Grand Tours Stage races One-day races and Classics Édouard Louis Joseph, Baron Merckx (born 17 June 1945), known as Eddy Merckx (Dutch: [ˈɛdi ˈmɛr(ə)ks], French: [ɛdi mɛʁks]), is a Belgian former professional road and track cyclist racer who is the most successful rider in the history of competitive cycling.

[31] After finishing the road race in 29th position,[32] Merckx returned to Belgium and discussed his plans for the next season with his manager Jean Van Buggenhout.

[39] Two stages later, a teammate, Tom Simpson, attacked with several other riders on a climb and was nearly 20 minutes ahead of Merckx, who remained in a group behind.

[61] As the wind shifted from a crosswind to a headwind with close to seventy kilometers left to go, Merckx increased the pace and rode solo to victory.

[62] He began the Giro d'Italia on 16 May, stating that he wished to ride less aggressively than the year before in order to save energy for the Tour de France.

[65] On 14 June, the cycling governing body, the FICP, overturned the month long suspension and cleared him due to the "benefit of the doubt.

[67] Merckx won the race's sixth stage through attacking before the leg's final major climb, the Ballon d'Alsace, and then outlasting his competitors who were able to follow him initially.

"[72] Merckx finished the race with six stage victories to his credit, along with the general, points, mountains, and combination classifications, and the award for most aggressive rider.

[77] After winning the first intermediate sprint of the first round, Wambst chose to slow their pace and move to the back of the race despite Merckx wanting to stay out in front for fear of an accident.

The accident cost me a few years of my career, because afterwards, with that back, I never had the same feeling uphill as I had in that very first Tour of ‘69.’' Wambst died of a fractured skull as he was being transported to a hospital.

[94][95] The first major victory for Merckx came in the Giro di Sardegna, which he secured after attacking on his own and riding solo through the rain to win the race's final stage.

[99] On the descent of the Col du Cucheron during the race's ninth leg, Merckx's tire punctured, prompting Ocaña to attack with Zoetemelk, Thévenet, and Gösta Pettersson.

[111] Against the advice of a physician, he started the next day being barely able to ride out of the saddle, leading Ocaña to attack him several times throughout the stage.

[112] Merckx lost over two and a half minutes to Spanish climber José Manuel Fuente after the Giro's fourth stage that contained a summit finish to Blockhaus.

[116] He lost two minutes to Fuente due to stomach trouble during the seventeenth leg that finished atop the Stelvio Pass,[116] but went on to win one more stage en route to his third victory at the Giro d'Italia.

[133] Merckx won the race after leading from start to finish, a feat only previously accomplished by Alfredo Binda and Costante Girardengo.

[137] The 1974 season saw Merckx fail to win a spring classic for the first time in his career, in part due to him suffering from various illnesses during the early months.

[143] The next day, on the slopes of Mont Ventoux, Merckx rode to limit his losses after suffering several attacks from other general classification riders, including Poulidor, Vicente López Carril and Gonzalo Aja.

[149] With victories at Milan–San Remo and Amstel Gold Race, Merckx opened the 1975 season in good form, also winning the Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme.

[154] The following morning's split stage saw Merckx put time on Thevenet by attacking with Francesco Moser, Van Impe, and Zoetemelk.

[164] He followed with a victory in the Catalan Week, but suffered a crash in the final stage when a spectator's bag caught his handlebars, injuring his elbow.

[165] He failed to win the Super Prestige Pernod International, a competition where riders were awarded points for their placements in certain professional races, for the first time since 1968.

[184] In 2001 Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the former Emir of Qatar, reached out to Merckx and told him of his interest in starting a bicycle race to show off his country.

"[188] In November 2017, it was announced that Merckx and his partner Dirk De Pauw split with Tour of Oman organizer ASO following an undisclosed dispute.

[195][196] 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 one of the three riders to win all five 'Monuments of Cycling' (i.e., Milan–San Remo, Tour of Flanders, Paris–Roubaix, Liège–Bastogne–Liège, and the Giro di Lombardia), the other two being Rik Van Looy and Roger De Vlaeminck.

"[25] Cycling journalist and commentator Phil Liggett wrote that if Merckx started a race, many riders acknowledged that they likely would be competing for second place.

[236] The majority of the international press believed in his innocence, stating that with his lead, it was illogical that he would use banned substances on an easy stage, with a doping test certain to follow if he was still the leader.

[231][232][238] After the incident, several conspiracy theories emerged, including that the urine that tested positive was not Merckx's,[239] and that he had been given a water bottle with the stimulant in it[240]⁠—‍ostensibly all moves to give Italian Felice Gimondi a better chance at victory.

[citation needed] Due to Merckx's positive tests during his career, he was one of several riders asked by the event organizers to stay away from the 2007 UCI Road World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany.