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}} Edouard Louis Joseph, Baron Merckx ((:ˈmɛrks)) (born 17 June 1945), better known as Eddy Merckx, is a Belgian former professional road and track bicycle racer. He was born in Meensel-Kiezegem, Brabant, Belgium to a couple who ran a grocery store. He grew up playing several sports, but found his true passion in cycling. Merckx got his first bicycle at the age of three or four and competed in his first race in 1961. His first victory came at Petit-Enghien in October 1961. After winning eighty races as an amateur racer, he turned professional on 29 April 1965 when he signed with Solo-Superia where his first major victory came in the Milan–San Remo a year later after switching to Peugeot-BP-Michelin. Following the 1967 season, Merckx moved to Faema where he won the Giro d'Italia, his first of eleven Grand Tour victories – a record that still stands today. Four times between 1970 to 1974, Merckx managed to complete a Grand Tour double. His final double also coincided with winning the men's road race at the UCI Road World Championships to make him the first rider to accomplish cycling's Triple Crown. Merckx broke the hour record in October 1972, extending the record by almost 800 meters. He acquired the nickname "The Cannibal" after a teammate told his daughter of how Merckx wouldn't let anyone else win and the daughter referred to him as a cannibal. Merckx finished his eighteen-year career with 525 victories to his credit. He is one of only three riders to have won 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 are fellow Belgians Roger De Vlaeminck and Rik Van Looy. The only major one-day race he did not win was Paris–Tours; his best performance was sixth in 1973. Merckx was able to achieve success on the road and on the track, as well as in the large stage races and one-day races. He is widely thought to be the greatest and most successful rider in the history of cycling. However, Merckx was caught in three separate doping incidents during his career. Since Merckx's retirement from the sport on 18 May 1978, he has remained active in the cycling world. He began his own bicycle chain, Eddy Merckx Cycles, in 1980 and its bicycles were used by several professional teams in the 1980s and 1990s. Merckx coached the Belgian national cycling team for eleven years, stopping in 1996. in 2001, he played a large role in getting the Tour of Qatar organized and geared to start up in 2002. He co-owns the tour and also the Tour of Oman, both of which he still organizes. == Early life and amateur career == Edouard Louis Joseph Merckx was born in Meensel-Kiezegem, Brabant, Belgium on 17 June 1945 to Jules and Jenny Merckx. Merckx was the first born of the family. In September 1946, the family moved to Sint-Pieters-Woluwe, in Brussels, Belgium in order to take over a grocery store that had been up for lease. In May 1948, Jenny gave birth to twins, a boy, Michel, and a girl, Micheline. As a child Eddy was hyperactive and was always playing outside. Eddy was a competitive child and played several sports including: basketball, boxing, football, and table tennis. He even played lawn tennis for the local junior team. However, Merckx claimed he knew he wanted to be a cyclist at the age of four and that his first memory was a crash on his bike when he was the same age. Merckx began riding a bike at the age of three or four and would ride to school everyday beginning at age eight. Merckx would imitate his cycling idol Stan Ockers with his friends when they rode bikes together. In the summer of 1961, Merckx bought his first racing license and competed in his first official race a month after he turned sixteen, coming in sixth place. He rode in twelve more races before winning his first, at Petit-Enghien, on 1 October 1961.〔 In the winter following his first victory, he spent time and trained with former racer Félicien Vervaecke at the local velodrome. Merckx then picked up his second victory 11 March 1962 in a kermis race. Merckx competed in 55 races during the 1962 calendar year and as he devoted more time to cycling, his grades at school began to decline. After winning the Belgian amateur road race title, Merckx declined an offer from his school's headmaster to have his exams postponed and dropped out of school. He finished the season with twenty-three victories to his name.〔 Merckx was selected for the men's road race at the 1964 Summer Olympics, where he finished in twelfth position.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Eddy Merckx Olympic Results )〕 Later in the season, he won the amateur road race at the UCI Road World Championships in Sallanches, France. Merckx remained an amateur through April 1965 and finished his amateur career with eighty wins to his credit.〔L'Équipe, France, 13 March 2007〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Eddy Merckx」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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