Cavendish on his bestselling
Boy Racer
. He has also written for publications including the
Daily Telegraph
,
The Sunday Telegraph, FourFourTwo
,
Spin Cricket Monthly
,
Channel4 Test Match Magazine
.
